Isaiah 16

1 Send lambs to the ruler of the land,  * 16:1 2Kg 3:4

from Sela in the desert  * 16:1 2Kg 14:7; Is 42:11

to the mountain of Daughter Zion.

2 Like a bird fleeing,

forced from the nest,

the daughters of Moab

will be at the fords of the Arnon.

3 Give us counsel and make a decision.

Shelter us at noonday

with shade that is as dark as night.

Hide the refugees;  * 16:3 1Kg 18:4

do not betray the one who flees.

4 Let my refugees stay with you;

be a refuge for Moab  * 16:4 Or you; Moab — be a refuge for him from the aggressor.

When the oppressor has gone,

destruction has ended,

and marauders have vanished from the land,

5 a throne will be established in love,  * 16:5 Is 9:6–7; 32:1; 55:4; Dn 7:14; Mc 4:7; Lk 1:33

and one will sit on it faithfully  * 16:5 Or continually

in the tent of David,

judging and pursuing what is right,

quick to execute justice.

6 We have heard of Moab’s pride  * 16:6 Jr 48:29; Am 2:1; Ob 3–4; Zph 2:8,10  —

how very proud he is —

his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance,

and his empty boasting.

7 Therefore let Moab wail;

let every one of them wail for Moab.

You who are completely devastated, mourn

for the raisin cakes  * 16:7 2Sm 6:19; 1Ch 16:3; Sg 2:5; Hs 3:1 of Kir-hareseth.  * 16:7 2Kg 3:25; Jr 48:31

8 For Heshbon’s terraced vineyards

and the grapevines of Sibmah have withered.

The rulers of the nations

have trampled its choice vines

that reached as far as Jazer  * 16:8 Nm 21:32; Jos 13:25

and spread to the desert.

Their shoots spread out

and reached the sea.  * 16:8 Jr 48:32

9 So I join with Jazer

to weep for the vines of Sibmah;

I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears.

Triumphant shouts have fallen silent  * 16:9 Or Battle cries have fallen

over your summer fruit and your harvest.

10 Joy and rejoicing  * 16:10 Is 24:8; Jr 48:33 have been removed from the orchard;

no one is singing or shouting for joy in the vineyards.  * 16:10 Jdg 9:27; Is 24:7; Am 5:11,17

No one tramples grapes  * 16:10 Lit wine in the winepresses.

I have put an end to the shouting.

11 Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab,  * 16:11 Is 15:5; 63:15; Jr 48:36; Hs 11:8; Php 2:1

as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.

12 When Moab appears

and tires himself out on the high place  * 16:12 1Kg 18:29

and comes to his sanctuary to pray,

it will do him no good.  * 16:12 Is 15:2

13 This is the message that the Lord previously announced about Moab. 14 And now the Lord says, "In three years, as a hired worker counts years,  * 16:14 Jb 7:1; 14:6; Is 21:16 Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak."