Isaiah 17

Prophecy about Damascus

1The 12oracle concerning 3Damascus. “Behold, Damascus is about to be 4removed from being a city And will become a 5fallen ruin.2The cities 6of 7Aroer are forsaken; They will be for 8flocks 9to lie down in, And there will be 10no one to frighten them.3The 1112fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, And 13sovereignty from Damascus And the remnant of Aram; They will be like the 14glory of the sons of Israel,” Declares the Lord of hosts.

4Now in that day the 15glory of Jacob will 16fade, And 17the fatness of his flesh will become lean.5It will be 18even like the 19reaper gathering the standing grain, As his arm harvests the ears, Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain In the 20valley of Rephaim.6Yet 21gleanings will be left in it like the 22shaking of an olive tree, Two or three olives on the topmost bough, Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree, Declares the Lord, the God of Israel.7In that day man will 23have regard for his Maker And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.8He will not have regard for the 24altars, the work of his hands, Nor will he look to that which his 25fingers have made, Even the 2627Asherim and 28incense stands.9In that day 29their strong cities will be like 30forsaken places in the forest, Or like 31branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel; And 32the land will be a desolation.10For 33you have forgotten the 34God of your salvation And have not remembered the 35rock of your refuge. Therefore you plant delightful plants And set them with vine slips of a strange god.11In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in, And in the 36morning you bring your seed to blossom; But the harvest will 37be a heap In a day of sickliness and incurable pain.

12Alas, the uproar of many peoples 38Who roar like the roaring of the seas, And the rumbling of nations Who rush on like the 39rumbling of mighty waters!13The 40nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters, But He will 41rebuke them and they will flee far away, And be chased 42like chaff in the mountains before the wind, Or like whirling dust before a gale.14At evening time, behold, there is terror! Before morning 43they are no more. 44Such will be the portion of those who plunder us And the lot of those who pillage us.