Isaiah 16

Prophecy of Moab’s Devastation

16YOU [Moabites, now fugitives in Edom, which is ruled by the king of Judah] send lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela {or} Petra through the desert {and} wilderness to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion [Jerusalem].H7971H3733H4910H776H5554H4057H2022H1323H67262For like wandering birds, like a brood cast out {and} a scattered nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the [river] Arnon.H5074H5775H7971H7064H1323H4124H4569H7693[Say to the ruler] Give counsel, execute justice [for Moab, O king of Judah]; make your shade [over us] like night in the midst of noonday; hide the outcasts, betray not the fugitive to his pursuer.H935H6098H6213H6415H7896H6738H3915H8432H6672H5641H5080H1540H50744Let our outcasts of Moab dwell among you; be a sheltered hiding place to them from the destroyer. When the extortion {and} the extortioner have been brought to nought, and destruction has ceased, and the oppressors {and} they who trample men are consumed {and} have vanished out of the land,H5080H1481H4124H1933H5643H6440H7703H4160H656H7701H3615H7429H8552H7765Then in mercy {and} loving-kindness shall a throne be established, and One shall sit upon it in truth {and} faithfulness in the tent of David, judging and seeking justice and being swift to do righteousness.H2617H3678H3559H3427H571H168H1732H8199H1875H4941H4106H66646We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud--even of his arrogance, his conceit, his wrath, his untruthful boasting.H8085H1347H4124H3966H1341H1346H1347H5678H9077Moab therefore shall wail for Moab; everyone shall wail. For the ruins, flagons of wine, {and} the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth you shall sigh and mourn, utterly stricken {and} discouraged.H4124H3213H4124H3213H808H7025H1897H52188For the fields of Heshbon languish {and} wither, and the vines of Sibmah; the lords of the nations have broken down [Moab's] choice vine branches, which reached even to Jazer, wandering into the wilderness; its shoots stretched out abroad, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.H7709H2809H535H1612H7643H1167H1471H1986H8291H5060H3270H8582H4057H7976H5203H5674H32209Therefore I [Isaiah] will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vines of Sibmah. I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for upon your summer fruits and your harvest the shout [of alarm and the cry of the enemy] has fallen.H1058H1065H3270H1612H7643H7301H1832H2809H500H1959H7019H7105H530710And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there is no singing, nor is there joyful sound; the treaders tread out no wine in the presses, for the shout of joy has been made to cease.H8057H622H1524H3759H3754H7442H7321H1869H1869H3196H3342H1959H767311Wherefore my heart sounds like a harp [in mournful compassion] for Moab, and my inner being [goes out] for Kir-hareseth [for those brick-walled citadels of his].H4578H1993H3658H4124H7130H702512It shall be that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself [worshiping] on the high place [of idolatry], he will come to his sanctuary [of Chemosh, god of Moab], but he will not prevail. [Then will he be ashamed of his god.]H7200H4124H3811H1116H935H4720H6419H320113This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time [when Moab's pride and resistance to God were first known].H1697H3068H1696H4124H22714But now the Lord has spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of a hireling [who will not serve longer than the allotted time], the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, in spite of all his mighty multitudes of people; and the remnant that survives will be very small, feeble, {and} of no account.H3068H1696H559H7969H8141H8141H7916H3519H4124H7034H7227H1995H7605H4592H4213H3808H3524