Isaiah 16

1 Send the tribute lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mount of Daughter Zion.

2 Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:

3 “Give us counsel; render a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees.

4 Let my fugitives stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the destroyer.” When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased, and the oppressors have vanished from the land,

5 in loving devotion a throne will be established in the tent of David. A judge seeking justice and hastening righteousness will sit on it in faithfulness.

6 We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.

7 Therefore let Moab wail; let them wail together for Moab. Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, you who are utterly stricken.

8 For the fields of Heshbon have withered, along with the grapevines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choicest vines, which had reached as far as Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots had spread out and passed over the sea.

9 So I weep with Jazer for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest.

10 Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards. No one tramples the grapes in the winepresses; I have put an end to the cheering.

11 Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir-heres.

12 When Moab appears on the high place, when he wearies himself and enters his sanctuary to pray, it will do him no good.

13 This is the message that the LORD spoke earlier concerning Moab.

14 And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will be few and feeble.”

1 ¶ Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2 For it shall be, [that], as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, [so] the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.

3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.

4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.

5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

6 ¶ We have heard of the pride of Moab; [he is] very proud: [even] of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: [but] his lies [shall] not [be] so.

7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely [they are] stricken.

8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, [and] the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come [even] unto Jazer, they wandered [through] the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.

9 Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.

10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in [their] presses; I have made [their vintage] shouting to cease.

11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh.

12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.

13 This [is] the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time.

14 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant [shall be] very small [and] feeble.

2 They go up to Baith and Dibon unto the altars, and weep and wail over Nebo and Medbah in Moab. Every head is shaven, every beard is cut off.

2 But as a bird fleeth, when it is driven out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be, when they pass before Arnon.

3 In their streets they walk girded with sackcloth; in their housetops and in their streets they all howl, and go down weeping.

3 Gather counsel, hold judgment; make thee the shadow of the noonday as of a night; hide the driven out, and report not the fugitive.

4 Heshbon and Eleale cry out, and they are heard in Jahaz. Wherefore the scaffolded of Moab mourn: for their soul is evil.

4 Let my exiles lodge with thee; O Moab, be thou their shield from the destroyer: then shall the driver be ended, and the destroyer cease, and the trespasser depart out of the land.

5 My heart crieth unto Moab; her fugitives flee from the heifer of three years, even unto Zoar: for they go up to Luhith, and weep; and in the way of Horonaim there is a cry of lamentation.

5 And a throne shall be prepared by grace, that one may sit upon it in the truth, in the tabernacle of David, to judge, and to seek judgment, and to promote righteousness.

6 For the waters of Nimrim are dried up, and the hay is withered, and the grass withereth, and no green herb groweth.

6 And we hear of the arrogance of Moab, that it is almost great; that also their arrogance, and their pride, and their wrath, are greater than their might.

7 For the goods which they have gathered, and the people which they have armed, are carried over the brook of the willows.

7 Therefore shall one Moabite howl over another; all of them shall howl. Over the foundations of the city of Kir-hareseth shall the crippled groan:

8 Cries are heard in the borders of Moab; they howl unto Eglaim, and howl at the spring of Elim.

8 For Heshbon is become a desolate field; the vine of Sibmah is corrupt: the lords of the heathen have broken down the noble branches thereof, and are come unto Jaesher, and are moved in the wilderness: their festers are scattered, and are carried over the sea.

9 For the waters of Dimon are full of blood. And I will bring more upon Dimon, both upon them that are preserved in Moab the Lion, and upon the remnant of the land. Ch. 16. v. 1. Rather send, ye rulers of the land, lambs of Selah out of the wilderness unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

9 Therefore I weep for Jaeser, and for the vine of Sibmah, and shed many tears for Heshbon and Eleale. For there is a song fallen into thy summer, and into thy harvest,

10 Joy and gladness are ceased in the field; and in the vineyards there is no shouting or rejoicing. They press no wine in the winepresses: I have made an end of singing.

11 Therefore my heart murmureth over Moab like a harp, and my inward parts over Kir-hares.

12 Then shall it be seen how Moab is weary at the altars, and how he hath gone to his church to pray, and hath not prospered.

13 This is the thing which the LORD spake against Moab in those days.

14 And now the LORD speaketh, saying, In three years, as the years of a hired servant, shall the glory of Moab be few in multitude; and there shall be a little left, and not much.