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Isaiah 17
New English Translation

The Lord Will Judge Damascus

17 This is an oracle[a] about Damascus:
“Look, Damascus is no longer a city,
it is a heap of ruins!
2 The cities of Aroer are abandoned.[b]
They will be used for herds,
which will lie down there in peace.[c]
3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim,
and Damascus will lose its kingdom.[d]
The survivors in Syria
will end up like the splendor of the Israelites,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
4 “At that time[e]
Jacob’s splendor will be greatly diminished,[f]
and he will become skin and bones.[g]
5 It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest,
and his hand gleans the ear of grain.
It will be like one gathering the ears of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 There will be some left behind,
as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,
four or five on its fruitful branches,”
says the Lord God of Israel.
7 At that time[h] men will trust in their Creator;[i]
they will depend on[j] the Holy One of Israel.[k]
8 They will no longer trust in[l] the altars their hands made,
or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made.[m]
9 At that time[n] their fortified cities will be
like the abandoned summits of the Amorites,[o]
which they abandoned because of the Israelites;
there will be desolation.
10 For you ignore[p] the God who rescues you;
you pay no attention to your strong protector.[q]
So this is what happens:
You cultivate beautiful plants
and plant exotic vines.[r]
11 The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow;[s]
the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout.
Yet the harvest will disappear[t] in the day of disease
and incurable pain.
12 Beware, you many nations massing together,[u]
those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves.[v]
Beware, you people making such an uproar,[w]
those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves.[x]
13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves,[y]
when he shouts at[z] them, they will flee to a distant land,
driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,
or like dead thistles[aa] before a strong gale.
14 In the evening there is sudden terror;[ab]
by morning they vanish.[ac]
This is the fate of those who try to plunder us,
the destiny of those who try to loot us![ad]

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:1 tn See note at Isa 13:1.
  2. Isaiah 17:2 tn Three cities are known by this name in the OT: (1) an Aroer located near the Arnon, (2) an Aroer in Ammon, and (3) an Aroer of Judah. (See BDB 792-93 s.v. עֲרֹעֵר, and HALOT 883 s.v. II עֲרוֹעֵר.) There is no mention of an Aroer in Syrian territory. For this reason some want to emend the text here to עֲזֻבוֹת עָרַיהָ עֲדֵי עַד (ʿazuvot ʿarayha ʿade ʿad, “her cities are permanently abandoned”). However, Aroer near the Arnon was taken by Israel and later conquered by the Syrians. (See Josh 12:2; 13:9, 16; Judg 11:26; 2 Kgs 10:33). This oracle pertains to Israel as well as Syria (note v. 3), so it is possible that this is a reference to Israelite and/or Syrian losses in Transjordan.
  3. Isaiah 17:2 tn Heb “and they lie down, and there is no one scaring [them].”
  4. Isaiah 17:3 tn Heb “and kingship from Damascus”; cf. NASB “And sovereignty from Damascus.”
  5. Isaiah 17:4 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
  6. Isaiah 17:4 tn Heb “will be tiny.”
  7. Isaiah 17:4 tn Heb “and the fatness of his flesh will be made lean.”
  8. Isaiah 17:7 tn Heb “in that day” (so ASV, NASB, NIV); KJV “At that day.”
  9. Isaiah 17:7 tn Heb “man will gaze toward his maker.”
  10. Isaiah 17:7 tn Heb “his eyes will look toward.”
  11. Isaiah 17:7 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
  12. Isaiah 17:8 tn Heb “he will not gaze toward.”
  13. Isaiah 17:8 tn Heb “and that which his fingers made he will not see, the Asherah poles and the incense altars.”
  14. Isaiah 17:9 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).
  15. Isaiah 17:9 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “like the abandonment of the wooded height and the top one.” The following relative clause appears to allude back to the Israelite conquest of the land, so it seems preferable to emend הַחֹרֶשׁ וְהָאָמִיר (hakhoresh vehaʾamir, “the wooded height and the top one”) to חֹרֵשֵׁי הָאֱמֹרִי (khoreshe haʾemori, “[like the abandonment] of the wooded heights of the Amorites”).
  16. Isaiah 17:10 tn Heb “you have forgotten” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
  17. Isaiah 17:10 tn Heb “and the rocky cliff of your strength you do not remember.”
  18. Isaiah 17:10 tn Heb “a vine, a strange one.” The substantival adjective זָר (zar) functions here as an appositional genitive. It could refer to a cultic plant of some type, associated with a pagan rite. But it is more likely that it refers to an exotic, or imported, type of vine, one that is foreign (i.e., “strange”) to Israel.
  19. Isaiah 17:11 tn Heb “in the day of your planting you [?].” The precise meaning of the verb תְּשַׂגְשֵׂגִי (tesagsegi) is unclear. It is sometimes derived from שׂוּג/סוּג (sug, “to fence in”; see BDB 691 s.v. II סוּג). In this case one could translate “you build a protective fence.” However, the parallelism is tighter if one derives the form from שָׂגָא/שָׂגָה (sagaʾ/sagah, “to grow”); see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:351, n. 4. For this verb, see BDB 960 s.v. שָׂגָא.
  20. Isaiah 17:11 tc The Hebrew text has, “a heap of harvest.” However, better sense is achieved if נֵד (ned, “heap”) is emended to a verb. Options include נַד (nad, Qal perfect third masculine singular from נָדַד [nadad, “flee, depart”]), נָדַד (Qal perfect third masculine singular from נָדַד), נֹדֵד (noded, Qal active participle from נָדַד), and נָד (nad, Qal perfect third masculine singular, or participle masculine singular, from נוּד [nud, “wander, flutter”]). See BDB 626 s.v. נוּד and HALOT 672 s.v. I נדד. One could translate literally: “[the harvest] departs,” or “[the harvest] flies away.”
  21. Isaiah 17:12 tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.”
  22. Isaiah 17:12 tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”
  23. Isaiah 17:12 tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.”
  24. Isaiah 17:12 tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”
  25. Isaiah 17:13 tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”
  26. Isaiah 17:13 tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry, which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.
  27. Isaiah 17:13 tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”
  28. Isaiah 17:14 tn Heb “at the time of evening, look, sudden terror.”
  29. Isaiah 17:14 tn Heb “before morning he is not.”
  30. Isaiah 17:14 tn Heb “this is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who loot us.”
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以賽亞書 17
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)

關於大馬士革的預言

17 以下是關於大馬士革的預言：

「看啊，大馬士革城必不復存在，淪為廢墟。
2 亞羅珥的眾城邑必被廢棄，
羊群將在那裡棲息，
沒有人驚擾牠們。
3 以法蓮[a]的堡壘必被摧毀，
大馬士革的王權必喪失。
倖存的亞蘭人必像以色列人一樣失去榮耀。」
這是萬軍之耶和華說的。

4 「到那日，雅各的榮耀必消失，
他肥胖的身軀必漸漸消瘦。
5 國家好像一塊已收割的田地，
又像撿淨麥穗的利乏音谷。
6 倖存者寥寥無幾，就像打過的橄欖樹上剩下的果子，
或兩三個掛在樹梢，
或四五個殘存在枝頭。」
這是以色列的上帝耶和華說的。

7 到那日，人們必仰望他們的創造主，向以色列的聖者求助。 8 那時他們不再仰望自己製造的祭壇，也不再供奉自己指頭所造的亞舍拉神像和香壇。 9 到那日，他們因以色列人到來而遺棄的堅城必變為山林和高崗，一片荒涼。

10 以色列人啊，
你們忘記了拯救你們的上帝，
不記得那保護你們的磐石。
所以，你們雖然栽種佳美的秧子，
插上遠方運來的樹苗，
11 使它們在栽種的當天早上就生長開花，
也必一無所獲。
你們得到的只是艱難和無盡的痛苦。
12 看啊，列國喧囂，如怒海洶湧；
萬民騷動，如洪水滔滔。
13 雖然萬民喧囂如洶湧的洪水，
但上帝一聲斥責，他們便逃往遠方，
像山頂上被風捲走的糠秕，
又如狂風颳走的塵埃。

14 他們晚上令人恐懼，早晨已無影無蹤。這就是擄掠我們之人的下場，搶奪我們之人的報應。

Footnotes

  1. 17·3 舊約中常用以法蓮代表以色列國。
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Isaiah 17
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.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:8 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
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