Add parallel Print Page Options

An Oracle concerning Damascus

17 An oracle concerning Damascus.

See, Damascus will cease to be a city,
    and will become a heap of ruins.
Her towns will be deserted forever;[a]
    they will be places for flocks,
    which will lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,
    and the kingdom from Damascus;
and the remnant of Aram will be
    like the glory of the children of Israel,
says the Lord of hosts.

On that day
    the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
    and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.
And it shall be as when reapers gather standing grain
    and their arms harvest the ears,
and as when one gleans the ears of grain
    in the Valley of Rephaim.
Gleanings will be left in it,
    as when an olive tree is beaten—
two or three berries
    in the top of the highest bough,
four or five
    on the branches of a fruit tree,
says the Lord God of Israel.

On that day people will regard their Maker, and their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel; they will not have regard for the altars, the work of their hands, and they will not look to what their own fingers have made, either the sacred poles[b] or the altars of incense.

On that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the Hivites and the Amorites,[c] 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 have not remembered the Rock of your refuge;
therefore, though you plant pleasant plants
    and set out slips of an alien god,
11 though you make them grow on the day that you plant them,
    and make them blossom in the morning that you sow;
yet the harvest will flee away
    in a day of grief and incurable pain.

12 Ah, the thunder of many peoples,
    they thunder like the thundering of the sea!
Ah, the roar of nations,
    they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,
    but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind
    and whirling dust before the storm.
14 At evening time, lo, terror!
    Before morning, they are no more.
This is the fate of those who despoil us,
    and the lot of those who plunder us.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:2 Cn Compare Gk: Heb the cities of Aroer are deserted
  2. Isaiah 17:8 Heb Asherim
  3. Isaiah 17:9 Cn Compare Gk: Heb places of the wood and the highest bough

Bible Gateway Recommends

NRSV Catholic Edition Bible, Eucalyptus--hardcover
NRSV Catholic Edition Bible, Eucalyptus--hardcover
Retail: $29.99
Our Price: $19.99
Save: $10.00 (33%)
NRSV Catholic Prayer Bible Lectio Divina Edition
NRSV Catholic Prayer Bible Lectio Divina Edition
Retail: $29.95
Our Price: $26.96
Save: $2.99 (10%)
4.5 of 5.0 stars
NRSV Catholic Edition Bible, Bird of Paradise--hardcover
NRSV Catholic Edition Bible, Bird of Paradise--hardcover
Retail: $29.99
Our Price: $19.99
Save: $10.00 (33%)
NRSVue, Holy Bible, Leathersoft, Black, Comfort Print
NRSVue, Holy Bible, Leathersoft, Black, Comfort Print
Retail: $49.99
Our Price: $33.99
Save: $16.00 (32%)
NRSV XL Catholic Bible, Imitation Leather, Navy
NRSV XL Catholic Bible, Imitation Leather, Navy
Retail: $69.99
Our Price: $27.99
Save: $42.00 (60%)
5.0 of 5.0 stars