Isaiah 16

1 And they will send ... to the mountain of the daughter of 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 For the daughters of Moab will be like wandering birds, like a place from which the young birds have gone in flight, at the ways across 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 wise directions, make a decision; let your shade be as night in full day: keep safe those who are in flight; do not give up the wandering ones.

“Offer counsel; give decision, Make thy shadow at noonday like the darkness of night. Hide the outcasts; Betray not the fugitives.

4 Let those who have been forced out of Moab have a resting-place with you; be a cover to them from him who is making waste their land: till the cruel ones are cut off, and wasting has come to an end, and those who take pleasure in crushing the poor are gone 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 Then a king's seat will be based on mercy, and one will be seated on it in the tent of David for ever; judging uprightly, and quick to do righteousness.

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 had word of the pride of Moab, how great it is; how he is lifted up in pride and passion: his high words about himself are false.

“We have beard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud; His haughtiness, and his pride, and his insolence, His vain boastings.”

7 For this cause everyone in Moab will give cries of grief for Moab: crushed to the earth, they will be weeping for the men of Kir-hareseth.

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 are waste, the vine of Sibmah is dead; the lords of nations were overcome by the produce of her vines; her vine-plants went as far as Jazer, and came even to the waste land; her branches were stretched out to 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 For this cause my sorrow for the vine of Sibmah will be like the weeping for Jazer: my eyes are dropping water on you, O Heshbon and Elealeh! For they are sounding the war-cry over your summer fruits and the getting in of your grain;

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 And all joy is gone; no longer are they glad for the fertile field; and in the vine-gardens there are no songs or sounds of joy: the crushing of grapes has come to an end, and its glad cry has been stopped.

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 For this cause the cords of my heart are sounding for Moab, and I am full of sorrow for Kir-heres.

Therefore shall my bowels sound like a harp for Moab, And my inward parts for Kir-hares.

12 And when Moab goes up to the high place, and makes prayer in the house of his god, it will have no effect.

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 word which the Lord said about Moab in the past.

This is the word which Jehovah spake concerning Moab of old.

14 But now the Lord has said, In three years, the years of a servant working for payment, the glory of Moab, all that great people, will be turned to shame, and the rest of Moab will be very small and without honour.

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.