Isaiah 16

Isaiah 16

1Send lambs[#2 Kings 3.4; 14.7; Isa 10.32]

to the ruler of the land,

from Sela, by way of the desert,

to the mount of daughter Zion.

2Like fluttering birds,[#Num 21.13, 14]

like scattered nestlings,

so are the daughters of Moab

at the fords of the Arnon.

3“Give counsel;[#Isa 25.4]

grant justice;

make your shade like night

at the height of noon;

hide the outcasts;

do not betray the fugitive;

4let the outcasts of Moab[#Isa 9.4; 54.14]

settle among you;

be a refuge to them

from the destroyer.”

When the oppressor is no more,

and destruction has ceased,

and marauders have vanished from the land,

5then a throne shall be established in steadfast love[#Isa 9.7; Dan 7.14; Mic 4.7; Lk 1.33]

in the tent of David,

and on it shall sit in faithfulness

a ruler who seeks justice

and is swift to do what is right.

6We have heard of the pride of Moab[#Jer 48.29, 30; Zeph 2.8, 10]

—how proud he is!—

of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;

his boasts are false.

7Therefore let Moab wail;[#2 Kings 3.25; 1 Chr 16.3; Jer 48.31]

let everyone wail for Moab.

Mourn, utterly stricken,

for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

8For the fields of Heshbon languish,[#Num 32.38; Isa 15.4; Jer 48.32]

and the vines of Sibmah,

whose clusters once made drunk

the lords of the nations,

reached to Jazer

and strayed to the desert;

their shoots once spread abroad

and crossed over the sea.

9Therefore I weep as Jazer weeps[#Isa 15.4; Jer 40.10, 12; 48.32]

for the vines of Sibmah;

I drench you with my tears,

O Heshbon and Elealeh,

for the shout over your fruit harvest

and your grain harvest has ceased.

10Joy and gladness are taken away[#Job 24.11; Isa 24.7, 8; Jer 48.33]

from the fruitful field,

and in the vineyards no exultation is heard;

no shouts are raised;

no treader treads out wine in the presses;

the vintage shout is hushed.

11Therefore my heart moans like a harp for Moab[#Isa 15.5; 63.15; Jer 48.36]

and my very soul for Kir-heres.

12When Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself upon the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.[#1 Kings 18.29; 2 Kings 19.12; Isa 15.2; Jer 48.35]

13This was the word that the Lord spoke concerning Moab in the past.

14But now the Lord says, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all its great multitude, and those who survive will be very few and feeble.”[#Isa 21.16; 25.10]

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Published by: National Council of the Churches of Christ