Isaiah 17:5
And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
The verse stands in chapters 13-23, the third division of the first part of Isaiah, which contains burdens upon Babylon, Philistia, Moab and other nations. It was given through Isaiah, whose name means Jehovah is salvation. His work ran between 760 and 698 B.C., beginning when he was young in the reign of Uzziah and continuing through the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, in crucial times in Judah typical of the great days to come.
The verse belongs to the burden of Damascus and declares God's judgments upon that city in prophecy against Damascus. It portrays that judgment as a harvestman gathering corn and reaping ears with his arm, as one gathering ears in the valley of Rephaim, to show the stripping and devastation of the land. Like a field after reapers have gathered its grain leaving only scattered ears, it describes the thorough reduction of what was once abundant.