Isaiah 16

Moabites

16 ¹Send lambs to the ruler of the land from the rock of the wilderness,
to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

²And it will come to pass, that at the fords of Arnon the daughters of Moab
will be like a fleeing bird,
cast out of the nest.

³Bring forth counsel,
make a decision;

make your shadow
like night in the midst of noonday;

hide the refugees;
do not betray the fugitives.

⁴Let my Moabite refugees dwell with you;
be a hiding place to them from the destroyer.

When the oppressor comes to an end,
destruction ceases,
and the trampler is finished from the land;

⁵then the throne will be established with loving-kindness,
and one will sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David,

judging, and seeking justice,
and being quick to do righteousness.

Leaders

/People of Judah

⁶We have heard of the pride of Moab,
of his arrogance and his pride, [for he is very proud][1], and his rage, his lies [and all his evil works].

⁷Therefore Moab will wail for Moab;
all of it will wail.

For the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth will you mourn,
stricken with grief.

⁸For the fields of Heshbon wither,
the vines of Sibmah;

the lords of the nations have broken down its choice vines,
which reach as far as Jazer, and spread to the wilderness;

her shoots spread abroad,
passing across the sea.

The Lord? Isaiah?

⁹Therefore I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah;
I water you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh,

because over your summer fruits
and over your harvest—the shout has fallen.

¹⁰And rejoicing is taken away,
and joy from the fruitful field,

and no singing gladly in the vineyards,
no shout in jubilation.

No one treads wine in the wine presses;
I have caused the jubilant shout to cease.

¹¹Therefore my bowels moan like a lyre for Moab
and my innermost being for Kir-haresh.

The Lord

¹²And it will come to pass,
when Moab appears at the high place, it will wear itself out;
when it comes to its temple to pray, it will be to no avail.

Isaiah

¹³This was the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in the past. ¹⁴But now the LORD has spoken, saying,

The Lord

“Within three years, as a hired worker considers them, the glory of Moab with its large population will be lightly esteemed, and the remnant will be very few and insignificant.”