“Behold, Damascus is about to be ^(C)removed from being a city
And will become a ^(D)fallen ruin.

²³ Concerning ^(A)Damascus.
“^(B)Hamath and ^(C)Arpad are put to shame,
For they have heard a bad report;
They are ^(D)melting away.
There is anxiety by the sea,
It ^(E)cannot be quieted.
²⁴ Damascus has become limp in their hands;
She has turned away to flee,
And panic has taken hold of her;
^(F)Distress and pangs have seized her
Like a woman in childbirth.
²⁵ How ^[a]the ^(G)city of praise has not been forsaken,
The town of My joy!
²⁶ Therefore, her ^(H)young men will fall in her open squares,
And all the men of war will be ^[b]silenced in that day,” declares Yahweh of hosts.
²⁷ “I will ^(I)set fire to the wall of Damascus,
And it will devour the ^[c]fortified towers of ^(J)Ben-hadad.”

“For ^(A)three transgressions of ^(B)Damascus and for four
I will not turn back its punishment
Because they threshed Gilead with implements of sharp iron.
⁴ So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael,
And it will consume the citadels of ^(C)Ben-hadad.
⁵ I will also ^(D)break the gate bar of Damascus
And cut off the inhabitant from the ^[a]valley of Aven
And him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
So the people of Aram will go into exile to ^(E)Kir,”
Says Yahweh.