16 Send lambs to the ruler of the land
from Sela in the desert
to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion.
2 For like fluttering birds,
scattered from a nest,
so will the daughters of Moab be
at the fords of Arnon.
3 ‘Give counsel, execute justice.
Cast your shadow like night at noonday.
Hide the refugees,
do not betray the fugitive.
4 Let My refugees stay with you.
Be for Moab a hiding place
from the face of the destroyer.
For the extortion is at an end,
devastation ceases,
oppressors are gone from the land.
5 A throne will be established in mercy,
and One will sit on it in truth
—in the tent of David—
One who seeks justice
and is ready for righteousness.[a]
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab—
very proud is he—
of his haughtiness, his arrogance, his insolence,
and his dishonest boasting.
7 Therefore Moab will wail for Moab—
everyone will wail!
For the sweet cakes of Kir-hareseth
you will moan, utterly stricken.
8 For the fields of Heshbon have withered,
as well as the vine of Sibmah.
Rulers of nations have trampled the choice clusters,
that reached as far as Jazer and into the desert,
its branches spread out
and crossed to the sea.
9 Therefore I will weep bitterly for Jazer,
for the vine of Sibmah.
I will drench you with my tears,
O Heshbon and Elealeh.
For on your summer and your harvest
the battle cry has fallen.
10 Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field.
In the vineyards, no singing for joy no happy shouting,
no treading wine in the presses.
I have made the shouting stop.
11 Therefore my heart moans for Moab
like a lyre,
and my inward part for Kir-heres.
12 So it will be, when Moab is
weary upon the high place
and comes to his sanctuary to pray,
it will do him no good.
13 This is the word that Adonai spoke concerning Moab in the past. 14 But now Adonai has spoken, saying: “Within three years (as with the years of a hired worker), the glory of Moab will be disgraced; for all his large population, the remnant will be very small and feeble.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 16:5 cf. Luke 1:32.