1The prophecy regarding Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and shall be a ruinous heap. 2The cities of Aroer will be forsaken, left for flocks to graze in, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 3The fortified city shall disappear from Ephraim, and the royal power from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria (Aram) shall be like the glory of the Israelites”, says the LORD Almighty. 4“And in that day the glory of Jacob shall fade, and the vigor of his body shall diminish. 5And it shall be like when reapers gather the grain in their arms; and as one gleans ears in the valley of Rephaim. 6Yet some gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as in the shaking of an olive tree, where two or three berries in the top or four or five in its outmost fruitful branches remain.”, says the LORD God of Israel. 7“In that day people shall look to their Maker, and their eyes shall honor the Holy One of Israel. 8And they shall not look to the altars, the work of their own hands; nor shall they respect that which their fingers have made, nor the idols (Asherah poles), or images. 9In that day shall their strong cities be forsaken because of the children of Israel; and all shall be desolation. 10Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not been mindful of the Rock of your strength, therefore, though you plant the finest plants, and import the most expensive seeds, 11In the day though you get your plants to grow, and your seed to flourish in the morning, the harvest shall be a load of grief and desperate sorrow.”

12Woe to the many nations that rage – raging like the noise of the seas; and the rushing of nations, like the rushing of mighty waters! 13Though the nations shall roar like the roaring of surging waters; God shall rebuke and silence them, and they shall flee away, and shall be chased like the chaff of the mountains driven before the wind, and like a tumbling weed before the whirlwind. 14And at evening, sudden trouble; and before the morning, they are gone. This is the destiny of those who loot us, and of them who rob us.