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.
Isaiah 15
Christian Standard Bible
A Pronouncement against Moab
15 A pronouncement concerning Moab:(A)
Ar in Moab is devastated,(B)
destroyed in a night.
Kir in Moab is devastated,
destroyed in a night.
2 Dibon went up to its temple
to weep at its high places.
Moab wails on Nebo and at[a] Medeba.
Every head is shaved;
every beard is chopped short.
3 In its streets they wear sackcloth;
on its rooftops and in its public squares everyone wails,
falling down and weeping.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.(C)
Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out,
and they tremble.
5 My heart cries out over Moab,
whose fugitives flee as far as Zoar,(D)
to Eglath-shelishiyah;
they go up the Ascent of Luhith weeping;
they raise a cry of destruction
on the road to Horonaim.
6 The Waters of Nimrim(E) are desolate;
the grass is withered, the foliage is gone,
and the vegetation has vanished.
7 So they carry their wealth and belongings
over the Wadi of the Willows.(F)
8 For their cry echoes
throughout the territory of Moab.
Their wailing reaches Eglaim;
their wailing reaches Beer-elim.
9 The Waters of Dibon[b] are full of blood,(G)
but I will bring on Dibon even more than this—
a lion for those who escape from Moab,
and for the survivors in the land.(H)
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