Isaiah 16

1 Send ye the lambs for the ruler of the land from Sela [which is] toward the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

I will send as it were reptiles on the land: is [not] the mount of the daughter of Sion a desolate rock?

2 For it shall be that, as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of Arnon.

For thou shalt be as a young bird taken away from a bird that has flown: [even] thou shalt be [so], daughter of Moab: and then do thou, O Arnon,

3 Give counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday: hide the outcasts; bewray not the wanderer.

take farther counsel, and continually make thou a shelter from grief: they flee in darkness at mid-day; they are amazed; be not thou led captive.

4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee; as for Moab, be thou a covert to him from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is brought to nought, spoiling ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.

The fugitives of Moab shall sojourn with thee; they shall be to you a shelter from the face of the pursuer: for thine alliance has been taken away, and the oppressing ruler has perished from off the earth.

5 And a throne shall be established in mercy, and one shall sit thereon in truth, in the tent of David; judging, and seeking judgment, and swift to do righteousness.

And a throne shall be established with mercy; and one shall sit upon it with truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and earnestly seeking judgments, and hasting righteousness.

6 We have heard of the pride of Moab, [that] he is very proud; even of his arrogancy, and his pride, and his wrath; his boastings are nought.

We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud. I have cut off his pride: thy prophecy shall not be thus, [no] not thus.

7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the raisin-cakes of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn, utterly stricken.

Moab shall howl; for all shall howl in the land of Moab: but thou shalt care for them that dwell in Seth, and thou shalt not be ashamed.

8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the nations have broken down the choice plants thereof; they reached even unto Jazer, they wandered into the wilderness; her branches were spread abroad, they passed over the sea.

The plains of Esebon shall mourn, the vine of Sebama: swallowing up the nations, trample ye her vines, even to Jazer: ye shall not come together; wander ye in the desert: they that were sent are deserted, for they have gone over to the sea.

9 Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for upon thy summer fruits and upon thy harvest the [battle] shout is fallen.

Therefore will I weep as with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sebama; Esebon and Eleale have cast down thy trees; for I will trample on thy harvest and on thy vintages, and all [thy plants] shall fall.

10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither joyful noise: no treader shall tread out wine in the presses; I have made the [vintage] shout to cease.

And gladness and rejoicing shall be taken away from the vineyards; and they shall not at all tread wine into the vats; for [the vintage] has ceased.

11 Wherefore my bowels sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-heres.

Therefore my belly shall sound as a harp for Moab, and thou hast repaired my inward parts as a wall.

12 And it shall come to pass, when Moab presenteth himself, when he wearieth himself upon the high place, and shall come to his sanctuary to pray, that he shall not prevail.

And it shall be to thy shame, (for Moab is wearied at the altars, ) that he shall go in to the idols thereof to pray, but they shall not be at all able to deliver him.

13 This is the word that the LORD spake concerning Moab in time past.

This is the word which the Lord spoke against Moab, when he spoke.

14 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and of no account.

And now I say, in three years, of the years of an hireling, the glory of Moab shall be dishonoured [with] all his great wealth; and he shall be left few in number, and not honoured.