Isaiah 16
Expanded Bible
16 Send lambs [C as tribute payment] to the ·king [ruler] of the land
Send it from Sela [C an Edomite city, later the Nabatean capital called Petra] through the desert
to the mountain of ·Jerusalem [L the daughter of Zion; C Zion was the location of the Temple; 1:8].
2 The women of Moab
·try to cross the river [L at the fords of] Arnon
like little birds
·that have fallen [or pushed away; or scattered] from their nest.
3 They say: “·Help us [or Make a decision].
·Tell us what to do [or Grant us justice].
Protect us from our enemies
as ·shade [L shade like night] protects us from the noon sun.
·Hide us, because we are running for safety [L Shelter the fugitives/outcasts]!
Don’t ·give us to our enemies [betray/uncover the refugee].
4 Let ·those of us who were forced out [the fugitives/outcasts] of Moab live ·in your land [L among you].
Hide ·us [L them] from ·our enemies [L the destroyer].”
The ·enemy [oppressor] will ·be defeated [come to an end].
The ·robbing of Moab [L destruction] will stop;
those who ·hurt others [L trample] will disappear from the land.
5 Then a ·new loyal king will come [L throne will be established in faithfulness/lovingkindness];
·this faithful king will be from the family of David [L he will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; 9:1–7; 11:1–16].
He will judge ·fairly [with justice]
and ·do what is right [hasten righteousness].
6 We have heard that the people of Moab are proud
and very conceited.
They are very proud and angry,
but their bragging ·means nothing [is empty].
7 So ·the people of Moab will cry [L Moab wails for Moab];
they will all ·be sad [wail].
They will ·moan and groan [or mourn, utterly stricken]
for the raisin cakes [C perhaps associated with pagan ritual (Hos. 3:1); also known as an aphrodisiac (Song 2:5)] they had in Kir Hareseth.
8 But the fields of Heshbon ·cannot grow grapes [wither; dry up; L languish];
and the vines of Sibmah dry up;
·foreign rulers [L lords of the nations] have ·destroyed [struck down] the ·grapevines [choice plants].
The grapevines once spread as far as the city of Jazer and into the desert;
they had spread as far as the sea [C probably the Dead Sea].
9 I ·cry [weep] with the people of Jazer
for the grapevines of Sibmah.
I will ·cry with the [or drench you with tears, you] people of Heshbon and Elealeh.
·There will be no shouts of joy,
because there will be no harvest or ripe fruit [or Your enemies shout for joy over your fruit and harvest].
10 There will be no joy and happiness in the orchards
and no songs or shouts of joy in the vineyards.
No one ·makes [treads/stomps out] wine in the winepresses,
because I have put an end to shouts of joy.
11 My ·heart cries [inner parts moan/sigh] for Moab like a ·harp playing a funeral song [L harp];
·I am very sad [L my inner being] for Kir Hareseth.
12 The people of Moab will ·go to their places of worship [L appear and grow weary at their high places]
and will try to pray.
But when they go to their temple to pray,
they will not be able.
13 Earlier the Lord said these things about Moab. 14 Now the Lord says, “In three years ·all those people and what they take pride in [L the glory of Moab] will be ·hated [despised]. (This is three years as a hired helper would count time [C meaning carefully calculated, so as to be properly paid; 21:16].) There will be a few people left, but they will be ·weak [feeble].”
Isaiah 16
Amplified Bible
Prophecy of Moab’s Devastation
16 Send lambs to the ruler of the land [[a]you Moabites],
From Sela [that is, Petra in Edom] through the wilderness to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).(A)
2
For like wandering birds or scattered nestlings,
The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the [river] Arnon.
3
[Say to the ruler] “Give us advice, make a decision [for Moab, king of Judah];
Cast your shadow [over us] like night in the midst of noon;
Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive [to his pursuer].
4
“Let our outcasts of Moab live among you;
Be a [sheltered] hiding place to them from the destroyer.”
For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased,
Oppressors [who trample men] have completely disappeared from the land,
5
A throne will be established in lovingkindness,
And One will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent (dynasty, family) of David;
Judging and seeking justice
And being prompt to do righteousness.(B)
6
We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride—
Even of his arrogance, his conceit, his rage,
His untruthful boasting.
7
Therefore Moab will wail for Moab; everyone will wail.
You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth,
As those who are utterly stricken and discouraged.
8
For the fields of Heshbon have languished and withered, and the vines of Sibmah as well;
The lords of the nations have trampled down [Moab’s] choice vine branches,
Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered into the wilderness;
Its tendrils stretched out, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.
9
Therefore I (Isaiah) will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vines of Sibmah.
I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh;
For the war-cry [of the enemy] has fallen on your summer fruits and your harvest.
10
Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field;
In the vineyards there will be no singing or joyful sound;
No treader treads out wine in the presses,
For I (God) put an end to the joyful shouting.
11
Therefore my heart sounds like a harp [in mournful compassion] for Moab,
And my inner being mourns for Kir-hareseth.
12
So it will come to pass when Moab presents himself,
When he wearies himself [worshiping] on his high place [of idolatry]
And comes to his sanctuary [of Chemosh, god of Moab] to pray,
That he will not prevail.(C)
13 This is the word which the Lord spoke earlier concerning Moab [when Moab’s pride and resistance to God were first known]. 14 But now the Lord speaks, saying, “Within [b]three years, as the years of a hired man [who will not serve longer than the agreed time], the glory of Moab will be degraded along with all [c]the great population, and the remnant [that survives] will be very small and of no account.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 16:1 As King Mesha sent 100,000 lambs each year to King Ahab of Israel (2 Kin 3:4), so now the Moabites are advised to win the king’s favor and protection by diverting their tribute to the king in Jerusalem as an acknowledgment of subjection.
- Isaiah 16:14 This prophecy was fulfilled after the death of King Ahaz of Judah (Is 14:28), about the third year of King Hezekiah’s reign. Moab was not left completely without population at this time; there was still a “remnant.” The final desolation of Moab was reserved for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 582 b.c., some five years after the taking of Jerusalem. The ruins of Elealeh, Heshbon, Medeba, Dimon, etc., still exist to confirm through modern research the accuracy of the fulfillment of this prophecy.
- Isaiah 16:14 Lit all the great number.
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