Isaiah 17
17
1A message about Damascus. Look, Damascus will cease to exist as a city. Instead it will become a pile of ruins. 2The towns of Aroer will be abandoned. Flocks will live in the streets and rest there, because there won't be anyone to chase them away. 3The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,#17:3. In other words, Samaria, capital city of the northern tribes symbolized by Ephraim, will be destroyed. Damascus will no longer be a kingdom, and those that are left of the Arameans will be like the lost glory of Israel, declares the Lord Almighty.
4At that time the glory of Jacob will fade away; he will lose his strength.#17:4. “He will lose his strength”: literally, “the fat of his flesh will become lean.” 5It will look as empty as fields after reapers have harvested the grain, gathering up the grain in their arms. It will be like when people pick the heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. 6Yet there will be some left behind, like an olive tree that has been shaken—two or three ripe olives are left at the top of the tree, four or five on its lower branches, declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
7At that time people will pay attention to their Creator and look to the Holy One of Israel. 8They won't believe in the altars they built and the idols they made; they will not look to the Asherah poles or the altars of incense.
9At that time their fortified cities will be like places left to be taken over by bushes and trees, just as they were previously abandoned when the Israelites invaded.#17:9. The reference is made to the time when the Israelites conquered the land. This is made explicit in the Septuagint which states that the cities will be abandoned just as the Amorites and the Hivites had done when confronted by the Israelites. The country will become completely desolate.
10You have forgotten the God who saves you; you have not remembered the Rock who protects you. So, even though you plant beautiful plants and grow exotic vines, 11even though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and have them blossom in the morning that you sow them,#17:11. Clearly an impossibility, and is to be taken as a symbol of the rapid “cultivation” of pagan fertility religions. your harvest will heap of trouble on a day of grief and pain that cannot be cured.
12Disaster is coming to the many nations that growl, growling like the raging sea! Disaster is coming to the peoples who roar, roaring like thundering waters!#17:12. While the nation is not named, this prophecy probably applies to Assyria. 13The nations roar like the roaring of crashing waves. But he#17:13. “He”: referring to the Lord. confronts them, and they run far away, blown by the wind like chaff on the mountains, like tumbleweeds driven by a storm. 14Sudden terror comes in the evening! By morning, they're gone! This is what happens to those who loot us, the fate of those who plunder us.
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Isaiah 17: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 17
17
Prophecies Against Damascus and Israel
1Here is a prophecy against Damascus that the Lord gave me. He said,
“Damascus will not be a city anymore.
Instead, all its buildings will be knocked down.
2The cities of Aroer will be deserted.
They will be left to the flocks that lie down there.
No one will make them afraid.
3Ephraim’s people will no longer have cities with high walls around them.
Royal power will disappear from Damascus.
Those who are left alive in Aram
will be like the glory of the people of Israel,”
announces the Lord who rules over all.
4“In days to come, the glory of Jacob’s people will fade.
Their strength will get weaker and weaker.
5It will be as when workers cut and gather grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
They gather up stalks in their arms.
Only a few heads of grain are left.
6In the same way, only a few people will be left alive.
It will be as when workers knock olives off the trees.
Only two or three olives are left on the highest branches.
Four or five at most are left on the limbs that produce fruit,”
announces the Lord, the God of Israel.
7In days to come, people will look to their Maker for help.
They will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
8They won’t trust in the altars
they made with their own hands.
They won’t pay any attention to the poles they used
to worship the female god named Asherah.
And they won’t depend on the incense altars
they made with their own fingers.
9At that time the strong cities in Israel will be deserted. They will be as they were when the Israelites drove the Canaanites away. They will be like places that are taken over by bushes and weeds. The whole land will become dry and empty.
10Israel, you have forgotten God, who saves you.
You have not remembered the Rock, who keeps you safe.
You might set out the finest plants.
You might plant vines from other lands.
11The plants might start to grow on the day you set them out.
The vines might begin to bud on the morning you plant them.
But even if they do, there won’t be any harvest.
Instead, there will be sickness and pain that won’t go away.
12How terrible it will be for the nations that attack us!
The noise of their armies is like the sound of the ocean.
How terrible it will be for the nations who fight against us!
They are as loud as huge waves crashing on the shore.
13They sound like the roar of rushing waters.
But when the Lord speaks out against them, they run far away.
The wind blows them away like straw on the hills.
A strong wind drives them along like tumbleweeds.
14In the evening, the nations terrify us.
But before morning comes, they are gone.
That’s what happens to those who steal our goods.
That’s what happens to those who take what belongs to us.
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