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
International Standard Version
Moab’s Pending Judgment
15 A message[a] concerning Moab:
“For Ir[b] in Moab is destroyed in a night,
and Moab[c] is ruined!
Because Ir[d] in Moab is destroyed in a single night,
Moab is ruined!
2 He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon,
to the high places to weep;
over Nebo and over Medeba
Moab wails.
His head is completely[e] bald,
and[f] every beard is shaved off.
3 In its streets they wear sackcloth;
on its rooftops and in its squares
everyone wails and falls down[g] weeping.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,
their voices are heard as far as Jahaz;
therefore the loins[h] of Moab cry aloud;
its heart quakes for itself.
5 My heart cries out over Moab;
her fugitives flee as far as Zoar,
as far as Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the ascent to Luhith
they go up weeping;
on the road to Horonaim
they raise a cry of destruction.
6 The Nimrim waters are desolate;
the grass is withered,
its vegetation gone;
there is[i] no foliage left.
7 Therefore the wealth they have acquired
and what they have stored up—
they carry them away
over the Arab[j] Wadi.[k]
8 For the cry has gone out
along the border of Moab;
her wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
her wailing reaches as far as Beer-elim.
9 The Dibon[l] streams are full of blood;
but I will bring upon Dibon[m] even more—
a lion will pounce[n] upon those of Moab who escape,
upon[o] those who remain in the land.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 15:1 Lit. An oracle
- Isaiah 15:1 Or For the city; so 1QIsaa; MT reads Ar; LXX lacks For Ir
- Isaiah 15:1 So 1QIsaa; MT reads it; LXX lacks it
- Isaiah 15:1 Or Because the city; so 1QIsaa; 4QIsao MT LXX read Because the wall or Because Kir
- Isaiah 15:2 So 1QIsaa; MT reads all its heads are; MTmss LXX read Over every head; cf. Jer 48:37
- Isaiah 15:2 So 1QIsaa Mtmss LXX; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 15:3 So 1QIsaa; MT reads falling down; LXX lacks and falls down
- Isaiah 15:4 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; MT reads armed men
- Isaiah 15:6 So 1QIsaa; MT reads was or there has been; LXX reads there will be
- Isaiah 15:7 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; MT reads Willow
- Isaiah 15:7 I.e. a seasonal stream or river that channels water during rain seasons but is dry at other times
- Isaiah 15:9 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Dimon; LXX reads Remmon
- Isaiah 15:9 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Dimon; LXX reads Remmon
- Isaiah 15:9 1QIsaa LXX MT lack will pounce
- Isaiah 15:9 So 1QIsaa LXX; the Heb. lacks upon
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