Isaiah 16

1 Send ye the lamb due to the ruler of the land, From Sela towards the desert, —Unto the mount of the daughter of Zion;

Send the lambs for the ruler of the land from Selah to the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

2 Yet shall it be that—Like wandering birds from a nest cast forth, Shall be the daughters of Moab, at the fords of Arnon.

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

3 Bring thou, in counsel, Execute thou judgment, Make as the night, thy shadow in the midst of high noon, —Hide thou the outcasts, The wanderer, do not thou reveal.

Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive!

4 Let mine own outcasts, sojourn with thee, O Moab, become thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler, —For vanished is the oppressor, At an end is extortion, They who tread down have ceased out of the land.

Let my outcasts dwell with you! As for Moab, be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. For the extortionist is brought to nothing. Destruction ceases. The oppressors are consumed out of the land.

5 So shall be established, in lovingkindness, a throne, And one shall sit thereon, in truth, in the home of David, —Judging—and seeking justice and speeding righteousness.

A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.

6 We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, Proud exceedingly! His haughtiness and his arrogance and his passion, Not true, are his boastings.

We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath. His boastings are nothing.

7 Therefore shall, Moab, howl for, Moab, All that belong to her, shall wail, —For the ruins of Kir-hareseth, shall they moan out Utterly stricken!

Therefore Moab will wail for Moab. Everyone will wail. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth, utterly stricken.

8 For, the fields of Heshbon are withered—The vine of Sibmah, the owners of nations, have broken off ruddy branches, Unto Jazer, had they reached, They had spread abroad to the desert, —Her boughs, had stretched forth, had gone over to the sea.

For the fields of Heshbon languish with the vine of Sibmah. The lords of the nations have broken down its choice branches, which reached even to Jazer, which wandered into the wilderness. Its shoots were spread abroad. They passed over the sea.

9 For this cause, will I bewail, in the wailing of Jazer, The vine of Sibmah, I will drench thee with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh, —For, upon thy fruit-harvest, and upon thy grain-harvest, the battle-shout, hath fallen.

Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen.

10 Now shall be withdrawn rejoicing and exultation out of the garden-land, And, in the vineyards, shall be neither singing nor shouting, —Wine in the winepress, the treader, shall not tread, The vintage-shout, have I made to cease.

Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there will be no singing, neither joyful noise. Nobody will tread out wine in the presses. I have made the shouting stop.

11 For this cause, mine inward parts—for Moab, like a lyre, shall make a plaintive sound, —Yea what is within me, for Kir-heres.

Therefore my heart sounds like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir Heres.

12 And it shall be—When it is seen that Moab hath laboured in vain on the high place, He shall enter into his holy place to pray, and shall not prevail,

It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail.

13 This, is the word which Yahweh spake concerning Moab in, time past;

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

14 But now, hath Yahweh spoken saying, In three years, —as the years of a hireling, shall the glory of Moab be diminished, with all the great multitude, —even a very small remnant, of no account.

But now the LORD has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as a worker bound by contract would count them, the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”