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Isaiah 17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Isaiah 17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 17
Damascus
1 Oracle on Damascus:[a]
See, Damascus shall cease to be a city
and become a pile of ruins;(A)
2 Her cities shall be forever abandoned,
for flocks to lie in undisturbed.
3 The fortress shall vanish from Ephraim[b]
and dominion from Damascus;
The remnant of Aram shall become like the glory
of the Israelites—
oracle of the Lord of hosts.
4 On that day
The glory of Jacob shall fade,
and his full body shall grow thin.(B)
5 Like the reaper’s mere armful of stalks,
when he gathers the standing grain;
Or as when one gleans the ears
in the Valley of Rephaim.[c]
6 [d]Only gleanings shall be left in it,
as when an olive tree has been beaten—
Two or three olives at the very top,
four or five on its most fruitful branches—
oracle of the Lord, the God of Israel.(C)
7 On that day people shall turn to their maker,
their eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel.(D)
8 They shall not turn to the altars, the work of their hands,
nor shall they look to what their fingers have made:
the asherahs[e] or the incense stands.
9 On that day his strong cities shall be
like those abandoned by the Hivites and Amorites
When faced with the Israelites;
and there shall be desolation.(E)
10 Truly, you have forgotten the God who saves you,
the Rock, your refuge, you have not remembered.(F)
Therefore, though you plant plants for the Pleasant One,[f]
and set out cuttings for a foreign one,(G)
11 Though you make them grow the day you plant them
and make them blossom the morning you set them out,
The harvest shall disappear on a day of sickness
and incurable pain.
12 Ah! the roaring of many peoples—[g]
a roar like the roar of the seas!
The thundering of nations—
thunder like the thundering of mighty waters!(H)
13 [h]But God shall rebuke them,
and they shall flee far away,
Driven like chaff on the mountains before a wind,
like tumbleweed before a storm.(I)
14 At evening, there is terror,
but before morning, they are gone!
Such is the portion of those who despoil us,
the lot of those who plunder us.(J)
Footnotes
- 17:1 Damascus: capital of Aram or Syria, conquered by Tiglath-pileser III at the end of the Syro-Ephraimite War in 732 B.C.
- 17:3 Ephraim: Israel, leagued with Aram against Judah in the Syro-Ephraimite War. Assyria ravaged and captured most of Israelite territory in 734–733 B.C. Like the glory of the Israelites: the remnant of Aram will be no more impressive than the pitiful remnant of the Northern Kingdom.
- 17:5 Valley of Rephaim: a fertile plain just to the southwest of Jerusalem (cf. Jos 15:8; 2 Sm 5:18). Since it was near a large population center, the fields there would be thoroughly gleaned by the poor after the harvest, leaving very few ears of grain.
- 17:6 Olives not easily picked by hand were knocked from the tree by means of a long stick; cf. 24:13.
- 17:8 Asherahs: see note on Ex 34:13. Incense stands: small altars on which incense was burned; cf. Is 27:9; Lv 26:30.
- 17:10 The Pleasant One: an epithet for a foreign god of fertility, probably Adonis, in whose honor saplings were planted.
- 17:12 Many peoples: the hordes that accompanied the invading Assyrians, whom God repels just as he vanquished the primeval waters of chaos; see notes on Jb 3:8; 7:12; Ps 89:11.
- 17:13–14 The passage seems to evoke the motif of invincibility, part of the early Zion tradition that Jerusalem could not be conquered because God protected it (Ps 48:1–8).
Isaiah 17
New International Version
Isaiah 17
New International Version
A Prophecy Against Damascus
17 A prophecy(A) against Damascus:(B)
“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
but will become a heap of ruins.(C)
2 The cities of Aroer(D) will be deserted
and left to flocks,(E) which will lie down,(F)
with no one to make them afraid.(G)
3 The fortified(H) city will disappear from Ephraim,
and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
like the glory(I) of the Israelites,”(J)
declares the Lord Almighty.
4 “In that day(K) the glory(L) of Jacob will fade;
the fat of his body will waste(M) away.
5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
gathering(N) the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain(O)
in the Valley of Rephaim.(P)
6 Yet some gleanings will remain,(Q)
as when an olive tree is beaten,(R)
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 In that day(S) people will look(T) to their Maker(U)
and turn their eyes to the Holy One(V) of Israel.
8 They will not look to the altars,(W)
the work of their hands,(X)
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles[a](Y)
and the incense altars their fingers(Z) have made.
9 In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth.(AA) And all will be desolation.
10 You have forgotten(AB) God your Savior;(AC)
you have not remembered the Rock,(AD) your fortress.(AE)
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
and plant imported vines,(AF)
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
and on the morning(AG) when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest(AH) will be as nothing(AI)
in the day of disease and incurable(AJ) pain.(AK)
12 Woe to the many nations that rage(AL)—
they rage like the raging sea!(AM)
Woe to the peoples who roar(AN)—
they roar like the roaring of great waters!(AO)
13 Although the peoples roar(AP) like the roar of surging waters,
when he rebukes(AQ) them they flee(AR) far away,
driven before the wind like chaff(AS) on the hills,
like tumbleweed before a gale.(AT)
14 In the evening, sudden(AU) terror!(AV)
Before the morning, they are gone!(AW)
This is the portion of those who loot us,
the lot of those who plunder us.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 17:8 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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