Isaiah 17–18

An Oracle against Damascus

17An oracle ^bagainst Damascus: ^c

Look, Damascus is no longer a city.

It has become a ruined heap.

²The cities of Aroer are forsaken;

they will be places for flocks.

They will lie down without fear.

³The fortress disappears from Ephraim, ^d

and a kingdom from Damascus.

The remnant of Aram will be

like the splendor of the Israelites.

This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

Judgment against Israel

⁴On that day

the splendor of Jacob will fade,

and his healthy body ^ewill become emaciated. ^f

⁵It will be as if a reaper had gathered standing grain—

his arm harvesting the heads of grain—

and as if one had gleaned heads of grain

in the Valley of Rephaim. ^g

⁶Only gleanings will be left in Israel, ^h

as if an olive tree had been beaten—

two or three berries at the very top of the tree,

four or five on its fruitful branches.

This is the declaration of the Lord,

the God of Israel.

⁷On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. ⁱ⁸They will not look to the altars ^jthey made with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars ^kthey made with their fingers.

⁹On that day their strong cities will be

like the abandoned woods and mountaintops ^l

that were abandoned because of the Israelites;

there will be desolation.

¹⁰For you have forgotten the God of your salvation,

and you have failed to remember

the rock of your strength; ^m

therefore you will plant beautiful plants

and set out cuttings from exotic vines.

¹¹On the day that you plant,

you will help them to grow,

and in the morning

you will help your seed to sprout,

but the harvest will vanish

on the day of disease and incurable pain.

Judgment against the Nations

¹²Ah! The roar of many peoples—

they roar like the roaring of the seas.

The raging of the nations—

they rage like the raging of mighty waters. ⁿ

¹³The nations rage like the raging of many waters. ^o

He rebukes them, and they flee far away, ^p

driven before the wind like chaff on the hills ^q

and like tumbleweeds before a gale.

¹⁴In the evening—sudden terror!

Before morning—it is gone!

This is the fate of those who plunder us

and the lot of those who ravage us.

The Lord’s Message to Cush

18Ah! The land of buzzing insect wings ^r

beyond the rivers of Cush ^s

²sends couriers by sea,

in reed vessels on the waters.

Go, swift messengers,

to a nation tall and smooth-skinned,

to a people feared far and near,

a powerful nation with a strange language, ^t

whose land is divided by rivers.

³All you inhabitants of the world

and you who live on the earth,

when a banner is raised on the mountains, look!

When a trumpet sounds, listen!

⁴For, the Lord said to me:

I will quietly look out from My place,

like shimmering heat in sunshine,

like a rain cloud in harvest heat.

⁵For before the harvest, when the blossoming is over

and the blossom becomes a ripening grape,

He will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife,

and tear away and remove the branches.

⁶They will all be left for the birds of prey on the hills

and for the wild animals of the land.

The birds will spend the summer on them,

and all the animals, the winter on them.

⁷At that time a gift will be brought to Yahweh of Hosts from ^ua people tall and smooth-skinned, ^va people feared far and near, a powerful nation with a strange language, whose land is divided by rivers—to Mount Zion, the place of the name of Yahweh of Hosts.