Add parallel Print Page Options

16 Send ye the lamb to the Moshel-Eretz, from Sela by way of the midbar, unto Har Bat Tziyon.

For it shall be, that, as an oph noded (wandering bird) cast out of the ken (nest), so the Banot Moav shall be at the fords of the Arnon.

Give us etzah (counsel, advice); make pelilah (decision, justice); cast thy tzel as the lailah in the midst of tzahorayim; hide the fugitives; betray not him that is refugee.

Let fugitives of Moav dwell with thee; be thou a seter (shelter, hiding place) to them from before the shoded (destroyer); for the oppressor is at an end, shod (destruction) ceaseth, the aggressors are consumed out of HaAretz.

And in chesed shall the kisse be established; and sitting upon it in emes in the Ohel Dovid, a Shofet seeking mishpat, and hastening tzedek.

We have heard of the ga’on Moav; he is very proud; even of his ga’avah (haughtiness), and his ga’on, and his insolence; but his boasts shall not be so.

Therefore shall Moav wail for Moav, everyone shall wail; for the raisin cakes of Kir Chareset shall ye mourn; surely as they who grieve.

For the fields of Cheshbon languish, and the gefen of Sivmah; Ba’alei Goyim have broken down the choicest vines thereof, they reached even unto Yazer, they wandered to the midbar; her shoots are stretched out, they are gone over the yam.

Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Yazer the gefen of Sivmah; I will water thee with my tears, O Cheshbon, and Elealeh; for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy katzir has fallen away.

10 And simchah is taken away, and gladness out of the carmel (fruitful field) and in the kramim (vineyards) there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting; the treaders shall tread out no yayin in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.

11 Therefore my heart shall lament like a kinnor (harp) for Moav, and mine inmost being for Kir Charesh.

12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moav is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his mikdash (sanctuary) to pray; but he shall not prevail.

13 This is the Davar that Hashem hath spoken earlier concerning Moav.

14 But now Hashem hath spoken, saying, Within shalosh shanim, as the shenei sachir (years of a hired man), and the kavod Moav shall be degraded, with all that hamon harav (great multitude); and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.

16 Send lambs(A) as tribute(B)
    to the ruler of the land,
from Sela,(C) across the desert,
    to the mount of Daughter Zion.(D)
Like fluttering birds
    pushed from the nest,(E)
so are the women of Moab(F)
    at the fords(G) of the Arnon.(H)

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

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

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

13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: “Within three years,(AR) as a servant bound by contract(AS) would count them,(AT) Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised,(AU) and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”(AV)

Footnotes

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