Chapter 15
Moab[a]
1 [b]An oracle concerning Moab:
Having been laid waste in a single night,
Ar of Moab is destroyed.
Having been laid waste in a single night,
Kir of Moab is destroyed.
2 The daughter of Dibon goes up
to the high places to weep.
Moab wails unceasingly
over Nebo and Medeba.
Every head has been shaved,
every beard has been cut off.
3 In the streets they wear sackcloth;
on the roofs and in the public squares
everyone wails and collapses in tears.
4 Hesbon and Elealeh cry out in distress;
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
As a result, the bravest of Moab’s warriors cry out
and their hearts grow faint.
5 My heart cries out for Moab;
her fugitives have arrived close to Zoar,
at Eglath-shelishiyah.
They climb the slope of Luhith,
weeping as they make their ascent;
on the road to Horonaim
they emit heart-rending cries.
6 The waters of Nimrim
have become a desolate waste.
The grass is parched,
the plants have withered away,
and nothing green can be seen.
7 Therefore, the people carry away
across the Ravine of the Willows
whatever possessions they can manage
and the savings they have accumulated.
8 Their cry of distress has echoed
around the land of Moab.
Their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim;
it can be heard even to the land of Beer-elim.
9 The waters of Dimon are filled with blood,
but I have far worse in store for Dimon:
a lion for those who are fleeing from Moab,
as well as for those who are left on its soil.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 15:1 Moab, ancient rival and enemy of Israel, was devastated during the Assyrian war of 701 B.C.
- Isaiah 15:1 The names are those of places belonging at that time to the kingdom of Moab.