16
XVI
1Send forth the lambs of the ruler of the land,
From Selah of the desert,
Unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2For it shall be, that as a wandering bird, a nest forsaken,
So shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of Arnon.
3Impart counsel; execute justice;
Make thy shadow like unto the night, in the midst of the noon-day:
Hide the out-casts; betray not the fugitives.
4Let my out-casts, the Moabites, dwell with thee;
Be thou to them a covert from the destroyer:
For the oppressor is no more, the destroyer ceaseth;
He that trampled you under foot is perished from the land.
5And the throne shall be established in mercy,
And thereon shall be seated in truth,
In the tabernacle of David, a judge;
And he will carefully search out the right,
And promptly execute justice.
6We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud:
His haughtiness, and his pride, and his anger:
His vain boastings.
7Therefore shall Moab lament over Moab,
Every one shall lament;
For the fortifications of Kir-haraseth shall ye moan,
Ye the deeply afflicted.
8For the fields of Heshbon languish,
The vine of Sibmah, the lords of the nations have broken down the fruitful tendrils thereof;
Unto Jazer did they reach, they wandered over the desert:
Her branches extended themselves, they passed over the sea.
9Therefore I will weep, with the weeping of Jazer,
for the vine of Sibmah;
I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh!
For upon thy summer fruits, and upon thy harvest, the war-shout is fallen.
10And joy and gladness is taken away from the fruitful field;
And in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither any shouting:
Wine into the vats the treader shall no longer tread; The shout of joy I have made to cease.
11Wherefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab;
And mine inward parts for Kirharesh.
12And it shall be, when it is seen
That Moab hath wearied himself out on the high place,
Then shall he enter into his sanctuary to pray;
But he shall not prevail.
13This is the word, which Jehovah spake concerning Moab long ago; 14but now Jehovah hath spoken, saying:
After three years, as the years of an hireling,
The glory of Moab shall be debased,
Together with all his great multitude;
And the remnant shall be very few, not many.