Isaiah 14:28–17:14
A Prophecy Against the Philistines
28 This prophecyf came in the yearg King Ahazh died:
29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,i
that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,j
its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.k
30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
and the needyl will lie down in safety.m
But your root I will destroy by famine;n
it will slayo your survivors.p
31 Wail,q you gate!r Howl, you city!
Melt away, all you Philistines!s
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,t
and there is not a straggler in its ranks.u
to the envoysv of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,w
and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.x”
destroyed in a night!
Kirc in Moab is ruined,
destroyed in a night!
2 Dibond goes up to its temple,
to its high placese to weep;
Moab wailsf over Nebog and Medeba.
Every head is shavedh
and every beard cut off.i
3 In the streets they wear sackcloth;j
on the roofsk and in the public squaresl
they all wail,m
prostrate with weeping.n
4 Heshbono and Elealehp cry out,
their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.q
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
and their hearts are faint.
5 My heart cries outr over Moab;s
her fugitivest flee as far as Zoar,u
as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaimv
they lament their destruction.w
6 The waters of Nimrim are dried upx
and the grass is withered;y
the vegetation is gonez
and nothing green is left.a
7 So the wealth they have acquiredb and stored up
they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
their lamentation as far as Beerc Elim.
9 The waters of Dimona are full of blood,
but I will bring still more upon Dimonb—
a liond upon the fugitives of Moabe
and upon those who remain in the land.
to the ruler of the land,
from Sela,h across the desert,
to the mount of Daughter Zion.i
pushed from the nest,j
so are the women of Moabk
3 “Make up your mind,” Moab says.
“Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night—
at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,n
do not betray the refugees.
4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
be their sheltero from the destroyer.”
The oppressorp will come to an end,
and destruction will cease;q
the aggressor will vanish from the land.
5 In love a throner will be established;s
in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
one from the housea of Davidt—
one who in judging seeks justiceu
and speeds the cause of righteousness.
6 We have heard of Moab’sv pridew—
how great is her arrogance!—
of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;
but her boasts are empty.
7 Therefore the Moabites wail,x
they wail together for Moab.
Lament and grieve
for the raisin cakesy of Kir Hareseth.z
8 The fields of Heshbona wither,b
the vines of Sibmahc also.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled down the choicest vines,d
which once reached Jazere
and spread toward the desert.
Their shoots spread outf
and went as far as the sea.b g
9 So I weep,h as Jazer weeps,
for the vines of Sibmah.
Heshbon and Elealeh,i
I drench you with tears!j
The shouts of joyk over your ripened fruit
and over your harvestsl have been stilled.
10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;m
no one sings or shoutsn in the vineyards;
no one treadso out wine at the presses,p
for I have put an end to the shouting.
11 My heart laments for Moabq like a harp,r
my inmost beings for Kir Hareseth.
12 When Moab appears at her high place,t
she only wears herself out;
when she goes to her shrineu to pray,
it is to no avail.v
13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: “Within three years,w as a servant bound by contractx would count them,y Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised,z and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”a
17 A prophecyb against Damascus:c
“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
but will become a heap of ruins.d
2 The cities of Aroere will be deserted
and left to flocks,f which will lie down,g
with no one to make them afraid.h
3 The fortifiedi city will disappear from Ephraim,
and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
like the gloryj of the Israelites,”k
declares the Lord Almighty.
4 “In that dayl the glorym of Jacob will fade;
the fat of his body will wasten away.
5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
gatheringo the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grainp
in the Valley of Rephaim.q
6 Yet some gleanings will remain,r
as when an olive tree is beaten,s
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 In that dayt people will looku to their Makerv
and turn their eyes to the Holy Onew of Israel.
8 They will not look to the altars,x
the work of their hands,y
and they will have no regard for the Asherah polesa z
and the incense altars their fingersa have made.
9 In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth.b And all will be desolation.
10 You have forgottenc God your Savior;d
you have not remembered the Rock,e your fortress.f
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
and plant imported vines,g
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
and on the morningh when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvesti will be as nothingj
in the day of disease and incurablek pain.l
12 Woe to the many nations that ragem—
they rage like the raging sea!n
Woe to the peoples who roaro—
they roar like the roaring of great waters!p
13 Although the peoples roarq like the roar of surging waters,
when he rebukesr them they flees far away,
driven before the wind like chafft on the hills,
like tumbleweed before a gale.u
14 In the evening, suddenv terror!w
Before the morning, they are gone!x
This is the portion of those who loot us,
the lot of those who plunder us.