1  The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

1  THE WORD AGAINST DAMASCUS. Behold, Damascus shall be taken away from among cities, and shall become a ruin;

1  THE prophecy concerning the fall of Damascus. Behold, Damascus shall cease to be a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

2  The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

2  abandoned for ever, to be a fold and resting-place for flocks, and there shall be none to go after them.

2  The cities in ruin will be left for the flocks, and they will take rest there, and there will be no one who may terrify them.

3  The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Aram shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith YHWH of hosts.

3  And she shall no longer be a strong place for Ephraim to flee to, and there shall no longer be a kingdom in Damascus, or a remnant of Syrians; for thou art no better than the children of Israel, even than their glory; thus saith the Lord of hosts.

4  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

4  There shall be in that day a failure of the glory of Jacob, and the riches of his glory shall be shaken.

4  And this shall be in that day: the glory of Jacob will be thinned, and the fatness of his flesh will be reduced.

5  And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the standing corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; yea, it shall be as when one gleaneth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

5  And it shall be as if one should gather standing corn, and reap the grain of the ears; and it shall be as if one should gather ears in a rich valley;

5  And it shall be like the gathering of the harvest which remains, and his arm will pick the ears of grain. And it shall be like a search for grain in the valley of Rephaim.

6  Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as at the beating of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the branches of the fruitful tree, saith YHWH, the God of Israel.

6  And what is left behind in it will be like one cluster of grapes, or like a shaken olive tree with two or three olives at the top of a branch, or like four or five olives at the top of a tree, says the Lord God of Israel.

7  In that day shall a man regard his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel.

7  In that day a man shall trust in him that made him, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

8  And he shall not regard the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall he look to that which his fingers have made, either the Asherim, or the sun-images.

8  And they shall not at all trust in their altars, nor in the works of their hands, which their fingers made; and they shall not look to the trees, nor to their abominations.

8  And he will not bow before the altars that his hands have made. And he will not consider the things that his fingers have made, the sacred groves and the shrines.

9  In that day shall his strong cities be as the forsaken places, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel, after the manner of woods and lofty forests; and it shall be a desolation.

9  In that day thy cities shall be deserted, as the Amorites and the Evaeans deserted theirs, because the of children of Israel; and they shall be desolate.

9  In that day, his strong cities will be abandoned, like the plows and the grain fields which were left behind before the face of the sons of Israel, and you shall be deserted.

10  For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and thou hast not been mindful of the Rock of thy stronghold; therefore thou didst plant plants of pleasantness, and didst set it with slips of a stranger;

10  Because thou hast forsaken God thy Saviour, and hast not been mindful of the Lord thy helper; therefore shalt thou plant a false plant, and a false seed.

10  For you have forgotten God your Savior, and you have not remembered your strong Helper. Because of this, you will plant trustworthy plants, but you will sow a foreign seed.

11  In the day of thy planting thou didst make it to grow, and in the morning thou didst make thy seed to blossom--a heap of boughs in the day of grief and of desperate pain.

11  In the day wherein thou shalt plant thou shalt be deceived; but if thou sow in the morning, the seed shall spring up for a crop in the day wherein thou shalt obtain an inheritance, and as a man’s father, thou shalt obtain an inheritance for thy sons.

12  Ah, the uproar of many peoples, that roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!

12  Woe to the multitude of many nations, as the swelling sea, so shall ye be confounded; and the force of many nations shall sound like water;

12  Woe to the armies of many people, which make a noise like the roaring of the seas! And to the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!

13  The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters; but He shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm.

13  He shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off and shall be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like dry grass before the whirlwind.

14  At eventide behold terror; and before the morning they are not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

14  In the time of the evening, behold: there will be a disturbance. When it is early morning, he will not remain. This is the portion of those who have devastated us, and this is the lot of those who have plundered us.