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16 Send the lambs for the ruler of the land from Selah to the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. For it will be that as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so will the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon. Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive! Let my outcasts dwell with you! As for Moab, be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. For the extortionist is brought to nothing. Destruction ceases. The oppressors are consumed out of the land. A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.

We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath. His boastings are nothing. Therefore Moab will wail for Moab. Everyone will wail. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth, utterly stricken. For the fields of Heshbon languish with the vine of Sibmah. The lords of the nations have broken down its choice branches, which reached even to Jazer, which wandered into the wilderness. Its shoots were spread abroad. They passed over the sea. Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen. 10 Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there will be no singing, neither joyful noise. Nobody will tread out wine in the presses. I have made the shouting stop. 11 Therefore my heart sounds like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir Heres. 12 It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail.

13 This is the word that Yahweh spoke concerning Moab in time past. 14 But now Yahweh has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as a worker bound by contract would count them, the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”

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16 Send lambs to the ruler of the land,(A)
from Sela in the desert(B)
to the mountain of Daughter Zion.
Like a bird fleeing,
forced from the nest,
the daughters of Moab
will be at the fords of the Arnon.
Give us counsel and make a decision.
Shelter us at noonday
with shade that is as dark as night.
Hide the refugees;(C)
do not betray the one who flees.
Let my refugees stay with you;
be a refuge for Moab[a] from the aggressor.
When the oppressor has gone,
destruction has ended,
and marauders have vanished from the land,

a throne will be established in love,(D)
and one will sit on it faithfully[b]
in the tent of David,
judging and pursuing what is right,
quick to execute justice.
We have heard of Moab’s pride(E)
how very proud he is—
his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance,
and his empty boasting.
Therefore let Moab wail;
let every one of them wail for Moab.
You who are completely devastated, mourn
for the raisin cakes(F) of Kir-hareseth.(G)
For Heshbon’s terraced vineyards
and the grapevines of Sibmah have withered.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled its choice vines
that reached as far as Jazer(H)
and spread to the desert.
Their shoots spread out
and reached the sea.(I)
So I join with Jazer
to weep for the vines of Sibmah;
I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears.
Triumphant shouts have fallen silent[c]
over your summer fruit and your harvest.
10 Joy and rejoicing(J) have been removed from the orchard;
no one is singing or shouting for joy in the vineyards.(K)
No one tramples grapes[d] in the winepresses.
I have put an end to the shouting.

11 Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab,(L)
as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.
12 When Moab appears
and tires himself out on the high place(M)
and comes to his sanctuary to pray,
it will do him no good.(N)

13 This is the message that the Lord previously announced about Moab. 14 And now the Lord says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts years,(O) Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak.”

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Footnotes

  1. 16:4 Or you; Moab—be a refuge for him
  2. 16:5 Or continually
  3. 16:9 Or Battle cries have fallen
  4. 16:10 Lit wine