Isaiah 16

1 Send the lamb of the ruler of the land from the rock to the wilderness, — unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela through the desert, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

2 And it shall be [that] as a wandering bird, [as] a scattered nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon.

The Moabite women at the fords of the Arnon are like birds fluttering around when their nest is destroyed.

3 Bring in counsel, execute justice; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of noonday; hide the outcasts, discover not the fugitive.

Think about it and make a decision. Make your shadow as invisible at midday as during the night. Hide the refugees; don't betray them as they run away.

4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the waster. For the extortioner is at an end, the wasting hath ceased, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.

Let my refugees stay among you, Moab. Hide them from our enemies until the destroyer is no more, the destruction is over, and the aggressive invaders have gone.

5 And a throne shall be established in mercy: and in the tent of David there shall sit upon it, in truth, one judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.

Then a kingdom will be set up based on trustworthy love, and on its throne will sit a faithful king from the line of David. He will judge fairly, and will be passionately committed to doing what is right.

6 We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, — [he is] very proud, — of his pride, and his arrogance, and his wrath: his pratings are vain.

We know all about the pride of the Moabites, how terribly vain and conceited they are, completely arrogant! But their boasting is false.

7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab; every one of them shall howl. For the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn, verily afflicted.

All the Moabites grieve for Moab. They all mourn the loss of the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, all of them destroyed.

8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants: they reached unto Jaazer, they wandered [through] the wilderness; its shoots stretched out, they went beyond the sea.

Heshbon's fields have dried up, as have Sibmah's grapevines. The rulers of the nations have trampled down the vines that once branched out to Jazer and east towards the desert, and west as far as the sea.

9 Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jaazer for the vine of Sibmah; with my tears will I water thee, Heshbon, and Elealeh, for a cry is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy harvest.

So I cry with Jazer for Sibmah's vines; I soak Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Nobody shouts in celebration over your summer fruit and your harvest any more.

10 And joy and gladness is taken away out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there is no singing, neither is there shouting: the treaders tread out no wine in the presses, I have made the cry [of the winepress] to cease.

Joy and happiness are gone. Nobody celebrates in the harvest fields or the vineyards; nobody shouts happily. Nobody treads grapes in the winepresses. I have stopped their cheering.

11 Therefore my bowels sound like a harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirheres.

Heartbroken I cry for Moab like sad music on a harp; deep inside I weep for Kir-hareseth.

12 And it shall come to pass, when Moab shall appear, shall weary himself on the high place, and enter into his sanctuary to pray, that he shall not prevail.

The Moabites go and wear themselves out worshiping at their high places. They go to their shrines to pray, but it does them no good.

13 This is the word which Jehovah hath spoken from of old concerning Moab.

This is the message that the Lord has already delivered about Moab.

14 And now Jehovah speaketh saying, Within three years, as the years of a hired servant, and the glory of Moab shall be brought to nothing, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be small, few, of no account.

But now the Lord speaks again, and says, In three years, just as a contract worker precisely counts years, Moab's glory will turn into something to be laughed at. Despite there being so many Moabites now, soon there will only be a few feeble people left.