Isaiah 16
16
1People of Moab, send lambs as a gift
to the ruler of Judah.
Send them from Sela.
Send them across the desert.
Send them to Mount Zion in the city of Jerusalem.
2The women of Moab are at the places
where people go across the Arnon River.
They are like birds that flap their wings
when they are pushed from their nest.
3The Moabites say to the rulers of Judah,
“Make up your mind. Make a decision.
Cover us with your shadow.
Make it like night even at noon.
Hide those of us who are running away.
Don’t turn them over to their enemies.
4Let those who have run away from Moab stay with you.
Keep them safe from those who are trying to destroy them.”
Those who crush others will be destroyed.
The killing will stop.
The attackers will disappear from the earth.
5A man from the royal house of David will sit on Judah’s throne.
He will rule with faithful love.
When he judges he will do what is fair.
He will be quick to do what is right.
6We have heard all about Moab’s pride.
We have heard how very proud they are.
They think they are so much better than others.
They brag about themselves.
But all their bragging is nothing but empty words.
7So the people of Moab cry out.
All of them cry over their country.
Sing a song of sadness.
Weep that you can no longer enjoy the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.
8The fields of Heshbon dry up.
So do the vines of Sibmah.
The rulers of the nations
have walked all over its finest vines.
Those vines once reached as far as Jazer.
They spread out toward the desert.
Their new growth went
all the way to the Dead Sea.
9Jazer weeps for the vines of Sibmah.
And so do I.
Heshbon and Elealeh,
I soak you with my tears!
There isn’t any ripe fruit for people to shout about.
There isn’t any harvest to make them happy.
10Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards.
No one sings or shouts in the vineyards.
No one stomps on grapes at the winepresses.
That’s because the Lord has put an end to the shouting.
11My heart mourns over Moab like a song of sadness played on a harp.
Deep down inside me I mourn over Kir Hareseth.
12Moab’s people go to their high place to pray.
But all they do is wear themselves out.
Their god Chemosh can’t help them at all.
13That’s the message the Lord has already spoken against Moab. 14But now he says, “In exactly three years, people will look down on Moab’s glory. Now Moab has many people. But by that time only a few of them will be left alive. And even they will be weak.”
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Isaiah 16: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Isaiah 16
16
Moab's Hopeless Situation
1From the city of Sela in the desert the people of Moab send a lamb as a present to the one who rules in Jerusalem. 2They wait on the banks of the River Arnon and move aimlessly to and fro, like birds driven from their nest.
3They say to the people of Judah, “Tell us what to do. Protect us like a tree that casts a cool shadow in the heat of noon, and let us rest in your shade. We are refugees; hide us where no one can find us. 4Let us stay in your land. Protect us from those who want to destroy us.”
(Oppression and destruction will end, and those who are devastating the country will be gone. 5Then one of David's descendants will be king, and he will rule the people with faithfulness and love. He will be quick to do what is right, and he will see that justice is done.)
6The people of Judah say, “We have heard how proud the people of Moab are. We know that they are arrogant and conceited, but their boasts are empty.”
7The people of Moab will weep because of the troubles they suffer. They will all weep when they remember the fine food they used to eat in the city of Kir Heres. They will be driven to despair. 8The farms near Heshbon and the vineyards of Sibmah are destroyed — those vineyards whose wine used to make the rulers of the nations drunk. At one time the vines spread as far as the city of Jazer, and eastwards into the desert, and westwards to the other side of the Dead Sea. 9Now I weep for Sibmah's vines as I weep for Jazer. My tears fall for Heshbon and Elealeh, because there is no harvest to make the people glad. 10No one is happy now in the fertile fields. No one shouts or sings in the vineyards. No one tramples grapes to make wine; the shouts of joy are ended.#16.10 One ancient translation the shouts of joy are ended; Hebrew I have ended the shouts of joy. 11I groan with sadness for Moab, with grief for Kir Heres. 12The people of Moab wear themselves out going to their mountain shrines and to their temples to pray, but it will do them no good.
13That is the message the LORD gave earlier about Moab. 14And now the LORD says, “In exactly three years Moab's great wealth will disappear. Of its many people, only a few will survive, and they will be weak.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.