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Isaiah 17-18
New American Standard Bible
Isaiah 17-18
New American Standard Bible
Prophecy about Damascus
17 The (A)pronouncement concerning (B)Damascus:
“Behold, Damascus is about to be (C)removed from being a city
And will become a (D)fallen ruin.
2 The cities [a]of (E)Aroer are abandoned;
They will be for (F)herds [b]to lie down in,
And there will be (G)no one to frighten them.
3 The [c](H)fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
And [d]sovereignty from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram;
They will be like the (I)glory of the sons of Israel,”
Declares the Lord of armies.
4 Now on that day the (J)glory of Jacob will [e]fade,
And (K)the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
5 It will be (L)like the [f]reaper gathering the standing grain,
As his arm harvests the ears,
Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain
In the (M)Valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet (N)gleanings will be left in it like the [g]shaking 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.
7 On that day man will (O)look to his Maker
And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.
8 And he will not look to the (P)altars, the work of his hands,
Nor will he look to that which his (Q)fingers have made,
Even the [h](R)Asherim and incense altars.
9 On that day [i]their strong cities will be like [j]abandoned places in the forest,
Or like branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel;
And [k]the land will be a desolation.
10 For (S)you have forgotten the (T)God of your salvation
And have not remembered the (U)rock of your refuge.
Therefore you plant delightful plants
And set them with vine shoots of a strange god.
11 On the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,
And in the (V)morning you bring your seed to blossom;
But the harvest will (W)flee
On a day of illness and incurable pain.
12 Oh, the uproar of many peoples
(X)Who roar like the roaring of the seas,
And the rumbling of nations
Who rush on like the (Y)rumbling of mighty waters!
13 The (Z)nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters,
But He will (AA)rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
And be chased (AB)like chaff on the mountains before the wind,
Or like whirling dust before a gale.
14 At evening time, behold, there is terror!
Before morning (AC)they are gone.
This will be the [l]fate of those who plunder us
And the lot of those who pillage us.
Message to Ethiopia
18 Woe, land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of [m](AD)Cush,
2 Which sends messengers by the sea,
Even in (AE)papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation [n](AF)tall and smooth,
To a people (AG)feared [o]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
3 (AH)All you who inhabit the world, and live on earth,
As soon as a flag is raised on the mountains, (AI)you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.
4 For this is what the Lord has told me:
“I will quietly look [p]from My (AJ)dwelling place
Like dazzling heat in the [q](AK)sunshine,
Like a cloud of (AL)dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For (AM)before the harvest, as soon as the bud [r]blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
He will cut off the shoots with pruning knives,
And remove and tear away the spreading branches.
6 They will be left together for mountain birds (AN)of prey,
And for the animals of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the animals of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
7 At that time a gift of tribute will be brought to the Lord of armies
[s]From a (AO)people [t]tall and smooth,
From a people feared [u]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the (AP)place of the name of the Lord of armies, to Mount Zion.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 17:2 LXX forever and ever
- Isaiah 17:2 Lit and they will lie down
- Isaiah 17:3 Or fortification
- Isaiah 17:3 Or royal power
- Isaiah 17:4 Lit become little
- Isaiah 17:5 Lit gathering of the harvest, the standing grain
- Isaiah 17:6 Lit striking
- Isaiah 17:8 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
- Isaiah 17:9 Lit his; i.e., mankind’s
- Isaiah 17:9 LXX the deserted places of the Amorites and the Hivites which they abandoned
- Isaiah 17:9 Lit it
- Isaiah 17:14 Lit portion
- Isaiah 18:1 Or Ethiopia
- Isaiah 18:2 Lit drawn out
- Isaiah 18:2 Lit from it and beyond
- Isaiah 18:4 Lit in
- Isaiah 18:4 Lit light
- Isaiah 18:5 Lit is finished
- Isaiah 18:7 Some ancient versions and DSS; MT implies Consisting of a people
- Isaiah 18:7 Lit drawn out
- Isaiah 18:7 Lit from it and beyond
Isaiah 17-18
New International Version
Isaiah 17-18
New International Version
A Prophecy Against Damascus
17 A prophecy(A) against Damascus:(B)
“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
but will become a heap of ruins.(C)
2 The cities of Aroer(D) will be deserted
and left to flocks,(E) which will lie down,(F)
with no one to make them afraid.(G)
3 The fortified(H) city will disappear from Ephraim,
and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
like the glory(I) of the Israelites,”(J)
declares the Lord Almighty.
4 “In that day(K) the glory(L) of Jacob will fade;
the fat of his body will waste(M) away.
5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
gathering(N) the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain(O)
in the Valley of Rephaim.(P)
6 Yet some gleanings will remain,(Q)
as when an olive tree is beaten,(R)
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 In that day(S) people will look(T) to their Maker(U)
and turn their eyes to the Holy One(V) of Israel.
8 They will not look to the altars,(W)
the work of their hands,(X)
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles[a](Y)
and the incense altars their fingers(Z) have made.
9 In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth.(AA) And all will be desolation.
10 You have forgotten(AB) God your Savior;(AC)
you have not remembered the Rock,(AD) your fortress.(AE)
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
and plant imported vines,(AF)
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
and on the morning(AG) when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest(AH) will be as nothing(AI)
in the day of disease and incurable(AJ) pain.(AK)
12 Woe to the many nations that rage(AL)—
they rage like the raging sea!(AM)
Woe to the peoples who roar(AN)—
they roar like the roaring of great waters!(AO)
13 Although the peoples roar(AP) like the roar of surging waters,
when he rebukes(AQ) them they flee(AR) far away,
driven before the wind like chaff(AS) on the hills,
like tumbleweed before a gale.(AT)
14 In the evening, sudden(AU) terror!(AV)
Before the morning, they are gone!(AW)
This is the portion of those who loot us,
the lot of those who plunder us.
A Prophecy Against Cush
18 Woe(AX) to the land of whirring wings[b]
along the rivers of Cush,[c](AY)
2 which sends envoys(AZ) by sea
in papyrus(BA) boats over the water.
Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,(BB)
to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive(BC) nation of strange speech,
whose land is divided by rivers.(BD)
3 All you people of the world,(BE)
you who live on the earth,
when a banner(BF) is raised on the mountains,
you will see it,
and when a trumpet(BG) sounds,
you will hear it.
4 This is what the Lord says to me:
“I will remain quiet(BH) and will look on from my dwelling place,(BI)
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,(BJ)
like a cloud of dew(BK) in the heat of harvest.”
5 For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off(BL) the shoots with pruning knives,
and cut down and take away the spreading branches.(BM)
6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey(BN)
and to the wild animals;(BO)
the birds will feed on them all summer,
the wild animals all winter.
7 At that time gifts(BP) will be brought to the Lord Almighty
from a people tall and smooth-skinned,(BQ)
from a people feared(BR) far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
whose land is divided by rivers(BS)—
the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.(BT)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 17:8 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
- Isaiah 18:1 Or of locusts
- Isaiah 18:1 That is, the upper Nile region
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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