Isaiah 17
1BEHOLD, Damascus shall be removed from among cities, and shall be for desolation—
2left for ever for the folding of flocks, and for a resting place where none will scare them.
3And it shall no more be a fortress for Ephraim to flee to; nor shall there be again a regal government in Damascus—ever hereafter, of the Syrians. For thou art not better than the children of Israel—than that which was their glory. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts:
4there shall be in that day a diminution of the glory of Jacob; and the fatness of his glory shall be shaken;
5and it shall be as when one gathereth the standing harvest and reapeth the ears of stalks; nay, it shall be as when one gathereth stalks in a sterile vale,
6still a stalk may be left in it; or like the unripe berries of an olive tree, two or three may be left on the topmost bough, or four or five among the branches.
7In that day let man trust in his Maker, and his eyes look to the Holy One of Israel;
8and let him no more put confidence in altars, nor in the works of their hands which their fingers have made, nor look to the groves nor to their abominations.
9In that day thy cities shall be forsaken, as the Amorites and Evites forsook theirs because of the sons of Israel: and they shall become a desolation.
10Because thou hast forsaken God thy Saviour, and hast not been mindful of the Lord thy helper, therefore thou shalt plant a faithless plant and a faithless seed.
11On the day thou plantest thou shalt be deceived. Though thou sowest in the morning, shall it bloom for harvest? or on the day when thou shalt take possession, shalt thou as the father of man take possession for thy sons?
12Alas! the multitude of many nations! Like the billowy sea so shall you be tossed, and the back of many nations shall sound like water.
13The multitude of nations being like a great flood, their flight shall be like that of a mighty torrent rolling on impetuously.
14For He will repulse them with scorn, and pursue them to a great distance, like chaff before the wind when men winnow, or as a tempest driveth the dust of a wheel. Toward evening there will be grief; before morning they shall be no more. This is the portion of them who have plundered you; and this the inheritance of them, who have taken possession of you.