The Lord Will Judge Damascus

¹Here is a message about Damascus:

“Look, Damascus is no longer a city,

it is a heap of ruins!

²The cities of Aroer are abandoned.[#tn Three cities are known by this name in the OT: (1) an Aroer located near the Arnon, (2) an Aroer in Ammon, and (3) an Aroer of Judah. (See BDB 792-93 s.v. עֲרֹעֵר, and HALOT 883 s.v. II עֲרוֹעֵר.) There is no mention of an Aroer in Syrian territory. For this reason some want to emend the text here to עֲזֻבוֹת עָרַיהָ עֲדֵי עַד (’azuvot ’arayha ’adey ’ad, “her cities are permanently abandoned”). However, Aroer near the Arnon was taken by Israel and later conquered by the Syrians. (See Josh 12:2; 13:9, 16; Judg 11:26; 2 Kgs 10:33). This oracle pertains to Israel as well as Syria (note v. 3), so it is possible that this is a reference to Israelite and/or Syrian losses in Transjordan.]

They will be used for herds,

which will lie down there in peace.

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.

⁴“At that time[#tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.]

Jacob’s splendor will be greatly diminished,

and he will become skin and bones.

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.

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.

⁷At that time men will trust in their creator;[#tn Heb “in that day” (so ASV, NASB, NIV); KJV “At that day.”; #tn Heb “man will gaze toward his maker.”]

they will depend on the Holy One of Israel.

⁸They will no longer trust in the altars their hands made,[#tn Heb “he will not gaze toward.”]

or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made.

⁹At that time their fortified cities will be[#tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).]

like the abandoned summits of the Amorites,

which they abandoned because of the Israelites;

there will be desolation.

¹⁰For you ignore the God who rescues you;[#tn Heb “you have forgotten” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).]

you pay no attention to your strong protector.

So this is what happens:

You cultivate beautiful plants

and plant exotic vines.

¹¹The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow;[#tn Heb “in the day of your planting you [?].” The precise meaning of the verb תְּשַׂגְשֵׂגִי (tÿsagsegi) is unclear. It is sometimes derived from שׂוּג/סוּג (sug, “to fence in”; see BDB 691 s.v. II סוּג). In this case one could translate “you build a protective fence.” However, the parallelism is tighter if one derives the form from שָׂגָא/שָׂגָה (saga’/sagah, “to grow”); see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:351, n. 4. For this verb, see BDB 960 s.v. שָׂגָא.]

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.

¹²The many nations massing together are as good as dead,[#tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.]

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.

¹³Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves,[#tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”]

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.

¹⁴In the evening there is sudden terror;[#tn Heb “at the time of evening, look, 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!