ʻIsaia 16

1 Ke mou fekau ke ʻave ʻae lami ki he pule ʻoe fonua mei Sila ʻo aʻu ki he toafa, ki he moʻunga ʻoe ʻofefine ʻo Saione.

[The rulers of Moab will say to each other, ] “We must send some [lambs] from Sela [city] as a gift to the ruler of Judah [to persuade him to not allow his army to attack us any more]. We should send them through the desert to the king.

2 Koeʻuhi ʻe hangē ko e manu he ʻoku kapusi mei hono pununga, ʻe pehē ʻae ʻofefine ʻo Moape ʻi he ngaahi potu mamaha ʻa ʻAlinoni.

The women of Moab will be left alone at the (fords of/places where people can walk across) the Arnon [River]; they will be like [SIM] birds that have been pushed out of their nests.

3 Mou fakakaukau, fai fakapotopoto; ngaohi hoʻatā ke hangē ko e pō ʻi he hoʻatāmālie; fufū ʻae kau ʻāuhē; ʻoua naʻa fakahā ʻaia ʻoku ʻalu hēhē.

They will cry out, ‘Help us! Tell us what we should do! Protect us completely [MET], we who are running away [from our enemies], and do not (betray us/tell our enemies where we are).

4 Tuku ke nofo kiate koe ʻa ʻeku kau ʻāuhē, ʻe Moape; ke ke hoko ko e ungaʻanga kiate kinautolu mei he mata ʻoe kaihaʻa: he kuo ngata ʻaia ʻoku fakamālohi, kuo tuku ʻae kaihaʻa, kuo ʻauha ʻae kau fakamamahi mei he fonua.

Allow [those of us] who are fleeing from Moab to stay with you; hide/protect us from [our enemies who want to] destroy us!’ [Some day] there will be no one to oppress us, and our enemies will stop destroying [our land].

5 Pea ʻe fokotuʻumaʻu ʻae nofoʻanga ʻoe tuʻi ʻi he ʻaloʻofa: pea te ne nofo ai ʻi he moʻoni ʻi he fale fehikitaki ʻo Tevita, ʻo fai ʻae fakamaau, pea kumi ki he angatonu, mo fakavave ʻae māʻoniʻoni.

Then [Yahweh] will appoint someone to be king who will be [a descendant of King] David. As he rules [MTY], he will be merciful and truthful. He will always do what is fair/just and quickly do what is righteous.”

6 Kuo mau fanongo ki he laukau ʻa Moape; ʻoku laukau ʻaupito ia: ʻio ʻi heʻene fielahi, mo ʻene laukau, mo ʻene ʻita: ka ko e meʻa taʻeʻaonga ʻene ngaahi loi.

We [people of Judah] have heard about [the people of] Moab; we have heard that they are very proud and conceited [DOU]; they are insolent, but what they proudly say about themselves is not true.

7 Ko ia ʻe tāngiloa ʻa Moape koeʻuhi ko Moape, ʻe tangi ʻae kakai kotoa pē: te mou mamahi koeʻuhi ko e ngaahi tuʻunga ʻo Kili-Haleseti; he ko e moʻoni kuo taaʻi ʻakinautolu.

[Some day all the people in] Moab will weep. They will all mourn, because [there will be no more] raisin cakes in Kir-Hareseth [city].

8 He kuo mae ʻae ngoue ʻo Hesiponi, pea mo e vaine ʻo Sipima: kuo fesiʻi hifo ʻe he houʻeiki ʻoe hiteni ʻa hono ngaahi ʻakau lelei, kuo nau haʻu ki Sesa, naʻa nau ʻalu fano ʻi he toafa: kuo mafola atu hono ngaahi vaʻa, kuo nau ika ʻi he tahi.

The [crops in] the fields at Heshbon [city] will wither, and the vineyards at Sibmah [town] will wither also. The armies of [other] nations will destroy Moab, which is [like] [MET] a beautiful grapevine whose branches spread [north] to Jazer [town] and [east] to the desert. Its branches spread very far [west], to the west side of the [Dead] Sea.

9 Ko ia te u tangi ʻi he tangi ʻo Sesa koeʻuhi ko e vaine ʻo Sipima: te u fakaviviku koe ʻaki hoku loʻimata, ʻE Hesiponi, mo ʻIliale: he kuo ʻosi ʻae kalanga koeʻuhi ko e ngaahi fua ʻoe faʻahitaʻu mafana pea mo hoʻo ututaʻu.

So I will weep for Jazer and for the grapevines of Sibmah. I will shed tears for all of you. I will cry because people will no longer shout joyfully, like they usually do when they gather the fruit that ripens in the (summer/hot season) and the other crops that they harvest.

10 Kuo toʻo ʻo mole ʻae fiefia, mo e nekeneka mei he ʻapi mahu; pea ʻe ʻikai ha hiva, pe ha kalanga ʻe fai ʻi he ngaahi ngoue vaine: ʻe ʻikai toe malaki ha uaine ʻe he kau malaki ʻi he ngaahi tataʻoʻanga; kuo u pule ke tuku ʻenau kalanga fiefia.

People will no longer be glad at harvest time. No one will sing in the vineyards, no one will shout joyfully. No one will tread on grapes [to get grape juice for wine]; there will be nothing to shout about [joyfully].

11 Ko ia ʻe tangi ʻa hoku fatu ʻo hangē ko ha haʻape koeʻuhi ko Moape, mo hoku toʻotoʻonga koeʻuhi ko Kili-Haleseti.

I cry inwardly for Moab; my groaning is like [SIM] [a sad song played on] a harp. I am sad about Kir-Hareseth.

12 Pea ʻe hoko ʻo pehē, ʻoka hā mai kuo ongosia ʻa Moape ʻi he potu māʻolunga, pea te ne haʻu ki hono potu tapu ke hū; ka e ʻikai te ne lavaʻi.

[The people of] Moab will go and pray at their sacred shrines, but that will not help them. They will cry out to their gods in their temples, [but] none of them will be able to rescue the people.

13 Ko eni ʻae folofola kuo folofolaʻaki ʻe Sihova, ki Moape talu ʻae kuonga ko ia.

Yahweh has already spoken those things about Moab.

14 Ka ko eni kuo folofola ʻa Sihova, ʻo pehē, “ʻI he teʻeki kakato ʻae taʻu ʻe tolu, hangē ko e taʻu ʻo ha taha ʻoku ngāue kae totongi, ʻe fakavaivaiʻi ʻae nāunau ʻo Moape, mo e fuʻu tokolahi ʻoku ʻi ai; pea ʻe siʻi ʻaupito pea vaivai ʻa hono toenga.”

But now he says that exactly three years from now, he will destroy all the things that [the people of] Moab have been proud of. Even though they have a huge number of people in Moab now, only a few people will remain alive, and they will be weak/helpless.