Isaiah 16:1-8

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

16 Send lambs
    to the ruler of the land,
from Sela, by way of the desert,
    to the mount of daughter Zion.^(A)
2 Like fluttering birds,
    like scattered nestlings,
so are the daughters of Moab
    at the fords of the Arnon.^(B)
3 “Give counsel;
    grant justice;
make your shade like night
    at the height of noon;
hide the outcasts;
    do not betray the fugitive;^(C)
4 let the outcasts of Moab
    settle among you;
be a refuge to them
    from the destroyer.”

When the oppressor is no more,
    and destruction has ceased,
and marauders have vanished from the land,^(D)
5 then a throne shall be established in steadfast love
    in the tent of David,
    and on it shall sit in faithfulness
a ruler who seeks justice
    and is swift to do what is right.^(E)

⁶ We have heard of the pride of Moab
    —how proud he is!—
of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
    his boasts are false.^(F)
7 Therefore let Moab wail;
    let everyone wail for Moab.
Mourn, utterly stricken,
    for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.^(G)

⁸ For the fields of Heshbon languish,
    and the vines of Sibmah,
whose clusters once made drunk
    the lords of the nations,
reached to Jazer
    and strayed to the desert;
their shoots once spread abroad
    and crossed over the sea.^(H)