Isaiah 16

New American Standard Bible

Prophecy of Moab’s Devastation

16 ^(A)Send the tribute lamb to the ruler of the land,
From ^[a]^(B)Sela by way of the wilderness to the ^(C)mountain of the daughter of Zion.
²Then, like ^(D)fluttering birds or scattered nestlings,
The daughters of ^(E)Moab will be at the crossing places of the ^(F)Arnon.
³“^[b]Give us advice, make a decision;
^[c]Cast your ^(G)shadow like night ^[d]at high noon;
^(H)Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive.
⁴Let the ^[e]outcasts of Moab stay with you;
Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer.”
For the oppressor has come to an end, destruction has ceased,
^(I)Oppressors have been removed from the land.
⁵A ^(J)throne will be established in faithfulness,
And a judge will sit on it in trustworthiness in the tent of ^(K)David;
Moreover, he will seek justice,
And be prompt in righteousness.

⁶^(L)We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride;
Even of his arrogance, pride, and fury;
^(M)His idle boasts are ^[f]false.
⁷Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail.
You will moan for the ^(N)raisin cakes of ^(O)Kir-hareseth
As those who are utterly stricken.
⁸For the fields of ^(P)Heshbon have ^[g]withered, the vines of ^(Q)Sibmah as well;
The lords of the nations have trampled down its choice clusters
Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered to the deserts;
^(R)Its ^[h]tendrils spread themselves out and passed over the sea.
⁹Therefore I will ^(S)weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah;
I will drench you with my tears, ^(T)Heshbon and Elealeh;
For the shouting over your ^(U)summer fruits and your harvest has fallen away.
¹⁰^(V)Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field;
In the ^(W)vineyards also there will be no cries of joy or jubilant shouting,
No ^(X)treader treads out wine in the presses,
For I have made the shouting to cease.
¹¹Therefore my ^[i]^(Y)inner being sounds like a harp for Moab.
And my ^[j]heart for Kir-hareseth.
¹²So it will come about when Moab ^(Z)presents himself,
When he ^(AA)tires himself upon his ^(AB)high place
And comes to his sanctuary to pray,
That he will not prevail.

¹³This is the word which the Lord spoke earlier concerning Moab. ¹⁴But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as ^[k]^(AC)a hired worker would count them, the glory of ^(AD)Moab will become contemptible along with all his great population, and his remnant will be very small and ^[l]impotent.”