The Burden against Damascus (Jeremiah 49:23–27)
1 Brenton The Word against Damascus. Behold, Damascus shall be taken away from among cities, and shall become a ruin; BSB BSB: This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.
2 Brenton abandoned for ever, to be a fold and resting-place for flocks, and there shall be none to go after them. BSB BSB: The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.
3 Brenton And she shall no longer be a strong place for Ephraim to flee to, and there shall no longer be a kingdom in Damascus, or a remnant of Syrians; for thou art no better than the children of Israel, even than their glory; thus saith the Lord of hosts. BSB BSB: The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the sovereignty from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
4 Brenton There shall be in that day a failure of the glory of Jacob, and the riches of his glory shall be shaken. BSB BSB: “In that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and the fat of his body will waste away,
5 Brenton And it shall be as if one should gather standing corn, and reap the grain of the ears; and it shall be as if one should gather ears in a rich valley; BSB BSB: as the reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the ears with his arm, as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 Brenton and as if there should be left stubble therein, or as it were the berries of an olive tree, two or three on the topmost bough, or as if four or five should be left on their branches; thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel. BSB BSB: Yet gleanings will remain, 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.
7 Brenton In that day a man shall trust in him that made him, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. BSB BSB: In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
8 Brenton And they shall not at all trust in their altars, nor in the works of their hands, which their fingers made; and they shall not look to the trees, nor to their abominations. BSB BSB: They will not look to the altars they have fashioned with their hands or to the Asherahs and incense altars they have made with their fingers.
9 Brenton In that day thy cities shall be deserted, as the Amorites and the Evæans deserted theirs , because of the children of Israel; and they shall be desolate. BSB BSB: In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken thickets and summits, abandoned to the Israelites and to utter desolation.
10 Brenton Because thou hast forsaken God thy Saviour, and hast not been mindful of the Lord thy helper; therefore shalt thou plant a false plant, and a false seed. BSB BSB: For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
11 Brenton In the day wherein thou shalt plant thou shalt be deceived; but if thou sow in the morning, the seed shall spring up for a crop in the day wherein thou shalt obtain an inheritance, and as a man's father, thou shalt obtain an inheritance for thy sons. BSB BSB: though on the day you plant 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.
12 Brenton Woe to the multitude of many nations, as the swelling sea, so shall ye be confounded; and the force of many nations shall sound like water; BSB BSB: Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.
13 Brenton many nations like much water, as when much water rushes violently: and they shall drive him away, and pursue him afar, as the dust of chaff when men winnow before the wind, and as a storm whirling the dust of the wheel. BSB BSB: The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.
14 Brenton Toward evening, and there shall be grief; before the morning, and he shall not be. This is the portion of them that spoiled you, and the inheritance to them that robbed you of your inheritance. BSB BSB: In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.
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