Isaiah 17:1–19:17
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.
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 fleej in a day of sickness and incurable pain.
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.
18 Ah! land of the whirring of wings,
which is beyond the rivers of Cush,
2 that sends messengers by the sea
and in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters!
Go, swift messengers, to a ⌊tall⌋a and ⌊smooth⌋b nation,
to a people feared ⌊near and far⌋,c
a ⌊mighty, mighty⌋d and tramplinge nation,
whose land rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world
and dwellers of the earth,
⌊when a signal is raised on the⌋f mountains, you must look,
and ⌊when a trumpet is blown⌋,g you must listen!
“I will be quiet,
and I will look from my dwelling place
like ⌊clear heat because of light⌋,h
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, ⌊when the blossom is complete⌋i
and a blossom becomes ripening fruit,
and one cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks,
and one removes, tears away the tendrils.
6 They shall ⌊all be left⌋j for birdsk of prey of the mountains
and for the animalsl of the earth.
And the birdsm of prey will pass the summer on it,
and every animal of the earth will winter on it.
7 At that time, a giftn will be brought to Yahweh of hosts
from a ⌊tall⌋o and ⌊smooth⌋p people,
and from a people feared near and far,
a mighty, mighty and trampling nation,
whose land the rivers divide,
to the place of the name of Yahweh of hosts,
the mountain of Zion.
19 An oracle of Egypt:
Look! Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud
and is coming to Egypt.
And the idols of Egypt will tremble in front of him,
and the heart of Egypt melts in his inner parts.
2 “And I will stir up ⌊Egyptians⌋a against ⌊Egyptians⌋,b
and each one will fight against his brother
and each one against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of ⌊the Egyptians⌋c will be disturbed in his midst,
and I will ⌊confuse⌋d his plans,e
and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
and the ghosts and the spiritists.
4 And I will hand over ⌊the Egyptians⌋f into the hand of a hard master,
and a powerful king will rule over them,”
⌊declares⌋g the Lord Yahweh of hosts.
5 And the waters will be dried up from the sea,
and the river will be parched and dry.
6 And the rivers will become foul-smelling;
the branches of the Nile of Egypt will become little and dry up;
reed and rush will wither.
7 Bare places by the Nile will be dried up,
by the edge of the Nile and all the sown land of the Nile;
it will be driven about, and ⌊it will be no more⌋.h
and all of those who cast fishhooksi in the Nile will lament,
and those who spread out fishing netsj on the ⌊surface⌋k of the water will languish.
9 And the workers of combed flax will be ashamed,
and those who weave white linen.
10 And her weavers will be crushed;
all the ⌊hired workers⌋l will be grieved of heart.
11 Surely the princes of Zoan are foolish;
the wise of the counselors of Pharaoh give senseless counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I myself am a son of sages,
a ⌊descendant⌋m of ancient kings”?
Now, let them tell you,
and let them know what Yahweh of hosts has planned against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan have become foolish;
the princes of Memphis are deceived;
the leaders of her tribes have led Egypt astray.
14 Yahweh has mixed a spirit of confusion into her midst,
and they have caused Egypt to stagger in all of its doings,
as ⌊when a drunkard staggers⌋n in his vomit.
15 And ⌊there will be nothing for Egypt to do⌋,o
head or tail, palm branch or reed.
The Future Blessing of Egypt, Assyria, and Egypt
16 On that day, Egypt will be like women, and will tremble and be afraid before the waving hand of Yahweh of hosts that he is waving against it. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt, everyone to whom one mentions it will be afraid in himself because of the plan of Yahweh of hosts that he is planning against him.