The Burden against Damascus
(Jeremiah 49:23–27)
This is the burden against Damascus: Amo 1:3-5Isa 25:2Zec 9:1Act 9:2Gen 14:15Isa 7:8Jer 49:2Jer 49:23-27
“Behold, Damascus is no longer a city;
it has become a heap of ruins.
The cities of Aroer are forsaken; Ezk 25:5Deu 2:36Jer 7:33Zep 2:6Mic 4:4Num 32:34Deu 3:12Jer 48:19
they will be left to the flocks,
which will lie down with no one to fear.
The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, 1 Hos 9:11Isa 7:16Isa 8:4Isa 7:8Mic 1:4-92Ki 16:92Ki 17:6Amo 2:6-9
and the sovereignty from Damascus.
The remnant of Aram will be
like the splendor of the Israelites,”
declares the LORD of Hosts.
“In that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, Isa 10:16Deu 32:15-27Ezk 34:20Isa 10:4Isa 24:13Isa 24:16Isa 9:21Isa 9:8
and the fat of his body will waste away,
as the reaper gathers the standing grain Mat 13:30Jer 51:33Jol 3:132Sa 5:18Rev 14:15-202Sa 5:22Mat 13:39-42Hos 6:11
and harvests the ears with his arm,
as one gleans heads of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
Yet gleanings will remain, Isa 24:13Deu 4:27Jdg 8:2Oba 1:5Rom 11:4-6Rom 9:271Ki 19:18Ezk 36:8-15
like an olive tree that has been beaten—
two or three berries atop the tree,
four or five on its fruitful branches,”
declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
In that day men will look to their Maker Mic 7:7Hos 6:1Hos 3:52Ch 30:10-112Ch 30:18-202Ch 31:12Ch 35:17-18Hos 14:1-3
and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
They will not look to the altars Isa 30:22Isa 27:9Isa 2:8Mic 5:13-142Ch 14:52Ch 34:42Ch 34:6-7Exo 34:13
they have fashioned with their hands
or to the Asherahs and incense altars
they have made with their fingers.
In that day their strong cities Amo 3:11-15Isa 27:10Amo 7:9Hos 10:14Hos 13:15-16Isa 17:4-5Isa 24:1-12Isa 28:1-4
will be like forsaken thickets and summits,
abandoned to the Israelites
and to utter desolation.
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation Deu 32:18Isa 26:4Jer 2:32Psa 106:21Deu 32:4Hos 13:6-7Deu 32:31Hos 8:14
and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge.
Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots
and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
though on the day you plant Hos 8:7Job 4:8Gal 6:7-8Hos 10:12-15Hos 9:1-4Hos 9:16Isa 18:5-6Isa 65:13-14
you make them grow,
and on that morning
you help your seed sprout—
yet the harvest will vanish
on the day of disease and incurable pain.
Alas, the tumult of many peoples; Jer 6:23Luk 21:25Psa 18:4Ezk 43:2Rev 17:1Rev 17:15Isa 28:17Isa 5:26-30
they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations;
they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.
The nations rage like the rush of many waters. Psa 9:5Isa 41:15-16Job 21:18Psa 1:4Isa 29:5Dan 2:35Hos 13:3Isa 10:15-16
He rebukes them, and they flee far away,
driven before the wind like chaff on the hills,
like tumbleweeds before a gale.
In the evening, there is sudden terror! 2Ki 19:35Pro 22:232Ki 19:3Ezk 39:10Hab 2:16-17Isa 10:28-32Isa 33:1Jdg 5:31
Before morning, they are no more!
This is the portion of those who loot us
and the lot of those who plunder us.