Common English Bible CEB
New Revised Standard NRS
1 An oracle about Damascus. Look! Damascus is finished as a city; it will become a fallen ruin.
1
An oracle concerning Damascus. See, Damascus will cease to be a city, and will become a heap of ruins.
2 The villages of Aroer are abandoned forever. They will be pastures for flocks, which will lie down undisturbed.
2
Her towns will be deserted forever; they will be places for flocks, which will lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
3 Ephraim's security will cease, as will Damascus' rule. What's left of Aram will resemble the glory of the Israelites, says the LORD of heavenly forces.
3
The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the children of Israel, says the Lord of hosts.
4 On that day, Jacob's glory will dwindle; his sleek body will waste away.
4
On that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.
5 It will be as when harvesters gather grain. God will harvest armfuls at a time, like one who gathers grain in the Rephaim Valley.
5
And it shall be as when reapers gather standing grain and their arms harvest the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 Only remaining bits are left, like an olive tree that has been shaken: two or three olives on the highest branch; four or five on a fruitful twig, says the LORD God of Israel.
6
Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten— two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, says the Lord God of Israel.
7 On that day, people will have regard for their maker, and their eyes will look to the holy one of Israel.
7
On that day people will regard their Maker, and their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel;
8 They will have no regard for altars, the work of their hands, or look to what their fingers made: sacred poles and incense stands.
8
they will not have regard for the altars, the work of their hands, and they will not look to what their own fingers have made, either the sacred poles or the altars of incense.
9 On that day, their strong cities will be like those abandoned by the Hivites and the Amorites; abandoned because of the Israelites. They will be a wasteland,
9
On that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the Hivites and the Amorites, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.
10 because you forgot the God who saves you, and didn't remember the rock who shelters you. Therefore, plant your pleasant plants, and set out exotic sprouts;
10
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and set out slips of an alien god,
11 make them grow the day you plant them, and make them bloom the morning you start them. But the harvest will disappear on a day of sickness and incurable pain.
11
though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow; yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain.
12 Doom to the raging of many peoples; like the thundering seas they thunder. Doom to the roar of nations, like the roaring of mighty waters.
12
Ah, the thunder of many peoples, they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations, they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
13 Nations roar like the roaring of rushing waters. But God will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, pursued like chaff by wind in the mountains, like tumbleweeds before a storm.
13
The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm.
14 In the evening, there is terror; but before morning it is gone. This is the fate of those who loot us, the destiny of those who rob us.
14
At evening time, lo, terror! Before morning, they are no more. This is the fate of those who despoil us, and the lot of those who plunder us.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.