Isaiah 17

Isaiah pronounces the burden against Damascus. Damascus will cease to be a city and become a ruinous heap. Israel's glory will also grow thin. In that day a man will look to his Maker rather than to altars made by his own hands.

v	King James Version	Modern English
1	The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.	The burden of Damascus. Damascus will cease to be a city; it will become a heap of ruins.
2	The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.	The cities of Aroer are abandoned — left for flocks that shall lie down with no one to disturb them.
3	The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.	The fortress shall disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus. The remnant of Syria shall be like the fading glory of the children of Israel, declares the LORD of hosts.
4	And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.	In that day the glory of Jacob shall fade, and the fat of his body shall grow lean.
5	And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.	It shall be as when a reaper gathers standing grain and his arm harvests the ears — as when one gleans ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
6	Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel.	Yet gleanings shall be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten — two or three berries in the top of the highest branch, four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree, declares the LORD God of Israel.
7	At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.	In that day men shall look to their Maker, and their eyes shall regard the Holy One of Israel.
8	And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.	They shall not look to the altars — the work of their hands — nor shall they regard what their fingers have made, either the groves or the images.
9	In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.	In that day their strong cities shall be like abandoned places in the forest, like the deserted summits that the Israelites abandoned — there shall be desolation.
10	Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:	For You have forgotten the God of Your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of Your strength. Therefore, though You plant pleasant gardens and set out slips of a foreign vine,
11	In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.	though You make them grow on the day You plant them and make them blossom on the morning You sow, the harvest shall flee away on a day of grief and desperate sorrow.
12	Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!	Woe to the roar of many peoples — they roar like the roaring of the seas! Woe to the surging of nations — they surge like the surging of mighty waters!
13	The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.	The nations rush like the rushing of many waters, but He will rebuke them and they shall flee far away — chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and like dust before the storm.
14	And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.	At evening time — terror! Before morning — they are gone! This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the fate of those who rob us.