Isaiah 16
16
1 YOU [Moabites, now fugitives in Edom, which is ruled by the king of Judah] send lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela or Petra through the desert and wilderness to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion [Jerusalem]. [II Kings 3:4, 5.]
2 For like wandering birds, like a brood cast out and a scattered nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the [river] Arnon.
3 [Say to the ruler] Give counsel, execute justice [for Moab, O king of Judah]; make your shade [over us] like night in the midst of noonday; hide the outcasts, betray not the fugitive to his pursuer.
4 Let our outcasts of Moab dwell among you; be a sheltered hiding place to them from the destroyer. When the extortion and the extortioner have been brought to nought, and destruction has ceased, and the oppressors and they who trample men are consumed and have vanished out of the land,
5 Then in mercy and loving-kindness shall a throne be established, and One shall sit upon it in truth and faithfulness in the tent of David, judging and seeking justice and being swift to do righteousness. [Ps. 96:13; Jer. 48:47.]
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud–even of his arrogance, his conceit, his wrath, his untruthful boasting.
7 Moab therefore shall wail for Moab; everyone shall wail. For the ruins, flagons of wine, and the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth you shall sigh and mourn, utterly stricken and discouraged.
8 For the fields of Heshbon languish and wither, and the vines of Sibmah; the lords of the nations have broken down [Moab's] choice vine branches, which reached even to Jazer, wandering into the wilderness; its shoots stretched out abroad, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.
9 Therefore I [Isaiah] will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vines of Sibmah. I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for upon your summer fruits and your harvest the shout [of alarm and the cry of the enemy] has fallen.
10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there is no singing, nor is there joyful sound; the treaders tread out no wine in the presses, for the shout of joy has been made to cease.
11 Wherefore my heart sounds like a harp [in mournful compassion] for Moab, and my inner being [goes out] for Kir-hareseth [for those brick-walled citadels of his].
12 It shall be that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself [worshiping] on the high place [of idolatry], he will come to his sanctuary [of Chemosh, god of Moab], but he will not prevail. [Then will he be ashamed of his god.] [Jer. 48:13.]
13 This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time [when Moab's pride and resistance to God were first known].
14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of a hireling [who will not serve longer than the allotted time], the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, in spite of all his mighty multitudes of people; and the remnant that survives will be very small, feeble, and of no account.
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Isaiah 16: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
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 Arnon River
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 fancy raisins#16.7 fancy 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 hurt
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 of 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.”
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.