Isaiah 17
17
Chapter 17
A message about Damascus
1This is a message about Damascus:
‘Look! Damascus is no longer a city! It has become a heap of stones.
2Nobody lives in the cities of Aroer. Sheep and goats can safely go there to eat. They can lie down there and nobody will chase them away. 3There will be no strong cities in Ephraim. #17:3 Ephraim was the Israelite kingdom in the north. No king will rule in Damascus. The few people who remain in Syria are no longer great, like Israel's people!’
That is what the Lord Almighty says.
4‘At that time, Israel will no longer be great. It will be like a rich, fat person who becomes weak and hungry.
5Israel will be like a field of grain in Rephaim valley after the harvest. The workers have cut down the crops. They have picked up the grain from the ground. 6There will be only a few people that remain in Israel. They will be like a few olives that remain on a tree after the harvest. Perhaps two or three olives are still there on the highest branches. Four or five olives may remain on the other branches.’
That is what the Lord God of Israel says.
7At that time, people will turn back to their Maker. They will trust the Holy God of Israel to help them.
8They will no longer trust their idols to help them. They made altars for themselves, where they worshipped their gods. They worshipped Asherah at special poles. They made altars where they burned incense. But they will not do those things any more.
9At that time, Israel's strong cities will be empty. People will run away from those cities, as the Amorites ran away from the hills when the Israelites attacked them. Israel's strong cities will become heaps of stones. 10That will happen because you have forgotten the God who rescues you. He is the Rock where you can safely hide, but you have turned away from him. #17:10 ‘the Rock’ means God.
Instead, you plant the best plants and vines in your gardens. You buy them from foreign countries for a lot of money. 11You take care of them so that they grow quickly. They may even make flowers on the same morning that you plant them! But you will never have any fruit from them. You will only get trouble and pain that will never go away.
12It will be very bad for the armies of other nations! They are making a noise like the sea in a storm! They are as loud as powerful waves! 13But it does not matter how much noise they make. Those people may roar like powerful waves, but the Lord will shout at them to stop. Then they will run far away! They will run like the wind as it blows chaff across the hills. It will be like a strong storm that carries away dead weeds!
14Look at what happens! In the evening the enemy attacks, and we are very afraid. But by the morning they have disappeared! That is what happens to people who attack us. Anyone who tries to take away our valuable things for themselves will fail.
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MissionAssist 2018
Isaiah 17
17
A Pronouncement against Damascus
1A pronouncement#Is 13:1 concerning Damascus:#Gn 14:15; 15:2; 2Kg 16:9; Jr 49:23; Am 1:3–5; Zch 9:1; Ac 9:2
Look, Damascus is no longer a city.
It has become a ruined heap.
2The cities of Aroer are abandoned;
they will be places for flocks.
They will lie down without fear.
3The fortress disappears from Ephraim,#Is 7:8,16; 8:4
and a kingdom from Damascus.
The remnant of Aram will be
like the splendor of the Israelites.
This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
Judgment against Israel
4On that day
the splendor of Jacob will fade,
and his healthy body#17:4 Lit and the fat of his flesh will become emaciated.#Is 10:16
5It will be as if a reaper had gathered standing grain —
his arm harvesting the heads of grain —
and as if one had gleaned heads of grain
in Rephaim Valley.#2Sm 5:18,22
6Only gleanings will be left in Israel,#Dt 4:27; Is 24:13; 27:12; Ob 5; Rm 11:19
as if an olive tree had been beaten —
two or three olives at the very top of the tree,
four or five on its fruitful branches.
This is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel.
7On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.#Is 1:4 8They will not look to the altars#2Ch 34:7; Is 27:9 they made with their hands or to the Asherahs and shrines#17:8 Or incense altars#Ex 34:13; Dt 7:5; Mc 5:14 they made with their fingers.
9On that day their strong cities will be
like the abandoned woods and mountaintops
that were abandoned because of the Israelites;
there will be desolation.
10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
and you have failed to remember
the rock of your strength;#Dt 6:12; 8:11,14,19; 32:18; Jdg 3:7; 1Sm 12:9; Ps 106:21; Is 8:14; 26:4; 51:13; Jr 3:21; 13:25; Ezk 22:12; 23:35; Hs 2:13
therefore you will plant beautiful plants
and set out cuttings from exotic vines.
11On the day that you plant,
you will help them to grow,
and in the morning
you will help your seed to sprout,
but the harvest will vanish
on the day of disease and incurable pain.
Judgment against the Nations
12Ah! The roar of many peoples —
they roar like the roaring of the seas.
The raging of the nations —
they rage like the rumble of rushing water.#Ps 2:1; 93:1–5; Is 8:9–10; Lk 21:25
13The nations rage like the rumble of a huge torrent.#Is 33:3
He rebukes them, and they flee far away,#Ps 9:5; Is 41:11
driven before the wind like chaff on the hills#Jb 21:18; Ps 1:4; 83:13; Is 29:5; 41:15–16
and like tumbleweeds before a gale.
14In the evening — sudden terror!
Before morning — it is gone!
This is the fate of those who plunder us
and the lot of those who ravage us.
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