16 Send lambs to the ruler of the land,(A)
from Sela in the desert(B)
to the mountain of Daughter Zion.
Like a bird fleeing,
forced from the nest,
the daughters of Moab
will be at the fords of the Arnon.
Give us counsel and make a decision.
Shelter us at noonday
with shade that is as dark as night.
Hide the refugees;(C)
do not betray the one who flees.
Let my refugees stay with you;
be a refuge for Moab[a] from the aggressor.
When the oppressor has gone,
destruction has ended,
and marauders have vanished from the land,

a throne will be established in love,(D)
and one will sit on it faithfully[b]
in the tent of David,
judging and pursuing what is right,
quick to execute justice.
We have heard of Moab’s pride(E)
how very proud he is—
his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance,
and his empty boasting.
Therefore let Moab wail;
let every one of them wail for Moab.
You who are completely devastated, mourn
for the raisin cakes(F) of Kir-hareseth.(G)
For Heshbon’s terraced vineyards
and the grapevines of Sibmah have withered.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled its choice vines
that reached as far as Jazer(H)
and spread to the desert.
Their shoots spread out
and reached the sea.(I)
So I join with Jazer
to weep for the vines of Sibmah;
I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears.
Triumphant shouts have fallen silent[c]
over your summer fruit and your harvest.
10 Joy and rejoicing(J) have been removed from the orchard;
no one is singing or shouting for joy in the vineyards.(K)
No one tramples grapes[d] in the winepresses.
I have put an end to the shouting.

11 Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab,(L)
as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.
12 When Moab appears
and tires himself out on the high place(M)
and comes to his sanctuary to pray,
it will do him no good.(N)

13 This is the message that the Lord previously announced about Moab. 14 And now the Lord says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts years,(O) Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak.”

Footnotes

  1. 16:4 Or you; Moab—be a refuge for him
  2. 16:5 Or continually
  3. 16:9 Or Battle cries have fallen
  4. 16:10 Lit wine
Book name not found: Isaiah for the version: 1881 Westcott-Hort New Testament.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.