American Standard Version ASV
Holman Christian Standard Bible CSB
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
1
An oracle against Damascus: Look, Damascus is no longer a city. It has become a ruined heap.
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
2
The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be [places] for flocks. They will lie down without fear.
3 And the fortress 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 Jehovah of hosts.
3
The fortress disappears from Ephraim, and a kingdom from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
4
On that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and his healthy body will become emaciated.
5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the standing grain, and his arm reapeth the ears; yea, it shall be as when one gleaneth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
5
It will be as if a reaper had gathered standing grain- his arm harvesting the heads of grain- and as if one had gleaned heads of grain in the valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree, saith Jehovah, the God of Israel.
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Only gleanings will be left in Israel, as if an olive tree had been beaten- two or three berries at the very top of the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 In that day shall men look unto their Maker, and their eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
7
On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
8 And they shall not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they have respect to that which their fingers have made, either the Asherim, or the sun-images.
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They will not look to the altars they made with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they made with their fingers.
9 In that day shall their strong cities be as the forsaken places in the wood and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel; and it shall be a desolation.
9
On that day their strong cities will be like the abandoned woods and mountaintops that were abandoned because of the Israelites; there will be desolation.
10 For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength; therefore thou plantest pleasant plants, and settest it with strange slips.
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For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and you have failed to remember the rock of your strength; therefore you will plant beautiful plants and set out cuttings from exotic vines.
11 In the day of thy planting thou hedgest it in, and in the morning thou makest thy seed to blossom; but the harvest fleeth away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
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On the day that you plant, you will help them to grow, and in the morning you will help your seed to sprout, [but] the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.
12 Ah, the uproar of many peoples, that roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!
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Ah! The roar of many peoples- they roar like the roaring of the seas. The raging of the nations- they rage like the raging of mighty waters.
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but he shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm.
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The nations rage like the raging of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills and like dead thistles before a gale.
14 At eventide, behold, terror; [and] before the morning they are not. This is the portion of them that despoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
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In the evening-sudden terror! Before morning-it is gone! This is the fate of those who plunder us and the lot of those who ravage us.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.