On that day [a]their strong cities will be like [b]abandoned places in the forest,
Or like branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel;
And [c]the land will be a desolation.
10 For (A)you have forgotten the (B)God of your salvation
And have not remembered the (C)rock of your refuge.
Therefore you plant delightful plants
And set them with vine shoots of a strange god.
11 On the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,
And in the (D)morning you bring your seed to blossom;
But the harvest will (E)flee
On a day of illness and incurable pain.

12 Oh, the uproar of many peoples
(F)Who roar like the roaring of the seas,
And the rumbling of nations
Who rush on like the (G)rumbling of mighty waters!
13 The (H)nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters,
But He will (I)rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
And be chased (J)like chaff on the mountains before the wind,
Or like whirling dust before a gale.
14 At evening time, behold, there is terror!
Before morning (K)they are gone.
This will be the [d]fate of those who plunder us
And the lot of those who pillage us.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:9 Lit his; i.e., mankind’s
  2. Isaiah 17:9 LXX the deserted places of the Amorites and the Hivites which they abandoned
  3. Isaiah 17:9 Lit it
  4. Isaiah 17:14 Lit portion

Desolation to the Nations

“At that time,[a] their fortified cities
    that they abandoned because of the Israelis
will be like desolate places[b] of the forests and hilltops—[c]
    there will be desolation.
10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
    and have not remembered the Rock
        that is your strength.
Therefore even though you plant delightful plants,
    sowing them with imported vine-seedlings,
11 at the time that you plant them,
    carefully making them grow,
the very morning you make your seed to sprout,
    your harvest will be ruined[d]
        in a time of grief and unbearable pain.”[e]

12 “How terrible it will be for many peoples,
    who rage like the roaring sea!
Oh, how the uproar of nations
    is like the sound of rushing, mighty water—
    How they roar!
13 The nations roar like the rushing of many waters,[f]
    but the Lord[g] will rebuke them,
and they will run far away,
    chased like chaff blown down from the mountains
or like thick dust[h] that rolls along,
    blown along by a wind storm.
14 When the evening arrives, watch out—sudden terror!
    By morning they will be there no longer!
So it will be for those who plunder us
    and what will happen to those who rob us.”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:9 Lit. On that day,
  2. Isaiah 17:9 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; MT reads place
  3. Isaiah 17:9 Or the Hivites and Amorites
  4. Isaiah 17:11 Lit. become a pile
  5. Isaiah 17:11 Lit. and sorrow
  6. Isaiah 17:13 So 1QIsaa MT; cf. LXX; MTms Syr lack this line
  7. Isaiah 17:13 Lit. but he
  8. Isaiah 17:13 Lit. like something