Isaiah 17
Contemporary English Version
Damascus Will Be Punished
17 (A) This is a message about Damascus:
Damascus is doomed!
It will end up in ruins.
2 The villages around Aroer[a]
will be deserted,
with only sheep living there
and no one to bother them.
3 Israel[b] will lose its fortresses.
The kingdom of Damascus
will be destroyed;
its survivors will suffer
the same fate as Israel.
The Lord All-Powerful
has promised this.
Sin and Suffering
4 When that time comes,
the glorious nation of Israel
will be brought down;
its prosperous people
will be skin and bones.
5 Israel will be like wheat fields
in Rephaim Valley
picked clean of grain.
6 It will be like an olive tree
beaten with a stick,
leaving two or three olives
or maybe four or five
on the highest
or most fruitful branches.
The Lord God of Israel
has promised this.
7 At that time the people will turn and trust their Creator, the holy God of Israel. 8 They have built altars and places for burning incense to their goddess Asherah, and they have set up sacred poles[c] for her. But they will stop worshiping at these places.
9 Israel captured powerful cities and chased out the people who lived there. But these cities will lie in ruins, covered over with weeds and underbrush.[d]
10 Israel, you have forgotten
the God who saves you,
the one who is the mighty rock[e]
where you find protection.
You plant the finest flowers
to honor a foreign god.
11 The plants may sprout
and blossom
that very same morning,
but it will do you no good,
because you will suffer
endless agony.
God Defends His People
12 The nations are a noisy,
thunderous sea.
13 But even if they roar
like a fearsome flood,
God will give the command
to turn them back.
They will be like dust,
or like a tumbleweed
blowing across the hills
in a windstorm.
14 In the evening
their attack is fierce,
but by morning
they are destroyed.
This is what happens to those
who raid and rob us.
Footnotes
- 17.2 Aroer: Either a city near Damascus with the same name as the Moabite city or the Moabite city itself, here used as an example of what will happen to Damascus.
- 17.3 Israel: The Hebrew text has “Ephraim,” another name for the northern kingdom.
- 17.8 sacred poles: Or “trees,” used as symbols of Asherah, the goddess of fertility.
- 17.9 covered … underbrush: Hebrew; one ancient translation “like the cities of the Hivites and the Amorites.”
- 17.10 mighty rock: The Hebrew text has “rock,” which is sometimes used in poetry to compare the Lord to a mountain where his people can run for protection from their enemies.
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
- 17·3 舊約中常用以法蓮代表以色列國。
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