Isaiah 17

1 The burden of Damascus. Lo, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, And it hath been a heap — a ruin.

The prophecy concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus shall be no more a city; It shall become a heap of ruins.

2 Forsaken are the cities of Aroer, For droves they are, and they have lain down, And there is none troubling.

The cities of Aroer shall be forsaken; They shall be pastures for flocks, Which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

3 And ceased hath the fortress from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus, And the remnant of Aram are as the honour of the sons of Israel, The affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts!

The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus, and the rest of Syria; It shall be with them as with the glory of the children of Israel, Saith Jehovah of hosts.

4 And it hath come to pass, in that day, Wax poor doth the honour of Jacob, And the fatness of his flesh doth wax lean.

In that day shall the glory of Jacob sink away, And the fatness of his flesh become leanness.

5 And it hath come to pass, As the gathering by the reaper of the standing corn, And his arm the ears reapeth, And it hath come to pass, As the gathering of the ears in the valley of Rephaim,

And it shall be as when the harvest-man gathereth the corn, And reapeth the ears with his arm; Yea, as when one gleaneth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

6 And left in him have been gleanings, As the compassing of an olive, Two — three berries on the top of a branch, Four — five on the fruitful boughs, The affirmation of Jehovah, God of Israel!

There shall be left in it only a gleaning, as in the olive-harvest, Two or three berries on the top of the highest bough, Four or five on the fruitful branches, Saith Jehovah, the God of Israel.

7 In that day doth man look to His Maker, Yea, his eyes to the Holy One of Israel look,

In that day shall a man have regard to his Maker, And his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel.

8 And he looketh not unto the altars. The work of his own hands, And that which his own fingers made He seeth not — the shrines and the images.

He shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, Nor have respect to that which his fingers have made, The images of Astarte and the Sun-pillars.

9 In that day are the cities of his strength As the forsaken thing of the forest, And the branch that they have left, Because of the sons of Israel, It also hath been a desolation.

In that day shall his fortified cities be like ruins in the forests, or on the mountain tops, Which the enemy left, in flight from the children of Israel; And the land shall be a desolation.

10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, And the rock of thy strength hast not remembered, Therefore thou plantest plants of pleasantness, And with a strange slip sowest it,

For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, And hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength; Therefore though thou plant beautiful plants, And set shoots from a foreign soil,

11 In the day thy plant thou causest to become great, And in the morning thy seed makest to flourish, A heap [is] the harvest in a day of overflowing, And of mortal pain.

When thou hast planted them, though thou hedge them in, And in the morning bring thy plants to the blossom, Yet shall the harvest flee away, In the day of pain and desperate sorrow.

12 Woe [to] the multitude of many peoples, As the sounding of seas they sound; And [to] the wasting of nations, As the wasting of mighty waters they are wasted.

Alas! a tumult of many nations! They rage with the raging of the sea. Alas! a roaring of kingdoms! They roar with the roaring of mighty waters.

13 Nations as the wasting of many waters are wasted, And He hath pushed against it, And it hath fled afar off, And been pursued as chaff of hills before wind, And as a rolling thing before a hurricane.

Like the roaring of mighty waters do the nations roar; He rebuketh them, and they flee away, Driven like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, Like stubble before the whirlwind.

14 At even-time, lo, terror, before morning it is not, This [is] the portion of our spoilers, And the lot of our plunderers!

At the time of evening, behold, terror! Before morning, behold, they are no more! This is the portion of them that spoil us, And the lot of them that plunder us.