An Oracle Concerning Moab

15 An woracle concerning fMoab.

Because gAr of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone;

because hKir of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone.

2  He has gone up to the temple,1 and to iDibon,

to the high places2 to weep;

over jNebo and over iMedeba

Moab kwails.

On every head is lbaldness;

every beard is shorn;

3  in the streets they wear sackcloth;

on the housetops and in the squares

everyone wails and melts in tears.

4  mHeshbon and mElealeh cry out;

their voice is heard as far as nJahaz;

therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;

his soul trembles.

5  My heart cries out for Moab;

her fugitives flee to Zoar,

to nEglath-shelishiyah.

For at the oascent of Luhith

they go up weeping;

on the road to oHoronaim

they raise a cry of destruction;

6  the waters of pNimrim

are a desolation;

the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,

the greenery is no more.

7  qTherefore the abundance they have gained

and what they have laid up

they carry away

over the Brook of the Willows.

8  For a cry has gone

around the land of Moab;

her wailing reaches to Eglaim;

her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.

9  For the waters of rDibon3 are full of blood;

for I will bring upon Dibon even more,

sa lion for those of Moab who escape,

for the remnant of the land.

16 tSend the lamb to the ruler of the land,

from uSela, by way of the desert,

to the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2  Like fleeing birds,

like a scattered nest,

so are the daughters of Moab

at vthe fords of the Arnon.

3  “Give counsel;

grant justice;

wmake your shade like night

at the height of noon;

shelter the outcasts;

do not reveal the fugitive;

4  let xthe outcasts of Moab

sojourn among you;

be a shelter to them1

from the destroyer.

When the oppressor is no more,

and destruction has ceased,

and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,

5  ythen a throne will be established in steadfast love,

and on it will sit in faithfulness

in the tent of David

one who judges and seeks justice

and is swift to do righteousness.”

6  zWe have heard of the pride of Moab—

how proud he is!—

aof his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;

in his idle boasting he is not right.

7  Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,

blet everyone wail.

Mourn, utterly stricken,

for the craisin cakes of dKir-hareseth.

8  For the fields of Heshbon languish,

and ethe vine of Sibmah;

the lords of the nations

have struck down its branches,

which reached to Jazer

and strayed to the desert;

its shoots spread abroad

and passed over the sea.

9  Therefore fI weep with ethe weeping of Jazer

for the vine of Sibmah;

I drench you with my tears,

O Heshbon and Elealeh;

for over gyour summer fruit and your harvest

the shout has ceased.

10  hAnd joy and gladness are taken away from ithe fruitful field,

and in the vineyards no jsongs are sung,

no cheers are raised;

no ktreader treads out wine lin the presses;

I have put an end to the shouting.

11  Therefore mmy inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,

and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.

12 And when Moab presents himself, when nhe wearies himself on othe high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.

13 This is the word that the Lord spoke concerning Moab pin the past. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “In three years, qlike the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be rvery few and feeble.”