The Book of the Prophet Isaiah

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- Chapter 17 -

(Jeremiah 49:23–27)

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and it will be like a heap of stones in ruin.

The cities in ruin will be left for the flocks, and they will take rest there, and there will be no one who may terrify them.

And assistance will cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom will cease from Damascus. And the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the sons of Israel, says the Lord of hosts.

And this shall be in that day: the glory of Jacob will be thinned, and the fatness of his flesh will be reduced.

And it shall be like the gathering of the harvest which remains, and his arm will pick the ears of grain. And it shall be like a search for grain in the valley of Rephaim.

And what is left behind in it will be like one cluster of grapes, or like a shaken olive tree with two or three olives at the top of a branch, or like four or five olives at the top of a tree, says the Lord God of Israel.

In that day, a man will bow before his Maker, and his eyes will consider the Holy One of Israel.

And he will not bow before the altars that his hands have made. And he will not consider the things that his fingers have made, the sacred groves and the shrines.

In that day, his strong cities will be abandoned, like the plows and the grain fields which were left behind before the face of the sons of Israel, and you shall be deserted.(a)

For you have forgotten God your Savior, and you have not remembered your strong Helper. Because of this, you will plant trustworthy plants, but you will sow a foreign seed.

In the day of your planting, the wild grapevine and your morning seed will flourish. The harvest has been taken away to the day of inheritance, and you will grieve heavily.

Woe to the multitude of many peoples, like the multitude of the roaring sea! Woe to the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters!(b)

The peoples will make a noise, like the noise of waters overflowing, but he will rebuke him, and so he will flee far away. And he will be quickly taken away, like the dust of the mountains before the face of the wind, and like a whirlwind before a tempest.

In the time of the evening, behold: there will be a disturbance. When it is early morning, he will not remain. This is the portion of those who have devastated us, and this is the lot of those who have plundered us.

Footnotes

(a)17:9 That were left:Viz., by the Chanaanites, when the children of Israel came into their land.(Challoner)

(b)17:12 The multitude, etc:This and all that follows to the end of the chapter, relates to the Assyrian army under Sennacherib.(Challoner)

(Jeremiah 49:23–27)

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

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

The 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.

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

It 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.

Yet 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.

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

They 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.

In 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.

For 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.

In 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.

Ah, 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!

The 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.

At 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.