Isaiah 15
English Standard Version
An Oracle Concerning Moab
15 An (A)oracle concerning (B)Moab.
Because (C)Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,
Moab is undone;
because (D)Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,
Moab is undone.
2 He has gone up to the temple,[a] and to (E)Dibon,
to the high places[b] to weep;
over (F)Nebo and over (G)Medeba
Moab (H)wails.
On every head is (I)baldness;
every beard is shorn;
3 in the streets they wear sackcloth;
on the housetops and in the squares
everyone wails and melts in tears.
4 (J)Heshbon and (K)Elealeh cry out;
their voice is heard as far as (L)Jahaz;
therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;
his soul trembles.
5 My heart cries out for Moab;
her fugitives flee to Zoar,
to (M)Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the (N)ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping;
on the road to (O)Horonaim
they raise a cry of destruction;
6 the waters of (P)Nimrim
are a desolation;
the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,
the greenery is no more.
7 (Q)Therefore the abundance they have gained
and what they have laid up
they carry away
over the Brook of the Willows.
8 For a cry has gone
around the land of Moab;
her wailing reaches to Eglaim;
her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.
9 For the waters of (R)Dibon[c] are full of blood;
for I will bring upon Dibon even more,
(S)a lion for those of Moab who escape,
for the remnant of the land.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 15:2 Hebrew the house
- Isaiah 15:2 Or temple, even Dibon to the high places
- Isaiah 15:9 Dead Sea Scroll, Vulgate (compare Syriac); Masoretic Text Dimon; twice in this verse
Isaiah 15
New King James Version
Proclamation Against Moab
15 The (A)burden[a] against Moab.
Because in the night (B)Ar of (C)Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
2 He has gone up to the [b]temple and Dibon,
To the high places to weep.
Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba;
(D)On all their heads will be baldness,
And every beard cut off.
3 In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth;
On the tops of their houses
And in their streets
Everyone will wail, (E)weeping bitterly.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out,
Their voice shall be heard as far as (F)Jahaz;
Therefore the [c]armed soldiers of Moab will cry out;
His life will be burdensome to him.
5 “My(G) heart will cry out for Moab;
His fugitives shall flee to Zoar,
Like [d]a three-year-old heifer.
For (H)by the Ascent of Luhith
They will go up with weeping;
For in the way of Horonaim
They will raise up a cry of destruction,
6 For the waters (I)of Nimrim will be desolate,
For the green grass has withered away;
The grass fails, there is nothing green.
7 Therefore the abundance they have gained,
And what they have laid up,
They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows.
8 For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab,
Its wailing to Eglaim
And its wailing to Beer Elim.
9 For the waters of [e]Dimon will be full of blood;
Because I will bring more upon Dimon,
(J)Lions upon him who escapes from Moab,
And on the remnant of the land.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 15:1 oracle, prophecy
- Isaiah 15:2 Heb. bayith, lit. house
- Isaiah 15:4 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. loins
- Isaiah 15:5 Or The Third Eglath, an unknown city, Jer. 48:34
- Isaiah 15:9 So with MT, Tg.; DSS, Vg. Dibon; LXX Rimon
Isaiah 15
New English Translation
The Lord Will Judge Moab
15 This is an oracle[a] about Moab:
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Ar of Moab is destroyed!
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Kir of Moab is destroyed!
2 They went up to the temple;[b]
the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament.[c]
Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba,[d] Moab wails.
Every head is shaved bare,
every beard is trimmed off.[e]
3 In their streets they wear sackcloth;
on their roofs and in their town squares
all of them wail;
they fall down weeping.
4 The people of[f] Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
For this reason Moab’s soldiers shout in distress;
their courage wavers.[g]
5 My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight,[h]
and for the fugitives[i] stretched out[j] as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah.
For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith;
they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim.[k]
6 For the waters of Nimrim are gone;[l]
the grass is dried up,
the vegetation has disappeared,
and there are no plants.
7 For this reason what they have made and stored up,
they carry over the Stream of the Poplars.
8 Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory;
their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim.[m]
9 Indeed, the waters of Dimon[n] are full of blood!
Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon.[o]
A lion will attack[p] the Moabite fugitives
and the people left in the land.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 15:1 tn See note at Isa 13:1.
- Isaiah 15:2 tn Heb “house.”
- Isaiah 15:2 tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.
- Isaiah 15:2 tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”
- Isaiah 15:2 sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.
- Isaiah 15:4 tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Isaiah 15:4 tc The Hebrew text has, “For this reason the soldiers of Moab shout; his inner being quivers for him.” To achieve tighter parallelism, some emend the first line, changing חֲלֻצֵי (khalutse, “soldiers”) to חַלְצֵי (khaltse, “loins”) and יָרִיעוּ (yariʿu, “they shout,” from רוּעַ, ruaʿ) to יָרְעוּ (yorʿu, “they quiver”), a verb from יָרַע (yaraʿ), which also appears in the next line. One can then translate v. 4b as “For this reason the insides of the Moabites quiver; their whole body shakes” (cf. NAB, NRSV).
- Isaiah 15:5 tn Heb “for Moab.” For rhetorical purposes the speaker (the Lord?; see v. 9) plays the role of a mourner.
- Isaiah 15:5 tn The vocalization of the Hebrew text suggests “the bars of her gates,” but the form should be repointed to yield, “her fugitives.” See HALOT 156-57 s.v. בָּרִחַ, and BDB 138 s.v. בָּרִיהַ.
- Isaiah 15:5 tn The words “are stretched out” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Isaiah 15:5 tn Heb “For the ascent of Luhith, with weeping they go up it; for [on] the road to Horonaim an outcry over shattering they raise up.”
- Isaiah 15:6 tn Heb “are waste places”; cf. NRSV “are a desolation.”
- Isaiah 15:8 tn Heb “to Eglaim [is] her wailing, and [to] Beer Elim [is] her wailing.”
- Isaiah 15:9 tc The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads “Dibon” instead of “Dimon” in this verse.
- Isaiah 15:9 tn Heb “Indeed, I will place on Dimon added things.” Apparently the Lord is speaking.
- Isaiah 15:9 tn The words “will attack” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
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