Isaiah 15–16

Proclamation Against Moab

15The ^aburden ¹against Moab.

Because in the night ^bAr of ^cMoab is laid waste

And destroyed,

Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste

And destroyed,

²He has gone up to the ²temple and Dibon,

To the high places to weep.

Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba;

^dOn all their heads will be baldness,

And every beard cut off.

³In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth;

On the tops of their houses

And in their streets

Everyone will wail, ^eweeping bitterly.

⁴Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out,

Their voice shall be heard as far as ^fJahaz;

Therefore the ³armed soldiers of Moab will cry out;

His life will be burdensome to him.

⁵“My ^gheart will cry out for Moab;

His fugitives shall flee to Zoar,

Like ⁴a three-year-old heifer.

For ^hby the Ascent of Luhith

They will go up with weeping;

For in the way of Horonaim

They will raise up a cry of destruction,

⁶For the waters ⁱof Nimrim will be desolate,

For the green grass has withered away;

The grass fails, there is nothing green.

⁷Therefore the abundance they have gained,

And what they have laid up,

They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows.

⁸For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab,

Its wailing to Eglaim

And its wailing to Beer Elim.

⁹For the waters of ⁵Dimon will be full of blood;

Because I will bring more upon Dimon,

^jLions upon him who escapes from Moab,

And on the remnant of the land.”

Moab Destroyed

16Send ^athe lamb to the ruler of the land,

^bFrom ¹Sela to the wilderness,

To the mount of the daughter of Zion.

²For it shall be as a ^cwandering bird thrown out of the nest;

So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the ^dArnon.

³“Take counsel, execute judgment;

Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day;

Hide the outcasts,

Do not betray him who escapes.

⁴Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab;

Be a shelter to them from the face of the ²spoiler.

For the extortioner is at an end,

Devastation ceases,

The oppressors are consumed out of the land.

⁵In mercy ^ethe throne will be established;

And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David,

^fJudging and seeking justice and hastening ^grighteousness.”

⁶We have heard of the ^hpride of Moab—

He is very proud—

Of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath;

ⁱBut his ³lies shall not be so.

⁷Therefore Moab shall ^jwail for Moab;

Everyone shall wail.

For the foundations ^kof Kir Hareseth you shall mourn;

Surely they are stricken.

⁸For ^lthe fields of Heshbon languish,

And ^mthe vine of Sibmah;

The lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants,

Which have reached to Jazer

And wandered through the wilderness.

Her branches are stretched out,

They are gone over the ⁿsea.

⁹Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah,

With the weeping of Jazer;

I will drench you with my tears,

^oO Heshbon and Elealeh;

For ⁴battle cries have fallen

Over your summer fruits and your harvest.

^10pGladness is taken away,

And joy from the plentiful field;

In the vineyards there will be no singing,

Nor will there be shouting;

No treaders will tread out wine in the presses;

I have made their shouting cease.

¹¹Therefore ^qmy ⁵heart shall resound like a harp for Moab,

And my inner being for ⁶Kir Heres.

¹²And it shall come to pass,

When it is seen that Moab is weary on ^rthe high place,

That he will come to his sanctuary to pray;

But he will not prevail.

¹³This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time. ¹⁴But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “Within three years, ^sas the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be despised with all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”