A Rebuke to Damascus

1A messagea about Damascus:b

“Look! Damascusc will cease to be a city.

Instead, it will become a pile of ruins.

2The cities of Orarud will be deserted—

they will be devoted to herds that will lay at rest,

and terrorism will be no more.e

3The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,

and royal authority from Damascus;f

the survivorsg from Aramh will be like the glory of the Israelis,”

declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

A Time of Weakness for Israel

4“At that time,i Jacob’s glory will have become weakened,

and his strongj flesh will turn gaunt;

5it will be as if harvesters gather standing grain,

reaping the ears by hand,k

or it will be as if grain is harvested

in the valley of Rephaim.l

6Nevertheless, gleanings will remain in Israel,m

as when an olive tree is beaten—n

two or three ripe olives left in the topmost branches,

four or five left among the branches of a fruit-filled tree,”o

declares the LORD God of Israel.

Revival to Come to Israel

7At that time, men will look uponp their Maker, and their eyes will honor the Holy One of Israel. 8They will not look uponq the altars, the productsr that their own fingerss have made, and they will have no regard for Asherah polest or incense altars.u

Desolation to the Nations

9“At that time,v their fortified cities

that they abandoned because of the Israelis

will be like desolate placesw of the forests and hilltops—x

there will be desolation.

10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation

and have not remembered the Rock

that is your strength.

Therefore even though you plant delightful plants,

sowing them with imported vine-seedlings,

11at the time that you plant them,

carefully making them grow,

the very morning you make your seed to sprout,

your harvest will be ruinedy

in a time of grief and unbearable pain.”z

12“How terrible it will be for many peoples,

who rage like the roaring sea!

Oh, how the uproar of nations

is like the sound of rushing, mighty water—

How they roar!

13The nations roar like the rushing of many waters,aa

but the LORDbb will rebuke them,

and they will run far away,

chased like chaff blown down from the mountains

or like thick dustcc that rolls along,

blown along by a wind storm.

14When the evening arrives, watch out—sudden terror!

By morning they will be there no longer!

So it will be for those who plunder us

and what will happen to those who rob us.”