Isaiah 17
World English Bible
17 The burden of Damascus.
“Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap. 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken. They will be for flocks, which shall lie down, and no one shall make them afraid. 3 The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria. They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” says Yahweh of Armies.
4 “It will happen in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean. 5 It will be like when the harvester gathers the wheat, and his arm reaps the grain. Yes, it will be like when one gleans grain in the valley of Rephaim. 6 Yet gleanings will be left there, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outermost branches of a fruitful tree,” says Yahweh, the God of Israel. 7 In that day, people will look to their Maker, and their eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel. 8 They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they respect that which their fingers have made, either the Asherah poles, or the incense altars. 9 In that day, their strong cities will be like the forsaken places in the woods and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel; and it will be a desolation. 10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your strength. Therefore you plant pleasant plants, and set out foreign seedlings. 11 In the day of your planting, you hedge it in. In the morning, you make your seed blossom, but the harvest flees away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Ah, the uproar of many peoples, who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters! 13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters: but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far off, and will be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm. 14 At evening, behold, terror! 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
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
An Oracle concerning Damascus
17 An oracle concerning Damascus.
See, Damascus will cease to be a city
and will become a heap of ruins.(A)
2 Her towns will be deserted forever;[a]
they will be places for flocks,
which will lie down, and no one will make them afraid.(B)
3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim
and the kingdom from Damascus,
and the remnant of Aram will be
like the glory of the people of Israel,
says the Lord of hosts.(C)
4 On that day
the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.(D)
5 And it shall be as when reapers gather standing grain
and their arms harvest the ears,
and as when one gleans the ears of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.(E)
6 Gleanings will be left in it,
as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three berries
in the top of the highest bough,
four or five
on the branches of a fruit tree,
says the Lord God of Israel.(F)
7 On that day people will look to their Maker, with their eyes on the Holy One of Israel;(G) 8 they will not have regard for the altars, the work of their hands, and they will not look to what their own fingers have made, either the sacred poles[b] or the altars of incense.(H)
9 On that day their fortified cities will be like the deserted places of the Hivites and the Amorites,[c] which they deserted because of the people of Israel, and there will be desolation.(I)
10 For you have forgotten God your Savior
and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge;
therefore, though you plant pleasant gardens
and set out branches of a foreign god,(J)
11 though you make them grow on the day that you plant them
and make them blossom in the morning that you sow,
yet the harvest will flee away
in a day of sickness and incurable pain.(K)
12 Woe, the thunder of many peoples,
they thunder like the thundering of the sea!
The roar of nations,
they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!(L)
13 [[When the nations roar like the roaring of many waters,]][d]
he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind
and like whirling dust before the storm.(M)
14 At evening time, sudden terror!
Before morning, they are no more.
This is the fate of those who despoil us
and the lot of those who plunder us.(N)
by Public Domain. The name "World English Bible" is trademarked.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.