Isaiah 16

1 Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion.

Send rams to the ruler of the land from Selah in the wilderness, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2 And it shall come to pass, that as a bird fleeing away, and as young ones flying out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in the passage of Arnon.

As wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so the women of Moab are at the fords of the Arnon River.

3 Take counsel, gather a council: make thy shadow as the night in the midday: hide them that flee, and betray not them that wander about.

“Give instruction, execute justice; provide some shade like night in the middle of the day; hide the fugitives; do not betray the fugitives.

4 My fugitives shall dwell with thee: O Moab, be thou a covert to them from the face of the destroyer: for the dust is at an end, the wretch is consumed: he hath failed, that trod the earth under foot.

Let them live among you, the refugees from Moab; be a hiding place for them from the destroyer.” For the oppression will stop, and destruction will cease, those who trample will disappear from the land.

5 And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and quickly rendering that which is just.

A throne will be established in covenant faithfulness; and one from David's tent will faithfully sit there. He will judge as he seeks justice and does righteousness.

6 We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud: his pride and his arrogancy, and his indignation is more than his strength.

We have heard of Moab's pride, his arrogance, his boasting, and his anger. But his boastings are empty words.

7 Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, every one shall howl: to them that rejoice upon the brick walls, tell ye their stripes.

So Moab wails for Moab—they all wail! Mourn, you who are utterly destroyed, for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.

8 For the suburbs of Hesebon are desolate, and the lords of the nations have destroyed the vineyard of Sabama: the branches thereof have reached even to Jazer: they have wandered in the wilderness, the branches thereof are left, they are gone over the sea.

The fields of Heshbon have dried up as well as the vines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled the choice vines that reached to Jazer and spread into the desert. Its shoots spread abroad; they went over to the sea.

9 Therefore I will lament with the weeping of Jazer the vineyard of Sabama: I will water thee with my tears, O Hesebon, and Eleale: for the voice of the treaders hath rushed in upon thy vintage, and upon thy harvest.

Indeed I will weep along with Jazer for the vineyard of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh. For on your fields of summer fruits and harvest I have ended the shouts of joy.

10 And gladness and joy shall be taken away from Carmel, and there shall be no rejoicing nor shouting in the vineyards. He shall not tread out wine in the press that was wont to tread it out: the voice of the treaders I have taken away.

Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruit tree groves; and there is no singing, or shouts in the vineyards. No one treads out wine in the presses, for I have put an end to the shouts of the one who treads.

11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for the brick wall.

So my heart sighs like a harp for Moab, and my inward being for Kir Hareseth.

12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is wearied on his high places, that he shall go in to his sanctuaries to pray, and shall not prevail.

When Moab wears himself out on the high place and enters his temple to pray, his prayers will accomplish nothing.

13 This is the word, that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time:

This is the word that Yahweh spoke concerning Moab previously.

14 And now the Lord hath spoken, saying: In three years, as the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be taken away for all the multitude of the people, and it shall be left small and feeble, not many.

Again Yahweh speaks, “Within three years, the glory of Moab will disappear; in spite of his many people, the remnant will be very few and insignificant.”