Isaiah 16

1 And they will send ... to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to 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 it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.

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.

Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; discover not him that wandereth.

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, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of 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.

And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and swiftly executing righteousness.

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 heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.

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 wail for Moab, every one shall wail: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.

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, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down its principal plants, they have come even to Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are extended, they have gone over 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 bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest 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.

And gladness is taken away, and joy from the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their 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 my heart shall sound like an harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kirharesh.

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, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.

13 This is the word which the Lord said about Moab in the past.

This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time.

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 the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be despised, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.