Isaiah 16
1 Send the tribute lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mount of Daughter Zion.
Send ye the lambs to the ruler of the land, From Selah through the wilderness To the mount of the daughter of Zion!
2 Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:
For as a wandering bird, As a forthdriven nest, So shall be the daughters of Moab At the fords of Arnon; [[saying, ]]
3 “Give us counsel; render a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees.
“Offer counsel; give decision, Make thy shadow at noonday like the darkness of night. Hide the outcasts; Betray not the fugitives.
4 Let my fugitives stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the destroyer.” When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased, and the oppressors have vanished from the land,
Let my outcasts dwell with thee, [[O Zion!]] Be thou to them a covert from the spoiler! For the extortion is at an end, The spoiling ceaseth. The oppressors are consumed from the land.
5 in loving devotion a throne will be established in the tent of David. A judge seeking justice and hastening righteousness will sit on it in faithfulness.
Then shall your throne be established through mercy, And upon it shall sit in the house of David A judge searching for justice, and prompt in equity.”
6 We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.
“We have beard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud; His haughtiness, and his pride, and his insolence, His vain boastings.”
7 Therefore let Moab wail; let them wail together for Moab. Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, you who are utterly stricken.
Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab; Every one shall howl; For the ruins of Kir-hares shall ye mourn, In deep affliction.
8 For the fields of Heshbon have withered, along with the grapevines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choicest vines, which had reached as far as Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots had spread out and passed over the sea.
For the fields of Heshbon languish, The lords of the nations break down the choicest shoots of the vine of Sibmah, They reached even to Jazer; they wandered into the desert; Her branches were spread out; they crossed the sea.
9 So I weep with Jazer for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest.
Therefore I will weep, like Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah; I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealah, For upon thy summer fruits, and thy harvest, the war-shout is fallen.
10 Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards. No one tramples the grapes in the winepresses; I have put an end to the cheering.
Gladness and joy are driven from the fruitful field, And in the vineyards is no singing nor shouting; The treaders tread out no wine in their vats; I have made the vintage-shouting to cease.
11 Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir-heres.
Therefore shall my bowels sound like a harp for Moab, And my inward parts for Kir-hares.
12 When Moab appears on the high place, when he wearies himself and enters his sanctuary to pray, it will do him no good.
And it shall come to pass that though Moab present himself, Though he weary himself upon his high places, And go up to his sanctuary to pray, Yet shall he not prevail.
13 This is the message that the LORD spoke earlier concerning Moab.
This is the word which Jehovah spake concerning Moab of old.
14 And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will be few and feeble.”
But now saith Jehovah: Within three years, like the years of a hireling, The glory of Moab shall be put to shame, With all his great multitude; And the remnant shall be very small, and without strength.
