17 A message for Damascus:[ref]

Listen, Damascus will cease to be a city

≈ and will become a heap of rubble.

2 Aroer’s cities will be abandoned to sheep and goats.

They’ll lie down there and there’ll be no one around to frighten them.

3 Forts will disappear from Efrayim

≈ and Damascus will lose its kingdom.

The remnant from Syria (Heb. Aram) will be a prize for the Israelis.

That’s what Commander-in-chief Yahweh says.

4 At that time, Yakob (Jacob/Israel) will become insignificant.

The fat on his body will waste away.

5 Originally the harvester reaped all the grain,

→ then it was stalks of grain,

→ then an individual picking up a stalk of grain,

→ in the Refa’im valley.

6 ≈ There’ll be a few stalks left over,

like beating an olive tree to ge the two or three olives at the top,

or four or five on the upper branches.

That’s what Yisrael’s god Yahweh says.

7 At that time humankind will look at their maker,

≈ and turn their eyes to the holy one of Yisrael.

8 They’ll stop trusting the altars that they themselves made,

≈ They’ll stop noticing the Asherah poles and incense altars crafted with their own fingers.

9 At that time, their fortified cities will be abandoned like a deserted part of the forest,

≈ and their summits will be abandoned and desolate as Yisrael advances,

10 because you’ve forgotten the god who saved you,

≈ and you didn’t remember the rock that you used for protection.

So you sow pleasant plantations

and plant vine cuttings from a stranger.

11 You nurture what you’ve planted,

and in the morning, your seed will have sprouted,

but the harvest will become a heap in a time of sickness,

and the pain will be incurable.