1The burden of Damascus . Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city , and it shall be a ruinous heap . 2The cities of Aroer are forsaken : they shall be for flocks , which shall lie down , and none shall make them afraid . 3The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim , and the kingdom from Damascus , and the remnant of Syria : they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel , saith the LORD of hosts .
The Desolation of Israel
4And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin , and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean . 5And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn , and reapeth the ears with his arm ; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim . 6Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree , two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough , four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel .
The Remnant of Israel
7At that day shall a man look to his Maker , and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel . 8And he shall not look to the altars , the work of his hands , neither shall respect that which his fingers have made , either the groves , or the images . 9In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough , and an uppermost branch , which they left because of the children of Israel : and there shall be desolation .
The Judgment on Nations
10Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation , and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength , therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants , and shalt set it with strange slips : 11In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow , and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish : but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow . 12Woe to the multitude of many people , which make a noise like the noise of the seas ; and to the rushing of nations , that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters ! 13The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters : but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off , and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind , and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind . 14And behold at eveningtide trouble ; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.