Isaiah 15–16

God Will Destroy Moab

15^*This is a message about Moab. The cities of Ar and Kir are destroyed in a single night, and silence covers the land of Moab. ^2*The people of Dibon^a climb the hill to weep at the shrine. The people of Moab wail in grief over the cities of Nebo and Medeba; they have shaved their heads and their beards in grief. ^3*The people in the streets are dressed in sackcloth; in the city squares and on the housetops people mourn and cry. ^4*The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, and their cry can be heard as far away as Jahaz. Even the soldiers tremble; their courage is gone. ^5*My heart cries out for Moab! The people have fled to the town of Zoar, and to Eglath Shelishiyah. Some climb the road to Luhith, weeping as they go; some escape to Horonaim, grieving loudly. ^6*The brook of Nimrim is dry, the grass beside it has withered, and nothing green is left. ^7*The people go across the Valley of Willows, trying to escape with all their possessions. ^8*Everywhere at Moab’s borders the sound of crying is heard. It is heard at the towns of Eglaim and Beerelim. ^9*At the town of Dibon the river is red with blood, and God has something even worse in store for the people there. Yes, there will be a bloody slaughter of everyone left in Moab.

Moab’s Hopeless Situation

16^*From the city of Sela in the desert the people of Moab send a lamb as a present to the one who rules in Jerusalem. ^2*They wait on the banks of the River Arnon and move aimlessly to and fro, like birds driven from their nest.

^3*They say to the people of Judah, “Tell us what to do. Protect us like a tree that casts a cool shadow in the heat of noon, and let us rest in your shade. We are refugees; hide us where no one can find us. ^4*Let us stay in your land. Protect us from those who want to destroy us.”

(Oppression and destruction will end, and those who are devastating the country will be gone. ^5*Then one of David’s descendants will be king, and he will rule the people with faithfulness and love. He will be quick to do what is right, and he will see that justice is done.)

^6*The people of Judah say, “We have heard how proud the people of Moab are. We know that they are arrogant and conceited, but their boasts are empty.” ^7*The people of Moab will weep because of the troubles they suffer. They will all weep when they remember the fine food they used to eat in the city of Kir Heres. They will be driven to despair. ^8*The farms near Heshbon and the vineyards of Sibmah are destroyed—those vineyards whose wine used to make the rulers of the nations drunk. At one time the vines spread as far as the city of Jazer, and eastwards into the desert, and westwards to the other side of the Dead Sea. ^9*Now I weep for Sibmah’s vines as I weep for Jazer. My tears fall for Heshbon and Elealeh, because there is no harvest to make the people glad. ^10*No one is happy now in the fertile fields. No one shouts or sings in the vineyards. No one tramples grapes to make wine; the shouts of joy are ended.^{b 11*}I groan with sadness for Moab, with grief for Kir Heres. ^12*The people of Moab wear themselves out going to their mountain shrines and to their temples to pray, but it will do them no good.

^13*That is the message the Lord gave earlier about Moab. ^14*And now the Lord says, “In exactly three years Moab’s great wealth will disappear. Of its many people, only a few will survive, and they will be weak.”