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Isaiah

Prophecies about judgment and salvation, promising hope and a savior.

Chapter 17

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1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

*The responsibility for Damascus: Look, Damascus will lose its status as a city and become a pile 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 now empty; they will be used for animals to rest, and no one will scare the animals away.

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 stronghold will end for Ephraim, and the rule will stop in Damascus and the rest of Syria. They will be like the beauty of Israel's children, says the Lord of armies.

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, it will happen that Jacob's glory will become less, and the abundance of his body will become less too.

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 will be like when a farmer harvests the grain by cutting the stalks with their arms, and it will be like someone gathering ears of corn 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.

*Even when grape leftovers are gathered, some will remain, like an olive tree shaking with a few berries on top branches - two or three on the highest branch and four or five on the outer most productive branches, says 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.

*On that day, a person will turn to God, and their eyes will show respect to the holy power behind 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.

*He won't look at the altars he made or care about what his hands created, not the groves or the statues either.

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.

*On that day, his powerful cities will be abandoned like a broken branch, and a top branch that people left because of the Israelites, causing destruction and emptiness.

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:

*Since you forgot the God who saved you and didn't remember your source of strength, you will plant nice plants and mix them with foreign cuttings.

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.

*"When it's daytime, your plants will grow, and in the morning, your seeds will sprout. But in a sad and hopeless day, the harvest will be meager."

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!

*Oh no, for the large crowd of many people who make a loud noise like the sea. And for the nations rushing like powerful rivers!

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 countries will hurry like fast-moving water: but God will stop them, and they will run away far away, and be chased like pieces of straw in the wind, and like something rolling along before a big wind.

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.

*And look, at sunset there's trouble; it disappears by morning. These are the ones who ruin us and take what we have.

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* work in progress, there will be mistakes

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