A Prophecy Against Moab(A)

15 A prophecy(B) against Moab:(C)

Ar(D) in Moab is ruined,(E)
    destroyed in a night!
Kir(F) in Moab is ruined,
    destroyed in a night!
Dibon(G) goes up to its temple,
    to its high places(H) to weep;
    Moab wails(I) over Nebo(J) and Medeba.
Every head is shaved(K)
    and every beard cut off.(L)
In the streets they wear sackcloth;(M)
    on the roofs(N) and in the public squares(O)
they all wail,(P)
    prostrate with weeping.(Q)
Heshbon(R) and Elealeh(S) cry out,
    their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.(T)
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
    and their hearts are faint.

My heart cries out(U) over Moab;(V)
    her fugitives(W) flee as far as Zoar,(X)
    as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
    weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaim(Y)
    they lament their destruction.(Z)
The waters of Nimrim are dried up(AA)
    and the grass is withered;(AB)
the vegetation is gone(AC)
    and nothing green is left.(AD)
So the wealth they have acquired(AE) and stored up
    they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
    their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
    their lamentation as far as Beer(AF) Elim.
The waters of Dimon[a] are full of blood,
    but I will bring still more upon Dimon[b]
a lion(AG) upon the fugitives of Moab(AH)
    and upon those who remain in the land.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
  2. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.

Like fluttering birds
    pushed from the nest,(A)
so are the women of Moab(B)
    at the fords(C) of the Arnon.(D)

“Make up your mind,” Moab says.
    “Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night—
    at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,(E)
    do not betray the refugees.
Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
    be their shelter(F) from the destroyer.”

The oppressor(G) will come to an end,
    and destruction will cease;(H)
    the aggressor will vanish from the land.
In love a throne(I) will be established;(J)
    in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
    one from the house[a] of David(K)
one who in judging seeks justice(L)
    and speeds the cause of righteousness.

We have heard of Moab’s(M) pride(N)
    how great is her arrogance!—
of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;
    but her boasts are empty.
Therefore the Moabites wail,(O)
    they wail together for Moab.
Lament and grieve
    for the raisin cakes(P) of Kir Hareseth.(Q)
The fields of Heshbon(R) wither,(S)
    the vines of Sibmah(T) also.
The rulers of the nations
    have trampled down the choicest vines,(U)
which once reached Jazer(V)
    and spread toward the desert.
Their shoots spread out(W)
    and went as far as the sea.[b](X)
So I weep,(Y) as Jazer weeps,
    for the vines of Sibmah.
Heshbon and Elealeh,(Z)
    I drench you with tears!(AA)
The shouts of joy(AB) over your ripened fruit
    and over your harvests(AC) have been stilled.
10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;(AD)
    no one sings or shouts(AE) in the vineyards;
no one treads(AF) out wine at the presses,(AG)
    for I have put an end to the shouting.
11 My heart laments for Moab(AH) like a harp,(AI)
    my inmost being(AJ) for Kir Hareseth.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 16:5 Hebrew tent
  2. Isaiah 16:8 Probably the Dead Sea

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