Add parallel Print Page Options

Chapter 15

Moab[a]

[b]An oracle concerning Moab:

Having been laid waste in a single night,
    Ar of Moab is destroyed.
Having been laid waste in a single night,
    Kir of Moab is destroyed.
The daughter of Dibon goes up
    to the high places to weep.
Moab wails unceasingly
    over Nebo and Medeba.
Every head has been shaved,
    every beard has been cut off.
In the streets they wear sackcloth;
    on the roofs and in the public squares
    everyone wails and collapses in tears.
Hesbon and Elealeh cry out in distress;
    their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
As a result, the bravest of Moab’s warriors cry out
    and their hearts grow faint.
My heart cries out for Moab;
    her fugitives have arrived close to Zoar,
    at Eglath-shelishiyah.
They climb the slope of Luhith,
    weeping as they make their ascent;
on the road to Horonaim
    they emit heart-rending cries.
The waters of Nimrim
    have become a desolate waste.
The grass is parched,
    the plants have withered away,
    and nothing green can be seen.
Therefore, the people carry away
    across the Ravine of the Willows
whatever possessions they can manage
    and the savings they have accumulated.
Their cry of distress has echoed
    around the land of Moab.
Their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim;
    it can be heard even to the land of Beer-elim.
The waters of Dimon are filled with blood,
    but I have far worse in store for Dimon:
a lion for those who are fleeing from Moab,
    as well as for those who are left on its soil.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 15:1 Moab, ancient rival and enemy of Israel, was devastated during the Assyrian war of 701 B.C.
  2. Isaiah 15:1 The names are those of places belonging at that time to the kingdom of Moab.

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,
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.
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.
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.

“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,
For the waters (I)of Nimrim will be desolate,
For the green grass has withered away;
The grass fails, there is nothing green.
Therefore the abundance they have gained,
And what they have laid up,
They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows.
For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab,
Its wailing to Eglaim
And its wailing to Beer Elim.
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

  1. Isaiah 15:1 oracle, prophecy
  2. Isaiah 15:2 Heb. bayith, lit. house
  3. Isaiah 15:4 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. loins
  4. Isaiah 15:5 Or The Third Eglath, an unknown city, Jer. 48:34
  5. Isaiah 15:9 So with MT, Tg.; DSS, Vg. Dibon; LXX Rimon

A Prophecy Against Moab(A)

15 A prophecy(B) against Moab:(C)

Ar(D) in Moab is ruined,(E)
    destroyed in a night!
Kir(F) in Moab is ruined,
    destroyed in a night!
Dibon(G) goes up to its temple,
    to its high places(H) to weep;
    Moab wails(I) over Nebo(J) and Medeba.
Every head is shaved(K)
    and every beard cut off.(L)
In the streets they wear sackcloth;(M)
    on the roofs(N) and in the public squares(O)
they all wail,(P)
    prostrate with weeping.(Q)
Heshbon(R) and Elealeh(S) cry out,
    their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.(T)
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
    and their hearts are faint.

My heart cries out(U) over Moab;(V)
    her fugitives(W) flee as far as Zoar,(X)
    as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
    weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaim(Y)
    they lament their destruction.(Z)
The waters of Nimrim are dried up(AA)
    and the grass is withered;(AB)
the vegetation is gone(AC)
    and nothing green is left.(AD)
So the wealth they have acquired(AE) and stored up
    they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
    their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
    their lamentation as far as Beer(AF) Elim.
The waters of Dimon[a] are full of blood,
    but I will bring still more upon Dimon[b]
a lion(AG) upon the fugitives of Moab(AH)
    and upon those who remain in the land.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
  2. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.