17 *The aburden of bDamascus.

Behold, Damascus is taken away cfrom being a city,

And it shall be a ruinous heap.

2  dThe cities of Aroer are forsaken:

They shall be for flocks,

Which eshall lie down, and efnone shall make them afraid.

3  gThe fortress also shall hcease from Ephraim,

And gthe kingdom from bDamascus, and the remnant of Syria:

They shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts.

4  And in that day it shall come to pass,

That gthe glory of Jacob shall be made thin,

And ithe fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

5  And it shall be jas when the harvestman gathereth the corn,

And reapeth the ears with his arm;

And it shall be as he that gathereth ears in kthe valley of Rephaim.

6  lYet mngleaning grapes shall be left in it, mas the shaking of an olive tree,

oTwo or three berries in the top of pthe uppermost bough,

qFour or five in rthe outmost fruitful branches thereof,

Saith the Lord God of Israel.

7  At that day shall a man look to shis Maker,

And his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

8  And he shall not look to the altars, tthe work of his hands,

Neither shall respect that which his fingers have made,

Either uvthe groves, or the ||vimages.

9  In that day shall his strong cities be

As a forsaken wbough, and pan uppermost branch,

xWhich they left because of the children of Israel:

And there shall be desolation.

10  Because thou hast forgotten ythe God of thy salvation,

And hast not been mindful of zthe rock of thy strength,

Therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants,

And shalt set it with strange slips:

11  In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow,

And in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish:

But the harvest shall be ||a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

12  Woe to the ||multitude of many people,

Which bmake a noise like athe noise of the seas;

And to athe rushing of nations,

That make a rushing like athe rushing of ||cmighty waters!

13  aThe nations shall rush like athe rushing of many waters:

But God shall drebuke them, and they shall flee far off,

And shall be chased eas the chaff of the mountains before the wind,

And like ||fa rolling thing before gthe whirlwind.

14  And behold at eveningtide trouble;

And before the morning he is not.

hThis is the portion of them that spoil us,

And the lot of them that rob us.