CHAPTER 17
1 The burden of Damascus. Lo! Damascus shall fail to be a city, and it shall be as an heap of stones in falling. (The burden of Damascus. Behold! Damascus shall cease to be a city, and it shall become but a heap of fallen stones.)
2 The forsaken cities of Aroer shall be to flocks; and they shall rest there, and none shall be that shall make afeared. (The deserted cities of Aroer shall be for flocks; and they shall rest there, and there shall be no one who shall make them afraid.)
3 And help shall cease from Ephraim, and a realm from Damascus; and the remnants of Syria shall be as the glory of the sons of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. (And no longer shall there be help, or any defence, for Ephraim, and no longer shall there be a kingdom in Damascus; and the remnants of Syria shall be like the glory of the Israelites, saith the Lord of hosts.)
4 And it shall be, in that day, (or And it shall be, on that day), the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall fade.
5 And it shall be as (the one) gathering together that that is left in harvest, and his arm shall gather ears of corn, and it shall be as (the one) seeking ears of corn in the valley of Rephaim.
6 And there shall be left in it as (but) a raisin, that is, (but) a little bow, with a little fruit, and as the shaking down of the fruit of (an) olive tree, as of two either of three olive trees in the highness of a branch, either of four or of five, (or like two or three olives on the highness of a branch, or four or five); in the tops thereof shall be the fruit thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel.
7 In that day a man shall be bowed to his maker, and his eyes shall behold to the Holy of Israel. (On that day a person shall bow before his Maker, and his eyes shall behold the Holy One of Israel.)
8 And he shall not be bowed to the altars, which his hands made, and which his fingers wrought; he shall not behold (the) woods (dedicated to idols), and [the] temples of idols.
9 In that day the cities of strength thereof shall be forsaken as plows, and [the] corns that were forsaken of the face of the sons of Israel; and thou shalt be forsaken. (On that day its strong cities shall be deserted, like the countryside, and also the cornfields that were left for the Israelites, yea, all shall be made desolate.)
10 For thou hast forgotten God, thy saviour, and haddest not mind on thy strong helper; therefore thou shalt plant a faithful planting, and thou shalt sow an alien seed. (For thou hast forgotten God, thy Saviour, and did not remember thy strong helper; and so thou shalt plant a garden dedicated to idols, and thou shalt sow a strange, or a foreign, seed.)
11 In the day of thy planting (it)shall be a wild vine, and early thy seed shall flower; ripe corn is taken away in the day of heritage, and Israel shall make sorrow grievously. (On the day of thy planting, it shall become a wild vine, and thy seed shall flower the next day; but the ripe corn shall be taken away on the day of harvest, and Israel shall grieve, and shall have sorrow.)
12 Woe to the multitude of many peoples, as the multitude of the sea sounding, and the noise of companies as the sound of many waters. (Woe to the multitude of many peoples, sounding like the roar of the sea, yea, the noise of their companies sounding like the thunder of many waters.)
13 Peoples shall sound as the sound of flowing waters, and God shall blame him; and he shall flee far, and he shall be ravished as the dust of hills from the face of the wind, and as a whirlwind before [the] tempest. (The peoples shall sound like the sound of flowing water, and God shall rebuke them; and they shall flee far away, and they shall be driven like the dust on the hills by the face of the wind, and like a whirlwind before the tempest.)
14 In the time of eventide, and lo! troubling; in the morrowtide, and he shall not abide. This is the part of them that destroyed us, and the part of them that ravished us. (At the time of evening, and behold! troubling, and by the morning, they all shall be gone. This is the portion for them who destroyed us, and the portion for those who robbed us.)