Isaiah 17

A Prophecy Against Damascus

A prophecy^a concerning Damascus:^b

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city

but will become a heap of ruins.^c

The cities of Aroer^d will be deserted

and left to flocks,^e which will lie down,^f

with no one to make them afraid.^g

The fortified^h city will disappear from Ephraim,

and royal power from Damascus;

the remnant of Aram will be

like the gloryⁱ of the Israelites,”^j

declares the Lord Almighty.

“In that day^k the glory^l of Jacob will fade;

the fat of his body will waste^m away.

It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,

gatheringⁿ the grain in their arms—

as when someone gleans heads of grain^o

in the Valley of Rephaim.^p

Yet some gleanings will remain,^q

as when an olive tree is beaten,^r

leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,

four or five on the fruitful boughs,”

declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

In that day^s people will look^t to their Maker^u

and turn their eyes to the Holy One^v of Israel.

They will not look to the altars,^w

the work of their hands,^x

and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles^y

and the incense altars their fingers^z have made.

In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth.^a And all will be desolation.

You have forgotten^b God your Savior;^c

you have not remembered the Rock,^d your fortress.^e

Therefore, though you set out the finest plants

and plant imported vines,^f

though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,

and on the morning^g when you plant them, you bring them to bud,

yet the harvest^h will be as nothingⁱ

in the day of disease and incurable^j pain.^k

Woe to the many nations that rage^l—

they rage like the raging sea!^m

Woe to the peoples who roarⁿ—

they roar like the roaring of great waters!^o

Although the peoples roar^p like the roar of surging waters,

when he rebukes^q them they flee^r far away,

driven before the wind like chaff^s on the hills,

like tumbleweed before a gale.^t

In the evening, sudden^u terror!^v

Before the morning, they are gone!^w

This is the portion of those who loot us,

the lot of those who plunder us.