Isaiah 16
1 Send yee a lambe to the ruler of the worlde from the rocke of the wildernesse, vnto the mountaine of the daughter Zion.
Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela through the desert, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.
2 For it shall be as a birde that flieth, and a nest forsaken: the daughters of Moab shall be at the foordes of Arnon.
The Moabite women at the fords of the Arnon are like birds fluttering around when their nest is destroyed.
3 Gather a cousel, execute iudgement: make thy shadowe as the night in the midday: hide them that are chased out: bewray not him that is fled.
Think about it and make a decision. Make your shadow as invisible at midday as during the night. Hide the refugees; don't betray them as they run away.
4 Let my banished dwell with thee: Moab be thou their couert from the face of the destroyer: for the extortioner shall ende: the destroyer shalbe consumed, and the oppressour shall cease out of the land.
Let my refugees stay among you, Moab. Hide them from our enemies until the destroyer is no more, the destruction is over, and the aggressive invaders have gone.
5 And in mercy shall the throne be prepared, and hee shall sit vpon it in stedfastnesse, in the tabernacle of Dauid, iudging, and seeking iudgement, and hasting iustice.
Then a kingdom will be set up based on trustworthy love, and on its throne will sit a faithful king from the line of David. He will judge fairly, and will be passionately committed to doing what is right.
6 We haue heard of the pride of Moab, (he is very proud) euen his pride, and his arrogancie, and his indignation, but his lies shall not be so.
We know all about the pride of the Moabites, how terribly vain and conceited they are, completely arrogant! But their boasting is false.
7 Therefore shall Moab howle vnto Moab: euery one shall howle: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourne, yet they shalbe striken.
All the Moabites grieve for Moab. They all mourn the loss of the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, all of them destroyed.
8 For ye vineyards of Heshbon are cut downe, and the vine of Sibmah: the lordes of the heathen haue broken the principal vines thereof: they are come vnto Iaazer: they wandred in the wildernesse: her goodly branches stretched out them selues, and went ouer the sea.
Heshbon's fields have dried up, as have Sibmah's grapevines. The rulers of the nations have trampled down the vines that once branched out to Jazer and east towards the desert, and west as far as the sea.
9 Therefore will I weepe with the weeping of Iaazer, and of the vine of Sibmah, O Heshbon: and Elealeh, I will make thee drunke with my teares, because vpon thy sommer fruits, and vpon thy haruest a showting is fallen.
So I cry with Jazer for Sibmah's vines; I soak Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Nobody shouts in celebration over your summer fruit and your harvest any more.
10 And gladnes is taken away, and ioy out of the plentifull fielde: and in the vineyardes shall be no singing nor shouting for ioy: the treader shall not tread wine in the wine presses: I haue caused the reioycing to cease.
Joy and happiness are gone. Nobody celebrates in the harvest fields or the vineyards; nobody shouts happily. Nobody treads grapes in the winepresses. I have stopped their cheering.
11 Wherefore, my bowels shall sounde like an harpe for Moab, and mine inwarde partes for Ker-haresh.
Heartbroken I cry for Moab like sad music on a harp; deep inside I weep for Kir-hareseth.
12 And when it shall appeare that Moab shall be wearie of his hie places, then shall hee come to his temple to praie, but he shall not preuaile.
The Moabites go and wear themselves out worshiping at their high places. They go to their shrines to pray, but it does them no good.
13 This is the word that the Lord hath spoken against Moab since that time.
This is the message that the Lord has already delivered about Moab.
14 And nowe the Lord hath spoken, saying, In three yeres, as the yeeres of a hireling, and the glorie of Moab shall be contemned in all the great multitude, and the remnant shalbe very small and feeble.
But now the Lord speaks again, and says, In three years, just as a contract worker precisely counts years, Moab's glory will turn into something to be laughed at. Despite there being so many Moabites now, soon there will only be a few feeble people left.
