Isaiah 16
16
A New Government in the David Tradition
1-4a “Dispatch a gift of lambs,” says Moab,
“to the leaders in Jerusalem—
Lambs from Sela sent across the desert
to buy the goodwill of Jerusalem.
The towns and people of Moab
are at a loss,
New-hatched birds knocked from the nest,
fluttering helplessly
At the banks of the Arnon River,
unable to cross:
‘Tell us what to do,
help us out!
Protect us,
hide us!
Give the refugees from Moab
sanctuary with you.
Be a safe place for those on the run
from the killing fields.’”
4b-5 “When this is all over,” Judah answers,
“the tyrant toppled,
The killing at an end,
all signs of these cruelties long gone,
A new government of love will be established
in the venerable David tradition.
A Ruler you can depend upon
will head this government,
A Ruler passionate for justice,
a Ruler quick to set things right.”
* * *
6-12We’ve heard—everyone’s heard!—of Moab’s pride,
world-famous for pride—
Arrogant, self-important, insufferable,
full of hot air.
So now let Moab lament for a change,
with antiphonal mock-laments from the neighbors!
What a shame! How terrible!
No more fine fruitcakes and Kir-hareseth candies!
All those lush Heshbon fields dried up,
the rich Sibmah vineyards withered!
Foreign thugs have crushed and torn out
the famous grapevines
That once reached all the way to Jazer,
right to the edge of the desert,
Ripped out the crops in every direction
as far as the eye can see.
I’ll join the weeping. I’ll weep right along with Jazer,
weep for the Sibmah vineyards.
And yes, Heshbon and Elealeh,
I’ll mingle my tears with your tears!
The joyful shouting at harvest is gone.
Instead of song and celebration, dead silence.
No more boisterous laughter in the orchards,
no more hearty work songs in the vineyards.
Instead of the bustle and sound of good work in the fields,
silence—deathly and deadening silence.
My heartstrings throb like harp strings for Moab,
my soul in sympathy for sad Kir-heres.
When Moab trudges to the shrine to pray,
he wastes both time and energy.
Going to the sanctuary and praying for relief
is useless. Nothing ever happens.
13-14This is God’s earlier Message on Moab. God’s updated Message is, “In three years, no longer than the term of an enlisted soldier, Moab’s impressive presence will be gone, that splendid hot-air balloon will be punctured, and instead of a vigorous population, just a few shuffling bums panhandling handouts.”
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Isaiah 16: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
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.