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16 Send lambs
    to the ruler of the land,
from Sela, by way of the desert,
    to the mount of daughter Zion.(A)
Like fluttering birds,
    like scattered nestlings,
so are the daughters of Moab
    at the fords of the Arnon.(B)
“Give counsel;
    grant justice;
make your shade like night
    at the height of noon;
hide the outcasts;
    do not betray the fugitive;(C)
let the outcasts of Moab
    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,(D)
then a throne shall be established in steadfast love
    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.(E)

We have heard of the pride of Moab
    —how proud he is!—
of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
    his boasts are false.(F)
Therefore let Moab wail;
    let everyone wail for Moab.
Mourn, utterly stricken,
    for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.(G)

For the fields of Heshbon languish,
    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.(H)
Therefore I weep as Jazer weeps
    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.(I)
10 Joy and gladness are taken away
    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.[a](J)
11 Therefore my heart moans like a harp for Moab
    and my very soul for Kir-heres.(K)

12 When Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself upon the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.(L)

13 This was the word that the Lord spoke concerning Moab in the past. 14 But 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.”(M)

Footnotes

  1. 16.10 Cn Compare Gk: Heb I have hushed