Isaiah 16-18

EasyEnglish Bible

Moab's troubles

16 We must send sheep as gifts to the ruler of our land. Send them from Sela across the desert. Send them to Mount Zion in Jerusalem.^[a]

² Moab's women are standing at the shore of Arnon river. They want to go across. They are like birds that people have chased out of their nests.

³ The Moabites say, ‘Tell us what we should do! Help us in our troubles! Give us some shade in the middle of the day! Hide the people who are escaping! Our enemies are chasing us. Do not let them find us. ⁴ Let us escape from Moab and come to live among you. Our enemy wants to destroy us. Please keep us safe!’

Yes, one day, the cruel enemy will have gone. He will no longer attack the land and destroy it. ⁵ One of David's descendants will rule as king. He will be true and honest. He will judge people in a fair way. He will quickly bring justice among his people.

⁶ The people of Judah say, ‘We know how proud Moab's people are. We have heard how they boast about themselves. They think that they can do anything that they want. But all their pride is empty and useless!’

⁷ Because of their troubles, Moab's people weep. They are all very upset. They are sad because there are no more sweet raisins from Kir-Hareseth!

⁸ Yes, nothing grows in Heshbon's fields. There are no grapes on Sibmah's vines. The rulers of other nations have destroyed the vineyards. The branches of those vines reached as far as Jazer, and the desert. They even grew to go across the sea.^{[b] 9} Because of that, I weep for the vines of Sibmah, as Jazer weeps. I pour out my tears all over you, Heshbon and Elealeh. Your people no longer sing because they are happy at harvest time. There is no more fruit on your trees or crops in your fields. ¹⁰ Nobody is happy in the fields. Nobody sings or shouts with joy in the vineyards. Nobody squeezes the grapes to make wine. I have caused all the happy noise to stop.

¹¹ So I cry deep inside me for Moab. I cry like the sad music of a harp. I am very upset for Kir-Hareseth.

¹² Moab's people go to their altars and temples to pray for help from their gods. But they will only become tired. Their prayers will be useless.

¹³ That is the message that the Lord has already spoken about Moab. ¹⁴ But now the Lord says, ‘In three years' time, all Moab's glory will have gone. Count every day of those years, as if you are working to receive money. After that, there will only be a few of Moab's people who are still alive. Now they are many and they are strong. But by then they will be few and weak.’

A message about Damascus

17 This is a message about Damascus:

‘Look! Damascus is no longer a city! It has become a heap of stones.

² Nobody lives in the cities of Aroer. Sheep and goats can safely go there to eat. They can lie down there and nobody will chase them away. ³ There will be no strong cities in Ephraim.^[c] No king will rule in Damascus. The few people who remain in Syria are no longer great, like Israel's people!’

That is what the Lord Almighty says.

⁴ ‘At that time, Israel will no longer be great. It will be like a rich, fat person who becomes weak and hungry.

⁵ Israel will be like a field of grain in Rephaim valley after the harvest. The workers have cut down the crops. They have picked up the grain from the ground. ⁶ There will be only a few people that remain in Israel. They will be like a few olives that remain on a tree after the harvest. Perhaps two or three olives are still there on the highest branches. Four or five olives may remain on the other branches.’

That is what the Lord God of Israel says.

⁷ At that time, people will turn back to their Maker. They will trust the Holy God of Israel to help them.

⁸ They will no longer trust their idols to help them. They made altars for themselves, where they worshipped their gods. They worshipped Asherah at special poles. They made altars where they burned incense. But they will not do those things any more.

⁹ At that time, Israel's strong cities will be empty. People will run away from those cities, as the Amorites ran away from the hills when the Israelites attacked them. Israel's strong cities will become heaps of stones. ¹⁰ That will happen because you have forgotten the God who rescues you. He is the Rock where you can safely hide, but you have turned away from him.^[d]

Instead, you plant the best plants and vines in your gardens. You buy them from foreign countries for a lot of money. ¹¹ You take care of them so that they grow quickly. They may even make flowers on the same morning that you plant them! But you will never have any fruit from them. You will only get trouble and pain that will never go away.

¹² It will be very bad for the armies of other nations! They are making a noise like the sea in a storm! They are as loud as powerful waves! ¹³ But it does not matter how much noise they make. Those people may roar like powerful waves, but the Lord will shout at them to stop. Then they will run far away! They will run like the wind as it blows chaff across the hills. It will be like a strong storm that carries away dead weeds!

¹⁴ Look at what happens! In the evening the enemy attacks, and we are very afraid. But by the morning they have disappeared! That is what happens to people who attack us. Anyone who tries to take away our valuable things for themselves will fail.

A message about Cush^[e]

18 It will be very bad for that land beyond the rivers of Cush. Their ships seem to have wings and fly everywhere! ² They send messages over the sea in boats that they make from reeds. Their boats sail quickly on the water.

³ All you people who live in the world, listen to this! You will see a battle flag on the mountains. You will hear the sound of a trumpet.

⁴ This is what the Lord said to me: ‘I will watch quietly from my place. I will work quietly, like the heat that comes from the sun. I will be as quiet as the mist that comes at harvest time.’^[f]

⁵ Then, when the grapes on the vines are nearly ready for harvest, the Lord will cut them off! He will use his knife to cut off the branches.^[g]

⁶ Like those branches, the dead bodies of the soldiers will lie in the fields. The wild animals and the vultures will come to eat them. The vultures will feed on them all through the summer. The wild animals will eat them all through the winter.

⁷ At that time, the Lord Almighty will receive gifts from the people of that land. Many rivers cross that land. Its people are tall and their skin has no hair. Everyone is afraid of them. Their nation is strong and powerful. Those people will bring their gifts to Mount Zion. That is the place that the Lord Almighty has chosen for people to worship him there.