Isaiah 16
16
More troubles for Moab
1Send lambs#16.1 lambs: The main product of Moab. as gifts
to the ruler of the land.
Send them across the desert
from Sela#16.1 Sela: A town in Edom. to Mount Zion.
2The women of Moab
crossing the River Arnon
are like a flock of birds
scattered from their nests.
3Moab's messengers say
to the people of Judah,
“Be kind and help us!
Shade us from the heat
of the noonday sun.
Hide our refugees!
Don't turn them away.
4Let our people live
in your country
and find safety here.”
Moab, your cruel enemies
will disappear;
they will no longer attack
and destroy your land.
5Then a kingdom of love
will be set up,
and someone from David's family
will rule with fairness.
He will do what is right
and quickly bring justice.
Moab's pride is destroyed
6We have heard of Moab's pride.
Its people strut and boast,
but without reason.
7Tell everyone in Moab
to mourn for their nation.
Tell them to cry and weep
for those fine raisins#16.7 fine raisins: The Hebrew text has “raisin-cakes”, which could mean either the rich produce or the prosperous farmers.
of Kir-Hareseth.
8Vineyards near Heshbon
and Sibmah
have turned brown.
The rulers of nations
used to get drunk
on wine from those vineyards#16.8 The rulers…vineyards: Or “The rulers of nations have destroyed those vineyards.”
that spread to Jazer,
then across the desert
and beyond the sea.
9Now I mourn like Jazer
for the vineyards
of Sibmah.
I shed tears for Heshbon
and for Elealeh.
There will be no more
harvest celebrations
10or joyful and happy times,
while bringing in the crops.
Singing and shouting are gone
from the vineyards.
There are no joyful shouts
where grapes were pressed.
God has silenced them all.
11Deep in my heart I suffer
for Moab and Kir-Heres.
12It's useless for Moab's people
to wear themselves out
by going to their altars
to worship and pray.
13The LORD has already said all this about Moab. 14Now he says, “The contract of a hired worker is good for three years, but Moab's glory and greatness won't last any longer than that. Only a few of its people will survive, and they will be left helpless.”
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 16: CEVUK
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
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.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
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.