Isaiah 16:1–18:7

16 Send lambsf as tributeg

to the ruler of the land,

from Sela,h across the desert,

to the mount of Daughter Zion.i

2 Like fluttering birds

pushed from the nest,j

so are the women of Moabk

at the fordsl of the Arnon.m

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

A Prophecy Against Damascus

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.

A Prophecy Against Cush

18 Woey to the land of whirring wingsa

along the rivers of Cush,b z

2 which sends envoysa by sea

in papyrusb boats over the water.

Go, swift messengers,

to a people tall and smooth-skinned,c

to a people feared far and wide,

an aggressived nation of strange speech,

whose land is divided by rivers.e

3 All you people of the world,f

you who live on the earth,

when a bannerg is raised on the mountains,

you will see it,

and when a trumpeth sounds,

you will hear it.

4 This is what the Lord says to me:

“I will remain quieti and will look on from my dwelling place,j

like shimmering heat in the sunshine,k

like a cloud of dewl in the heat of harvest.”

5 For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone

and the flower becomes a ripening grape,

he will cut offm the shoots with pruning knives,

and cut down and take away the spreading branches.n

6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of preyo

and to the wild animals;p

the birds will feed on them all summer,

the wild animals all winter.

7 At that time giftsq will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,r

from a people feareds far and wide,

an aggressive nation of strange speech,

whose land is divided by riverst—

the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.u