Isaiah 17

Prophecy about Damascus

1The 1pronouncement concerning 2Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is about to be 3removed from being a city And will become a 4fallen ruin.2The cities 5of 6Aroer are abandoned; They will be for 7herds 8to lie down in, And there will be 9no one to frighten them.3The 1011fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, And 12sovereignty from Damascus And the remnant of Aram; They will be like the 13glory of the sons of Israel,” Declares the Lord of armies.

4Now on that day the 14glory of Jacob will 15fade, And 16the fatness of his flesh will become lean.5It will be 17like the 18reaper gathering the standing grain, As his arm harvests the ears, Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain In the 19Valley of Rephaim.6Yet 20gleanings will be left in it like the 21shaking of an olive tree, Two or three olives on the topmost branch, Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree, Declares the Lord, the God of Israel.7On that day man will 22look to his Maker And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.8And he will not look to the 23altars, the work of his hands, Nor will he look to that which his 24fingers have made, Even the 2526Asherim and incense altars.9On that day 27their strong cities will be like 28abandoned places in the forest, Or like branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel; And 29the land will be a desolation.10For 30you have forgotten the 31God of your salvation And have not remembered the 32rock of your refuge. Therefore you plant delightful plants And set them with vine shoots of a strange god.11On the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in, And in the 33morning you bring your seed to blossom; But the harvest will 34flee On a day of illness and incurable pain.

12Oh, the uproar of many peoples 35Who roar like the roaring of the seas, And the rumbling of nations Who rush on like the 36rumbling of mighty waters!13The 37nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters, But He will 38rebuke them, and they will flee far away, And be chased 39like chaff on the mountains before the wind, Or like whirling dust before a gale.14At evening time, behold, there is terror! Before morning 40they are gone. This will be the 41fate of those who plunder us And the lot of those who pillage us.