1 The aburden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap.
2 The cities of aAroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks Which lie down, and bno one will make them afraid.
3aThe fortress also will cease from Ephraim, The kingdom from Damascus, And the remnant of Syria; They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” Says the Lord of hosts.
4 “In that day it shall come to pass That the glory of Jacob will1 wane, And athe fatness of his flesh grow lean.
5aIt shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain, And reaps the heads with his arm; It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain In the Valley of Rephaim.
6aYet gleaning grapes will be left in it, Like the shaking of an olive tree, Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough, Four or five in its most fruitful branches,” Says the Lord God of Israel.
7 In that day a man will alook to his Maker, And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
8 He will not look to the altars, The work of his hands; He will not respect what his afingers have made, Nor the1 wooden images nor the incense altars.
9 In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken1 bough And1 an uppermost branch, Which they left because of the children of Israel; And there will be desolation.
10 Because you have forgotten athe God of your salvation, And have not been mindful of the Rock of your1 stronghold, Therefore you will plant pleasant plants And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow, And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish; But the harvest willbe a heap of ruins In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people Who make a noise alike the roar of the seas, And to the rushing of nations That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; But God will arebuke them and they will flee far away, And bbe chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
The burden of Damascus - The oracle indicating calamity or destruction to Damascus (see the note at Isaiah 13:1). "Damascus is taken away." That is, it shall be destroyed. It was represented to the prophet in vision as destroyed (see the note at Isaiah 1:1).
And it shall be a ruinous heap - See Isaiah 35:2. This took place under the kings of Assyria, and particularly under Tiglath-pileser. This was in the fourth year of Ahaz II Kings 16:9.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Isaiah 17:1:
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