(KJV) Isaiah 17¹

⥃The Burden against Damascus ^{[ Jeremiah 49:23–27 ]}

[1] The burden² of Damascus³. Behold, Damascus is⁴ taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous⁵ heap.⁶ [2] The cities of Aroer⁷ [are] forsaken: they shall⁸ be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none⁹ shall make [them] afraid. [3] The fortress¹⁰ also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall¹¹ be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. [4] And in that day it shall come to pass, [that] the glory¹² of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness¹³ of his flesh shall wax lean. [5] And it shall be as when¹⁴ the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley¹⁵ 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.¹⁶ [7] At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.¹⁷ [8] And he shall¹⁸ not look to the altars, the work¹⁹ of his hands, neither shall respect [that] which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images²⁰.

[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.²¹ [10] Because thou hast²² forgotten the God²³ of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock²⁴ of thy strength, therefore shalt thou²⁵ plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: [11] In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: [but] the harvest²⁶ [shall be] a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow²⁷.

[12] Woe to the multitude²⁸ of many people, [which] make a noise²⁹ like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, [that] make a rushing like the rushing of mighty³⁰ waters! [13] The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but³¹ [God] shall rebuke³² them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be³³ chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing³⁴ before the whirlwind. [14] And behold at eveningtide³⁵ trouble; [and] before the morning he [is] not. This [is] the portion³⁶ of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.