The burden of Damascus
. Behold, Damascus
is taken away
from being a city
, and it shall be a ruinous
heap
.
The cities of Aroer
are forsaken
: they shall be for flocks
, which shall lie down
, and none shall make them afraid
.
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
.
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
.
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
.
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
.
At that day shall a man
look
to his Maker
, and his eyes
shall have respect
to the Holy
One of Israel
.
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
.
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
.
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
:
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
.
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
!
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
.
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.