Isaiah 16
16
1Send them forth,#Send them forth: the Hebrew text is disturbed; it could also be understood to refer to tribute (a lamb) sent from Moab to Zion, presumably to encourage the king to receive the Moabite refugees. hugging the earth like reptiles,
from Sela across the desert,
to the mount of daughter Zion.
2Like flushed birds,
like scattered nestlings,
Are the daughters of Moab
at the fords of the Arnon.#The Arnon: principal river of Moab. #Nm 21:13.
3#Directed to Jerusalem, which should receive the suffering Moabites with mercy, as befits the city of David’s family, who were partly descended from Ruth the Moabite; and cf. 1 Sm 22:3–4. This would be a gracious act on Judah’s part, since its relations with Moab were strained at best. Offer counsel, take their part;
at high noon make your shade like the night;
Hide the outcasts,
do not betray the fugitives.
4Let the outcasts of Moab live with you,
be their shelter from the destroyer.
When there is an end to the oppressor,
when destruction has ceased,
and the marauders have vanished from the land,
5A throne shall be set up in mercy,
and on it shall sit in fidelity,
in David’s tent,
A judge upholding right,
prompt to do justice.#Is 9:6; 11:3–4; 32:1; Jer 23:5; Ps 89:14; Prv 20:28.
6We have heard of the pride of Moab,
how very proud he is,
Of his haughtiness, pride, and arrogance
that his empty words do not match.#Jer 48:29–30.
7#Moab had been prosperous; now it has become a desert. Therefore let Moab wail,
let everyone wail for Moab;
For the raisin cakes#Raisin cakes: masses of dried compressed grapes used as food (cf. 2 Sm 6:19; 1 Chr 16:3; Sg 2:5), and also in the worship of other gods (Hos 3:1). of Kir-hareseth
let them sigh, stricken with grief.
8The terraced slopes of Heshbon languish,
the vines of Sibmah,
Whose clusters once overpowered
the lords of nations,
Reaching as far as Jazer
winding through the wilderness,#Wilderness: i.e., eastward. Sea: i.e., westward.
Whose branches spread forth,
crossing over the sea.
9Therefore I weep with Jazer
for the vines of Sibmah;
I drench you with my tears,
Heshbon and Elealeh;
For on your summer fruits and harvests
the battle cry#Battle cry…shout of joy: the same Hebrew word (hedad), which normally refers to the joyful shout of those treading the grapes (cf. Jer 25:30), here is used both for the triumphant shout of the enemy (v. 9) and for the vintagers’ shout, which has ceased. has fallen.#Is 15:5; Jer 48:32.
10From the orchards are taken away
joy and gladness,
In the vineyards there is no singing,
no shout of joy;
In the wine presses no one treads grapes,
the vintage shout is stilled.#Is 24:8.
11Therefore for Moab
my heart moans like a lyre,
my inmost being for Kir-hareseth.#Is 15:5; Jer 48:36.
12#In vain do the Moabites appeal to their god Chemosh. When Moab wears himself out on the high places,
and enters his sanctuary to pray,
it shall avail him nothing.#Jer 48:13.
13#A prose application of the preceding poetic oracle against Moab (15:1–16:12); cf. Jer 4:8. Like the years of a hired laborer: the fixed period of time for which the hired laborer contracted his services; cf. Is 21:16. That is the word the Lord spoke against Moab in times past. 14But now the Lord speaks: In three years, like the years of a hired laborer, the glory of Moab shall be empty despite all its great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and weak.#Dt 15:18.
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Isaiah 16: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Isaiah 16
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.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.