| NET Bible | New International Version |
| 1Here is a message about Damascus: "Look, Damascus is no longer a city, it is a heap of ruins! | 1A prophecy against Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. |
| 2The cities of Aroer are abandoned. They will be used for herds, which will lie down there in peace. | 2The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. |
| 3Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim, and Damascus will lose its kingdom. The survivors in Syria will end up like the splendor of the Israelites," says the LORD who commands armies. | 3The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites," declares the LORD Almighty. |
| 4"At that time Jacob's splendor will be greatly diminished, and he will become skin and bones. | 4"In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away. |
| 5It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest, and his hand gleans the ear of grain. It will be like one gathering the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. | 5It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain, gathering the grain in their arms-- as when someone gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. |
| 6There will be some left behind, like when an olive tree is beaten--two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top, four or five on its fruitful branches," says the LORD God of Israel. | 6Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs," declares the LORD, the God of Israel. |
| 7At that time men will trust in their creator; they will depend on the Holy One of Israel. | 7In that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. |
| 8They will no longer trust in the altars their hands made, or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made. | 8They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made. |
| 9At that time their fortified cities will be like the abandoned summits of the Amorites, which they abandoned because of the Israelites; there will be desolation. | 9In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation. |
| 10For you ignore the God who rescues you; you pay no attention to your strong protector. So this is what happens: You cultivate beautiful plants and plant exotic vines. | 10You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, |
| 11The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow; the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout. Yet the harvest will disappear in the day of disease and incurable pain. | 11though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain. |
| 12The many nations massing together are as good as dead, those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea's waves. The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. | 12Woe to the many nations that rage-- they rage like the raging sea! Woe to the peoples who roar-- they roar like the roaring of great waters! |
| 13Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, when he shouts at them, they will flee to a distant land, driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills, or like dead thistles before a strong gale. | 13Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. |
| 14In the evening there is sudden terror; by morning they vanish. This is the fate of those who try to plunder us, the destiny of those who try to loot us! | 14In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us. |
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