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 a lamb [to] the ruler of the land, From Selah in the wilderness, Unto 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:
And it hath come to pass, As a wandering bird, a nest cast out, Are daughters of Moab, [at] fords of Arnon.
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.
Bring ye in counsel, do judgment, Make as night thy shadow in the midst of noon, Hide outcasts, the wanderer reveal not.
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,
Sojourn in thee do My outcasts, O Moab, Be a secret hiding-place to them, From the face of a destroyer, For ceased hath the extortioner, Finished hath been a destroyer, Consumed the treaders down out of 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.
And established in kindness is the throne, And [one] hath sat on it in truth, in the tent of David, Judging and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
6 We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.
We have heard of the pride of Moab — very proud, His pride, and his arrogance, and his wrath, Not right [are] his devices.
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 howl doth Moab for Moab, all of it doth howl, For the grape-cakes of Kir-Hareseth it meditateth, Surely they are smitten.
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.
Because fields of Heshbon languish, The vine of Sibmah, Lords of nations did beat her choice vines, Unto Jazer they have come, They have wandered in a wilderness, Her plants have spread themselves, They have passed over a 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 weep with the weeping of Jazer, The vine of Sibmah, I water thee [with] my tear, O Heshbon and Elealeh, For — for thy summer fruits, and for thy harvest, The shouting hath 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.
And removed have been gladness and joy from the fruitful field, And in vineyards they sing not, nor shout, Wine in the presses treadeth not the treader, Shouting I have caused to cease.
11 Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir-heres.
Therefore my bowels for Moab as a harp do sound, And mine inward parts for Kir-Haresh.
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 hath come to pass, when it hath been seen, That weary hath been Moab on the high place, And he hath come unto his sanctuary to pray, And is not able.
13 This is the message that the LORD spoke earlier concerning Moab.
This [is] the word that Jehovah hath spoken unto Moab from that time,
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.”
And now hath Jehovah spoken, saying, 'In three years, as years of an hireling, Lightly esteemed is the honour of Moab, With all the great multitude, And the remnant [is] little, small, not mighty!'
