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An Oracle concerning Moab

15 An oracle concerning Moab.

Because Ar is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone;
because Kir is laid waste in a night,
    Moab is undone.(A)
Daughter Dibon[a] has gone up
    to the high places to weep;
over Nebo and over Medeba
    Moab wails.
Every head is shaved;
    every beard is shorn;(B)
in the streets they bind on sackcloth;
    on the housetops and in the squares
    everyone wails and melts in tears.(C)
Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
    their voices are heard as far as Jahaz;
therefore the loins of Moab quiver;[b]
    his soul trembles.
My heart cries out for Moab;
    his fugitives flee to Zoar,
    to Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;
on the road to Horonaim
    they raise a cry of destruction;(D)
the waters of Nimrim
    are a desolation;
the grass is withered; the new growth fails;
    vegetation is no more.(E)
Therefore the abundance they have gained
    and what they have laid up
they carry away
    over the Wadi of the Willows.(F)
For a cry has gone
    around the land of Moab;
the wailing reaches to Eglaim;
    the wailing reaches to Beer-elim.
For the waters of Dibon[c] are full of blood,
    yet I will bring upon Dibon[d] even more—
a lion for those of Moab who escape,
    for the remnant of the land.(G)

Footnotes

  1. 15.2 Cn: Heb the house and Dibon
  2. 15.4 Or the armed men of Moab cry aloud
  3. 15.9 Q ms Vg: MT Dimon
  4. 15.9 Q ms Vg: MT Dimon

A Prophecy Against Moab

15 An oracle against Moab.

In one night, Ar[a] of Moab has been ruined and brought to nothing.
In one night, Kir of Moab has been ruined and brought to nothing.
They have gone up to the temple at Dibon,
up to the high places to weep.
Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba.
Every head is shaved.
Every beard is cut off.
They wear sackcloth in their streets.
On the rooftops and in the public squares, everyone wails.
They all collapse in tears.
Heshbon cries out with Elealeh.
Their voice is heard even in Jahaz.
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
and their spirit is weak.

My heart cries out for Moab!
Her refugees[b] flee to Zoar,
to Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the Ascent of Luhith,
    weeping all the way.
On the way to Horonaim,
    they weep continuously over their destruction.
The waters of Nimrim are dried up.
The grass has withered away.
The vegetation has died,
and no green thing remains.
So they will carry across the Ravine of Poplars[c]
    whatever remains from the wealth they acquired
    and from the supplies they stored up.
For a cry has echoed around the borders of Moab.
The wailing reaches to Eglaim
and all the way to Be’er Elim.
For the waters of Dimon are full of blood,[d]
and I will bring still more on Dimon.
I will bring a lion upon the refugees of Moab
and upon the survivors who remain in the land.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 15:1 Ar and the parallel terms in this chapter are names of cities in Moab. In general, the list moves from north to south.
  2. Isaiah 15:5 Or protectors, literally the bars of her gates
  3. Isaiah 15:7 Probably the ravine on the border between Moab and Edom
  4. Isaiah 15:9 The Hebrew word for blood (dam) sounds like the name of the city of Dimon. Dimon may be a pun on the name Dibon, the capital city of Moab.