Isaiah 15
1 [I received] this message [from Yahweh] about the Moab [people-group]: In one night [two of your important cities], Ar and Kir, will be destroyed.
The oracle on Moab: Because, in a night, was laid waste Ar of Moab—destroyed! Because, in a night, was laid waste Kir of Moab—destroyed,
2 The people of Dibon, [your capital city, ] will go to their temple to mourn/weep; they will go to [their shrines] on the hilltops to weep. They will wail because of [what happened to] Nebo and Medeba [towns in the south]; they will all shave the hair of their heads, and the men will cut off their beards [to show that they are grieving].
He hath gone up to Bayith and Dibon, to the high places, to weep, —On Nebo and on Medeba, Moab is howling, On all their heads, a baldness, Every beard, clipped.
3 In the streets people will wear rough sackcloth, and on their [flat] rooftops and in the [city] plazas everyone will wail, with tears streaming down their faces.
In their streets, have they girded them with sackcloth, —On their housetops, and in their broadways, every one is howling—melting in tears;
4 [The people of] Heshbon [city] and Elealeh [towns in the north of Moab] will cry out; people as far away as Jahaz [town in the south] will hear them wailing. Therefore the soldiers of Moab will tremble and cry out and they will be very afraid [IDM].
And Heshbon, hath made outcry, and Elealeh, Unto Jahaz, hath been heard their voice, —For this cause, do the armed men of Moab roar, Every man’s soul, quivereth to him.
5 I feel very sorry for [the people of] Moab; they will flee to Zoar and Eglath-Shelishiyah [towns in the far south]. They will cry as they walk up to Luhith [town]. All along the road to Horonaim [town] people will mourn because their country has been destroyed.
Mine own heart, for Moab continueth to make outcry, Her fugitive, as far as Zoar, is like a heifer of three years; For the accent of Luhith, with weeping, they ascend, For by the way of Horonaim—an outcry of destruction, they excite;
6 The water in Nimrim [Valley] will have dried up. The grass there will be withered; the green plants will [all] be gone, and there will be nothing left that is green.
For, the waters of Nimrim, shall become desolation, —For grass, hath dried up, Herbage hath failed, Green thing, hath not sprung up!
7 The people will pick up their possessions and carry them across Willows Brook.
For this cause, the savings they had made and that which they had stored, Over the torrent-bed of the willows, shall they bear them.
8 Throughout the country of Moab, [people] will be crying; people as far away as Eglaim [in the south] and Beer-Elim [in the north] will hear them wailing.
For the outcry hath gone round the boundary of Moab, —As far as Eglaim, the howling thereof, And to Beer-elim, the howling thereof.
9 The stream near Dimon will become red from the blood [of people who have been killed], but I will cause the people of Moab to experience even more [trouble]: Lions will attack those who [are trying to] escape from Moab and will [also] attack the people who remain in that country.
For the waters of Dimon, are full of blood, For I will lay upon Dimon new troubles, —To the escaped of Moab, the lions, Even to the survivors on the soil.
