מַשָּׂא דַּמָּשֶׂק הִנֵּה דַמֶּשֶׂק מוּסָר מֵעִיר וְהָיְתָה מְעִי מַפָּלָה

A prophecy of Damascus: Behold, Damascus is removed from being a city and it will be a heap of ruins.

עֲזֻבוֹת עָרֵי עֲרֹעֵר לַעֲדָרִים תִּהְיֶינָה וְרָבְצוּ וְאֵין מַחֲרִיד

Abandoned are the cities of Aroer to the east of the Jordan River; they will be for flocks, and they, those flocks, will lie therein and none will threaten them, as the cities will be emptied of their inhabitants and left as pastureland.

וְנִשְׁבַּת מִבְצָר מֵאֶפְרַיִם וּמַמְלָכָה מִדַּמֶּשֶׂק וּשְׁאָר אֲרָם כִּכְבוֹד בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יִהְיוּ נְאֻם ה' צְבָאוֹת

The Kingdom of Israel in the North will collapse: The fortress will cease from Ephraim and the kingdom will cease from Damascus, and the status of the remnant of Aram will fall to the lowest possible level, and it will be like the glory of the children of Israel at this time, nonexistent – the utterance of the Lord of hosts.

וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִדַּל כְּבוֹד יַעֲקֹב וּמִשְׁמַן בְּשָׂרוֹ יֵרָזֶה

It will be on that day, when this prophecy is fulfilled, that the glory of Jacob will diminish, and the corpulence of his flesh will grow lean. Israel is described here as an individual who will grow lean and lose his strength, his resources, and his influence. So shall be the diminished figure of Ephraim:

וְהָיָה כֶּאֱסֹף קָצִיר קָמָה וּזְרֹעוֹ שִׁבֳּלִים יִקְצוֹר וְהָיָה כִּמְלַקֵּט שִׁבֳּלִים בְּעֵמֶק רְפָאִים

It will be like when the harvester grasps the standing grain and, with his arm, holds and reaps the stalks, taking hold of only a small quantity of grain. Alternatively, the harvest is used here as a metaphor for the destruction wrought by the enemy. It shall be like when one collects ears in the Valley of Refaim, perhaps an infertile area. Accordingly, not only will the manner of harvesting yield small quantities, the fields themselves will not issue plentiful crops. Alternatively, the Valley of Refaim was a fertile area that yielded an abundance of crops, and the verse refers to the enemy’s actions, not the poverty of Israel.

וְנִשְׁאַר בּוֹ עוֹלֵלֹת כְּנֹקֶף זַיִת שְׁנַיִם שְׁלֹשָׁה גַּרְגְּרִים בְּרֹאשׁ אָמִיר אַרְבָּעָה חֲמִשָּׁה בִּסְעִפֶיהָ פֹּרִיָּה נְאֻם ה' אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

Gleanings will remain of it, in Jacob, like the beating of an olive tree, where only two or three berries remain on the treetop, four or five on the branches of a flourishing tree – the utterance of the Lord, God of Israel. If even four or five olives remain on the branch, it will be considered a flourishing tree. Aside from the literal meaning of the verse, these branches symbolize the general poverty and degradation that will befall the people.

בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִשְׁעֶה הָאָדָם עַל עֹשֵׂהוּ וְעֵינָיו אֶל קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל תִּרְאֶינָה

On that day, when these tragedies will occur, a man will turn to his Maker, and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.

וְלֹא יִשְׁעֶה אֶל הַמִּזְבְּחוֹת מַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו וַאֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ אֶצְבְּעֹתָיו לֹא יִרְאֶה וְהָאֲשֵׁרִים וְהָחַמָּנִים

And he will not turn to the altars, his handiwork, whether they were erected for the service of the God of Israel, like the golden calves in Beit El and Dan, or they were meant for the worship of other gods, and that which his fingers made he will not see, the sacred trees and the sun pillars. In their dire situation, Israel will cease to rely on that which they had previously relied upon, and had taken pride in.

בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיוּ עָרֵי מָעֻזּוֹ כַּעֲזוּבַת הַחֹרֶשׁ וְהָאָמִיר אֲשֶׁר עָזְבוּ מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהָיְתָה שְׁמָמָה

On that day, his fortified cities will be like the abandoned forest and the treetop that they, the land’s former inhabitants, abandoned due to the children of Israel. Just as the previous inhabitants of the land fled and left behind destruction when Israel’s conquest of the land began, so will the land of Ephraim remain, and it will be a desolation.

כִּי שָׁכַחַתְּ אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׁעֵךְ וְצוּר מָעֻזֵּךְ לֹא זָכָרְתְּ עַל כֵּן תִּטְּעִי נִטְעֵי נַעֲמָנִים וזְמֹרַת זָר תִּזְרָעֶנּוּ

All this shall befall you for you have forgotten the God of your salvation, instead seeking your salvation from man, and you did not remember the Rock of your fortification. Therefore, your fortified cities will be abandoned, and your efforts will be met with failure. You will plant pleasant saplings, but judging from the results, it will be as if a wild and useless branch you will sow. Such branches are elsewhere referred to as surim.

בְּיוֹם נִטְעֵךְ תְּשַׂגְשֵׂגִי בַבֹּקֶר זַרְעֵךְ תַּפְרִיחִי נֵד קָצִיר בְּיוֹם נַחֲלָה וכְאֵב אָנוּשׁ

On the day of your planting you will make it flourish, and in a similar manner, in the morning immediately after the sowing you will make your seed blossom; your plantings will yield their fruit too quickly, causing the produce to be of inferior quality. The harvest will be lost on a day of trouble [nah]·; according to some commentaries, the day of naḥala refers to the day on which the crop is gathered. And all that shall remain is terrible pain.

הוֹי הֲמוֹן עַמִּים רַבִּים כַּהֲמוֹת יַמִּים יֶהֱמָיוּן וּשְׁאוֹן לְאֻמִּים כִּשְׁאוֹן מַיִם כַּבִּירִים יִשָּׁאוּן

Woe, the uproar [hamon] of many peoples; alternatively, the large assembly of many peoples, who come from all directions to conquer the land, like the roar [kahamot] of the seas will they roar [yehemayun], and the din [sha’on] of nations will thunder [yisha’un] like the din [sha’on] of a surging current of great waters. Here, the prophet once again employs alliteration for effect, in this case to emphasize the great noise created by the nations.

לְאֻמִּים כִּשְׁאוֹן מַיִם רַבִּים יִשָּׁאוּן וְגָעַר בּוֹ וְנָס מִמֶּרְחָק וְרֻדַּף כְּמֹץ הָרִים לִפְנֵי רוּחַ וּכְגַלְגַּל לִפְנֵי סוּפָה

Nations will thunder like the din of torrential water, but He, God, will admonish them, the threatening armies, and they will flee to a distance. They will be pursued like the chaff of mountains which is swept great distances before the wind, and like tumbleweed before the storm. The prophet depicts a scene of utter desolation.

לְעֵת עֶרֶב — וְהִנֵּה בַלָּהָה בְּטֶרֶם בֹּקֶר — אֵינֶנּוּ זֶה חֵלֶק שׁוֹסֵינוּ וְגוֹרָל לְבֹזְזֵינוּ

At evening time and behold, everyone is gripped with terror at the approaching enemy, but it is not yet morning, and they, the enemies, are not. This is the portion of our attackers and the lot of our plunderers.