2. The cities of Aroer [east of the Jordan] are forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
3. His bulwark [Syria] and the fortress shall disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the [departed] glory of the children of Israel [her ally], says the Lord of hosts.
4. And in that day the former glory of Jacob [Israel–his might, his population, his prosperity] shall be enfeebled, and the fat of his flesh shall become lean.