| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1The burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap. | 1This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins. |
| 2The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid. | 2The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear. |
| 3The 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. | 3The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the sovereignty from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites,” declares the LORD of Hosts. |
| 4“In that day it shall come to pass That the glory of Jacob will wane, And the fatness of his flesh grow lean. | 4“In that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and the fat of his body will waste away, |
| 5It 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. | 5as the reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the ears with his arm, as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. |
| 6Yet 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. | 6Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten—two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel. |
| 7In that day a man will look to his Maker, And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel. | 7In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. |
| 8He will not look to the altars, The work of his hands; He will not respect what his fingers have made, Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars. | 8They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers. |
| 9In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough And an uppermost branch, Which they left because of the children of Israel; And there will be desolation. | 9In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken thickets and summits, abandoned to the Israelites and to utter desolation. |
| 10Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold, Therefore you will plant pleasant plants And set out foreign seedlings; | 10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines— |
| 11In the day you will make your plant to grow, And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish; But the harvest will be a heap of ruins In the day of grief and desperate sorrow. | 11though on the day you plant you make them grow, and on that morning you help your seed sprout—yet the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain. |
| 12Woe to the multitude of many people Who make a noise like the roar of the seas, And to the rushing of nations That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! | 12Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters. |
| 13The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away, And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. | 13The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale. |
| 14Then behold, at eventide, trouble! And before the morning, he is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, And the lot of those who rob us. | 14In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us. |
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