Isaiah 17
Modern English Version
An Oracle Concerning Damascus
17 The oracle of Damascus.
See, Damascus will cease from being a city;
it shall be a ruinous heap.
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken;
they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down,
and no one shall make them afraid.
3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim,
and the kingdom from Damascus,
and the remnant of Aram;
they shall be as the glory of the sons of Israel,
says the Lord of Hosts.
4 In that day the glory of Jacob shall decrease,
and the fatness of his flesh shall grow lean.
5 It shall be as when the harvestman gathers the corn
and reaps the ears with his arm,
and it shall be as he who gathers ears
in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it,
as the shaking of an olive tree,
two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough,
four or five in its outmost fruitful branches,
says the Lord God of Israel.
7 On that day a man shall look to his Maker,
and his eyes shall have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
8 He shall not look to the altars,
the work of his hands,
nor shall he respect what his fingers have made,
either the groves or the images.
9 In that day his strong cities shall be as a forsaken bough and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the sons of Israel; and there shall be a desolation.
10 Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation
and have not been mindful of the rock of your strength,
therefore you plant pleasant plants
and set them with vine slips of a strange god;
11 in the day that you plant it, you carefully fence it in,
and in the morning you make your seed to flourish;
but the harvest shall be a heap of ruins
in the day of grief and desperate pain.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people
who make a noise like the noise of the seas,
and the rushing of many peoples
who make a rumble like the rumbling of mighty waters!
13 The nations rumble like the rumbling of many waters;
but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off,
and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
and like rolling dust before the whirlwind.
14 At evening time, sudden terror!
And before the morning, they are no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
and the lot of those who rob us.
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”
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