The {Or, oracle concerning}burden of Damascus.
Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
And the fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom {Or, from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria shall &c.}from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria; they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith Jehovah of hosts.
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.
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.
Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as the {Hebrew: benting.}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.
In that day shall men look unto their Maker, and their eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
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.
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.
For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy {Or, stronghold}strength; therefore thou plantest pleasant plants, and settest it with {Or, vine slips of a stranger god}strange slips.
In the day of thy planting thou hedgest it in, and in the morning thou makest thy seed to blossom; but the harvest {Or, shall be a heap}fleeth away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
Ah, the {Or, multitude}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!
The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but he shall rebuke {Hebrew: him.}them, and {Hebrew: he.}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.
At eventide, behold, terror; and before the morning {Hebrew: he is.}they are not. This is the portion of them that despoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
Querverweise zu Jesaja 17,7 Jes 17,7
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean upon him that smote them, but shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
{Hebrew: shear jashub. See chapter 7:3.}A remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
And Jehovah will smite Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return unto Jehovah, and he will be entreated of them, and will heal them.
ye made also a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But ye looked not unto {Or, the maker thereof}him that had done this, neither had ye respect unto him that purposed it long ago.
These shall lift up their voice, they shall shout; for the majesty of Jehovah they cry aloud from the sea.
Wherefore glorify ye Jehovah in the {Or, lights Or, fire}east, even the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the {Or, coast-lands}isles of the sea.
And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of {Or, a book (or, writing)}the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
The meek also shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
They also that err in spirit {Hebrew: shall know understanding.}shall come to understanding, and they that murmur shall receive instruction.
And the children of Israel said unto Jehovah, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; only deliver us, we pray thee, this day.
And they put away the foreign gods from among them, and served Jehovah; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.
Nevertheless certain men of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.
For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, The good Jehovah pardon {Or, him that setteth his whole heart}every one
that setteth his heart to seek God, Jehovah, the God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.
And Jehovah hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake in pieces the {Or, obelisks}pillars, and hewed down the Asherim, and brake down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.
And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did any of the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith Jehovah; I will not {Hebrew: cause my countenance to fall upon you.}look in anger upon you; for I am merciful, saith Jehovah, I will not keep anger for ever.
Only {Or, know}acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against Jehovah thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith Jehovah.
Return, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
In those days the house of Judah shall walk {Or, to}with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers.
But I said, How {Or, shall I…nations?}I will put thee among the children, and give thee {Or, the goodliest heritage of the nations}a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said, {Another reading is, Thou shalt…and shalt not &c.}Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me.
Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah.
A voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weeping and the supplications of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God.
Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings.Behold, we are come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our God.
Truly in vain is the help that is looked for from the hills, the {Or, noisy throng}tumult on the mountains: truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.
Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall {Hebrew: profane, or make common. See Leviticus 19:23-25; Deuteronomy 20:6; 28:30}enjoy the fruit thereof.
For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God.
For thus saith Jehovah, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout {Or, at the head}for the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Jehovah, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall they return hither.
They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead them: I will {Or, bring them unto}cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born.
Hear the word of Jehovah, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off; and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and shall come with fear unto Jehovah and to his goodness in the latter days.
Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
O Israel, return unto Jehovah thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
Take with you words, and return unto Jehovah: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and {Or, receive us graciously}accept that which is good: so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips.
Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods; for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
But as for me, {Or, in Jehovah will I keep watch}I will look unto Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.