Isaiah 17
Lexham English Bible
Oracle of Judgment on Damascus
17 An oracle of Damascus:
“Look! Damascus will cease being a city
and will become a heap of ruins.
2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted;[a]
they will be for the flocks,
and they will lie down and no one will frighten[b] them.
3 And the fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
and the kingdom from Damascus;
and the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the children of Israel,”
declares[c] Yahweh of hosts.
4 “And this shall happen:
On that day, the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
and the fat of his flesh will become lean.
5 And it shall be as when a reaper gathers[d] standing grain
and he reaps grain with his arm,
and it shall be like one who gathers ears of grain
in the valley of Rephaim.
6 And gleanings will be left over in it, as when an olive tree is beaten,[e]
two or three ripe olive berries in the top of a branch,
four or five on its fruitful branches,”
declares[f] Yahweh, the God of Israel.
7 On that day, mankind will look to its maker,
and its eyes will look to the holy one of Israel;
8 it will not look to the altars,
the work of its hands,
and it will not see what its fingers made
and the poles of Asherah worship and the incense altars.
9 On that day, its fortified cities[g] will be like the abandonment of the wooded place and the summit,[h] which they deserted because of the children of Israel; and there will be desolation.
10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
and you have not remembered the rock of your refuge;
therefore you plant plants of pleasantness,
and you plant[i] a vine of a foreigner.
11 On your planting day you make them grow,
and in the morning of your sowing you bring them into bloom,
yet the harvest will flee[j] in a day of sickness and incurable pain.
The Roar of the Peoples
12 Ah! The noise of many peoples, they make a noise like the noise of the seas!
And the roar of nations, they roar like the roar of mighty waters!
13 The nations roar like the roar of many waters,
but he will rebuke him, and he will flee far away.
And they are chased like chaff of the mountains before the wind
and like tumbleweed before the storm.
14 At the time of evening, and look, terror!
Before morning he is no more.
This is the fate of those who plunder us
and the lot of those who plunder us.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 17:2 These words in Hebrew (and “flocks” in the next line) all begin with the same letter, Ayin
- Isaiah 17:2 Literally “there is not one who frightens”
- Isaiah 17:3 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 17:5 Literally “a gathering of a reaper of”
- Isaiah 17:6 Literally “beating of an olive tree”
- Isaiah 17:6 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 17:9 Literally “the cities of his fortress”
- Isaiah 17:9 Perhaps this difficult phrase originally read “abandonment of the wooded heights of the Amorites”
- Isaiah 17:10 Literally “plant it”
- Isaiah 17:11 Reading the same consonants as a verb, nad, rather than the noun ned, which would mean “a heap ofthe harvest”
Isaiah 17
New King James Version
Proclamation Against Syria and Israel
17 The (A)burden[a] against Damascus.
“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
2 [b]The cities of (B)Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks
Which lie down, and (C)no one will make them afraid.
3 (D)The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
4 “In that day it shall come to pass
That the glory of Jacob will [c]wane,
And (E)the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
5 (F)It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;
It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain
In the Valley of Rephaim.
6 (G)Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five in its most fruitful branches,”
Says the Lord God of Israel.
7 In that day a man will (H)look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
8 He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his (I)fingers have made,
Nor the [d]wooden images nor the incense altars.
9 In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken [e]bough
And [f]an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.
10 Because you have forgotten (J)the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your [g]stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise (K)like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will (L)rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And (M)be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 17:1 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 17:2 So with MT, Vg.; LXX It shall be forsaken forever; Tg. Its cities shall be forsaken and desolate
- Isaiah 17:4 fade
- Isaiah 17:8 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
- Isaiah 17:9 LXX Hivites; Tg. laid waste; Vg. as the plows
- Isaiah 17:9 LXX Amorites; Tg. in ruins; Vg. corn
- Isaiah 17:10 refuge
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
