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IS A IA H 1 7
page 618
They will cry to the gods in their temples,
but no one will be able to save them.
13 The Lord has already said these things
about Moab in the past. 14 But now the Lord
says, “Within three years, counting each day,*
the glory of Moab will be ended. From its great
population, only a feeble few will be left alive.”
9
— promises —
from God
Then God will establish
one of David’s descendants
as king. He will rule with
mercy and truth.
10
11
I SA I A H 16:5
A Message about Damascus and Israel
This message came to me concerning
Damascus:
17
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
“Look, the city of Damascus will disappear!
It will become a heap of ruins.
The towns of Aroer will be deserted.
Flocks will graze in the streets and lie
down undisturbed,
with no one to chase them away.
The fortified towns of Israel* will also be
destroyed,
and the royal power of Damascus will end.
All that remains of Syria*
will share the fate of Israel’s departed
glory,”
declares the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“In that day Israel’s* glory will grow dim;
its robust body will waste away.
The whole land will look like a grainfield
after the harvesters have gathered
the grain.
It will be desolate,
like the fields in the valley of Rephaim
after the harvest.
Only a few of its people will be left,
like stray olives left on a tree after the
harvest.
Only two or three remain in the highest
branches,
four or five scattered here and there
on the limbs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
Then at last the people will look to their
Creator
and turn their eyes to the Holy One
of Israel.
They will no longer look to their idols
for help
12
13
14
or worship what their own hands
have made.
They will never again bow down to their
Asherah poles
or worship at the pagan shrines they
have built.
Their largest cities will be like a deserted
forest,
like the land the Hivites and Amorites
abandoned*
when the Israelites came here so long ago.
It will be utterly desolate.
Why? Because you have turned from the
God who can save you.
You have forgotten the Rock who can
hide you.
So you may plant the finest grapevines
and import the most expensive seedlings.
They may sprout on the day you set
them out;
yes, they may blossom on the very
morning you plant them,
but you will never pick any grapes from
them.
Your only harvest will be a load of grief
and unrelieved pain.
Listen! The armies of many nations
roar like the roaring of the sea.
Hear the thunder of the mighty forces
as they rush forward like thundering
waves.
But though they thunder like breakers on
a beach,
God will silence them, and they will
run away.
They will flee like chaff scattered by
the wind,
like a tumbleweed whirling before
a storm.
In the evening Israel waits in terror,
but by dawn its enemies are dead.
This is the just reward of those who
plunder us,
a fitting end for those who destroy us.
A Message about Ethiopia
1 Listen, Ethiopia*—land of fluttering
sails*
that lies at the headwaters of the Nile,
2 that sends ambassadors
in swift boats down the river.
18
Go, swift messengers!
Take a message to a tall, smooth-skinned
people,
who are feared far and wide
16:14 Hebrew Within three years, as a servant bound by
contract would count them. 17:3a Hebrew of Ephraim,
referring to the northern kingdom of Israel. 17:3b Hebrew
Aram. 17:4 Hebrew Jacob’s. See note on 14:1. 17:9 As in
Greek version; Hebrew reads like places of the wood and the
highest bough. 18:1a Hebrew Cush. 18:1b Or land of many
locusts; Hebrew reads land of whirring wings.