“Look, the city of Damascus will disappear!
    It will become a heap of ruins.
² The towns of Aroer will be deserted.
    Flocks will graze in the streets and lie down undisturbed,
    with no one to chase them away.
³ The fortified towns of Israel^[a] will also be destroyed,
    and the royal power of Damascus will end.
All that remains of Syria^[b]
    will share the fate of Israel’s departed glory,”
    declares the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

⁴ “In that day Israel’s^[c] glory will grow dim;
    its robust body will waste away.
⁵ 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.
⁶ 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.

⁷ Then at last the people will look to their Creator
    and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
⁸ They will no longer look to their idols for help
    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.
⁹ Their largest cities will be like a deserted forest,
    like the land the Hivites and Amorites abandoned^[d]
when the Israelites came here so long ago.
    It will be utterly desolate.
¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ 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.

¹² 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.
¹³ 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.
¹⁴ 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.

⁵ Why do you continue to invite punishment?
    Must you rebel forever?
Your head is injured,
    and your heart is sick.
⁶ You are battered from head to foot—
    covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds—
    without any soothing ointments or bandages.
⁷ Your country lies in ruins,
    and your towns are burned.
Foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes
    and destroy everything they see.
⁸ Beautiful Jerusalem^[b] stands abandoned
    like a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard,
like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest,
    like a helpless city under siege.
⁹ If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    had not spared a few of us,^[c]
we would have been wiped out like Sodom,
    destroyed like Gomorrah.

¹⁰ Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.”
    Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.”
¹¹ “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”
    says the Lord.
“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams
    and the fat of fattened cattle.
I get no pleasure from the blood
    of bulls and lambs and goats.
¹² When you come to worship me,
    who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
¹³ Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
    the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath
    and your special days for fasting—
they are all sinful and false.
    I want no more of your pious meetings.
¹⁴ I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.
    They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!
¹⁵ When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.
    Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen,
    for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
¹⁶ Wash yourselves and be clean!
    Get your sins out of my sight.
    Give up your evil ways.
¹⁷ Learn to do good.
    Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
    Defend the cause of orphans.
    Fight for the rights of widows.

¹⁸ “Come now, let’s settle this,”
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
    I will make them as white as wool.
¹⁹ If you will only obey me,
    you will have plenty to eat.
²⁰ But if you turn away and refuse to listen,
    you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!”

²⁴ Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    the Mighty One of Israel, says,
“I will take revenge on my enemies
    and pay back my foes!
²⁵ I will raise my fist against you.
    I will melt you down and skim off your slag.
    I will remove all your impurities.
²⁶ Then I will give you good judges again
    and wise counselors like you used to have.
Then Jerusalem will again be called the Home of Justice
    and the Faithful City.”

²⁷ Zion will be restored by justice;
    those who repent will be revived by righteousness.
²⁸ But rebels and sinners will be completely destroyed,
    and those who desert the Lord will be consumed.

²⁹ You will be ashamed of your idol worship
    in groves of sacred oaks.
You will blush because you worshiped
    in gardens dedicated to idols.
³⁰ You will be like a great tree with withered leaves,
    like a garden without water.
³¹ The strongest among you will disappear like straw;
    their evil deeds will be the spark that sets it on fire.
They and their evil works will burn up together,
    and no one will be able to put out the fire.