Isaiah

The Burden against Damascus

1This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city;it has become a heap of ruins.

2The cities of Aroer are forsaken;they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.

3The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,and the sovereignty from Damascus.The remnant of Aram will belike the splendor of the Israelites,”declares the LORD of Hosts.

4“In that day the splendor of Jacob will fade,and the fat of his body will waste away,

5as the reaper gathers the standing grainand harvests the ears with his arm,as one gleans heads of grainin the Valley of Rephaim.

6Yet gleanings will remain,like an olive tree that has been beaten—two or three berries atop the tree,four or five on its fruitful branches,”declares the LORD, the God of Israel.

7In that day men will look to their Makerand turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.

8They will not look to the altarsthey have fashioned with their handsor to the Asherahs and incense altarsthey have made with their fingers.

9In that day their strong citieswill be like forsaken thickets and summits,abandoned to the Israelitesand to utter desolation.

10For you have forgotten the God of your salvationand failed to remember the Rock of your refuge.Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plotsand set out cuttings from exotic vines—

11though on the day you plantyou make them grow,and on that morningyou help your seed sprout—yet the harvest will vanishon the day of disease and incurable pain.

12Alas, the tumult of many peoples;they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.

13The nations rage like the rush of many waters.He rebukes them, and they flee far away,driven before the wind like chaff on the hills,like tumbleweeds before a gale.

14In the evening, there is sudden terror!Before morning, they are no more!This is the portion of those who loot usand the lot of those who plunder us.

1The burden of Damascus. “Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap.

2The cities of Aroer are forsaken. They will be for flocks, which shall lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.

3The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria. They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” says the LORD of Armies.

4“It will happen in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

5It will be like when the harvester gathers the wheat, and his arm reaps the grain. Yes, it will be like when one gleans grain in the valley of Rephaim.

6Yet gleanings will be left there, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outermost branches of a fruitful tree,” says the LORD, the God of Israel.

7In that day, people will look to their Maker, and their eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.

8They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they respect that which their fingers have made, either the Asherah poles or the incense altars.

9In that day, their strong cities will be like the forsaken places in the woods and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel; and it will be a desolation.

10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your strength. Therefore you plant pleasant plants, and set out foreign seedlings.

11In the day of your planting, you hedge it in. In the morning, you make your seed blossom, but the harvest flees away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

12Ah, the uproar of many peoples who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!

13The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far off, and will be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm.

14At evening, behold, terror! Before the morning, they are no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us.