Isaiah 16

Chapter 16

Prophecy of Moab’s Devastation

^1aSend the tribute lamb to the ruler of the land,

From ^1bSela by way of the wilderness to the ^cmountain of the daughter of Zion.

²Then, like ^1afleeing birds or scattered ²nestlings,

The daughters of ^bMoab will be at the fords of the ^cArnon.

³“¹Give us advice, make a decision;

²Cast your ^ashadow like night ³at high noon;

^bHide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive.

⁴“Let the ¹outcasts of Moab stay with you;

Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer.”

For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased,

^aOppressors have completely disappeared from the land.

⁵A ^athrone will even be established in lovingkindness,

And a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of ^bDavid;

Moreover, he will seek justice

And be prompt in righteousness.

^6aWe have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride;

Even of his arrogance, pride, and fury;

^bHis idle boasts are ¹false.

⁷Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail.

You will moan for the ^araisin cakes of ^bKir-hareseth

As those who are utterly stricken.

⁸For the fields of ^aHeshbon have ¹withered, the vines of ^bSibmah as well;

The lords of the nations have trampled down its choice clusters

Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered to the deserts;

^cIts tendrils spread themselves out and passed over the sea.

⁹Therefore I will ^aweep bitterly for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah;

I will drench you with my tears, O ^bHeshbon and Elealeh;

For the shouting over your ^csummer fruits and your harvest has fallen away.

^10aGladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field;

In the ^bvineyards also there will be no cries of joy or jubilant shouting,

No ^ctreader treads out wine in the presses,

For I have made the shouting to cease.

¹¹Therefore my ^1aheart intones like a harp for Moab

And my ²inward feelings for Kir-hareseth.

¹²So it will come about when Moab ^apresents himself,

When he ^bwearies himself upon his ^chigh place

And comes to his sanctuary to pray,

That he will not prevail.

¹³This is the word which the Lord spoke earlier concerning Moab.

¹⁴But now the Lord speaks, saying, “Within three years, as ^1aa hired man would count them, the glory of ^bMoab will be degraded along with all his great population, and his remnant will be very small and ²impotent.”