Isaiah 17

1 This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.

2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.

3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the sovereignty from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

4 “In that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and the fat of his body will waste away,

5 as the reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the ears with his arm, as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

6 Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten—two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.

7 In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.

8 They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.

9 In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken thickets and summits, abandoned to the Israelites and to utter desolation.

10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—

11 though on the day you plant you make them grow, and on that morning you help your seed sprout—yet the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.

12 Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.

13 The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.

14 In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.

1 ¶ The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

2 The cities of Aroer [are] forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid.

3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

4 And in that day it shall come to pass, [that] the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

6 ¶ Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two [or] three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four [or] five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel.

7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect [that] which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

9 ¶ In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: [but] the harvest [shall be] a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

12 ¶ Woe to the multitude of many people, [which] make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, [that] make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but [God] shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; [and] before the morning he [is] not. This [is] the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

1 This is the burden of Damascus: behold, Damascus shall be no more a city, but a heap of stones broken down.

2 The cities of Aroer shall be desolate, and the flocks shall feed there, and no man shall drive them out.

3 And the fortress of Ephraim shall be finished: and the kingdom of Damascus, and the remnant of Syria, shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

4 In that day shall the glory of Jacob be thin, and his fat body shall be lean.

5 For it shall be as when one gathered in corn in the harvest, and as when one gathered in ears with his arm, and as when one gathered in ears in the valley of Rephaim,

6 And there shall be a harvest in it, as when a tree of olive oil is shaken, and two and three berries remain in the top of the tree, or as when four or five fruits hang upon the branches, saith the LORD God of Israel.

7 In that day shall a man cleave unto him that made him; and his eyes shall be upon the Holy One in Israel.

8 And he shall not keep himself to the altars which his hands have made, neither shall he look upon that which his fingers have made, neither to groves, nor to images.

9 In that day shall the cities of their strength be as a branch and twig forsaken before the children of Israel, and shall be desolate.

10 For thou hast forgotten God thy salvation, and hast not remembered the rock of thy strength. Therefore thou shalt plant pleasant plants, but thou shalt have laid a foothold for strangers.

11 In the time of planting thou shalt wait, that thy seed may grow in time: but in the harvest, when thou shalt inherit the almonds, thou shalt have the pains of a sorrowful man.

12 O woe unto the multitude of such great people! It will roar like the sea, and the tumult of the people will rage like great waters.

13 Yea, as great waters rage, so shall the people rage. But he shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far away: and he shall pursue them, as the wind doeth to the dust of the mountains, and as the storm doeth to the whirlwind of the wind.

14 At evening, behold, there is terror; and before morning they are no more. This is the reward of our robbers, and the inheritance of them that take away our own.