Isaiah 17

New King James Version

“Behold, Damascus will cease frombeinga city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
^2 [b]The cities of^(B)Aroerareforsaken;
They will be for flocks
Which lie down, and^(C)no one will makethemafraid.
^3 (D)The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,”
Says theLordof hosts.

⁴ “In that day it shall come to pass
Thatthe glory of Jacob will^[c]wane,
And^(E)the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
^5 (F)It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;
It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain
In the Valley of Rephaim.
^6 (G)Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree,
Twoorthree olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Fourorfive in its most fruitful branches,”
Says theLordGod of Israel.

⁷ In that day a man will^(H)look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
⁸ He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his^(I)fingers have made,
Nor the^[d]wooden images nor the incense altars.

⁹ In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken^[e]bough
And^[f]an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.

¹⁰ Because you have forgotten^(J)the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your^[g]stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
¹¹ In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
Butthe harvestwill bea heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.

¹² Woe to the multitude of many people
Whomake a noise^(K)like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
Thatmake a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
¹³ The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
ButGodwill^(L)rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And^(M)be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
¹⁴ Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
Andbefore the morning, heisno more.
Thisisthe portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.