Jesaja 16 | New International Reader’s Version

1 People of Moab, send lambs as a gift to the ruler of Judah. Send them from Sela. Send them across the desert. Send them to Mount Zion in the city of Jerusalem. 2 The women of Moab are at the places where people go across the River Arnon. They are like birds that flap their wings when they are pushed from their nest. 3 The Moabites say to the rulers of Judah, ‘Make up your mind. Make a decision. Cover us with your shadow. Make it like night even at noon. Hide those of us who are running away. Don’t turn them over to their enemies. 4 Let those who have run away from Moab stay with you. Keep them safe from those who are trying to destroy them.’ Those who crush others will be destroyed. The killing will stop. The attackers will disappear from the earth. 5 A man from the royal house of David will sit on Judah’s throne. He will rule with faithful love. When he judges he will do what is fair. He will be quick to do what is right. 6 We have heard all about Moab’s pride. We have heard how very proud they are. They think they are so much better than others. They boast about themselves. But all their boasting is nothing but empty words. 7 So the people of Moab cry out. All of them cry over their country. Sing a song of sadness. Weep that you can no longer enjoy the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. 8 The fields of Heshbon dry up. So do the vines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have walked all over its finest vines. Those vines once reached as far as Jazer. They spread out towards the desert. Their new growth went all the way to the Dead Sea. 9 Jazer weeps for the vines of Sibmah. And so do I. Heshbon and Elealeh, I soak you with my tears! There isn’t any ripe fruit for people to shout about. There isn’t any harvest to make them happy. 10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards. No one sings or shouts in the vineyards. No one treads grapes at the winepresses. That’s because the LORD has put an end to the shouting. 11 My heart mourns over Moab like a song of sadness played on a harp. Deep down inside me I mourn over Kir Hareseth. 12 Moab’s people go to their high place to pray. But all they do is wear themselves out. Their god Chemosh can’t help them at all. 13 That’s the message the LORD has already spoken against Moab. 14 But now he says, ‘In exactly three years, people will look down on Moab’s glory. Now Moab has many people. But by that time only a few of them will be left alive. And even they will be weak.’

New International Version

1 Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert, to the mount of Daughter Zion. 2 Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. 3 ‘Make up your mind,’ Moab says. ‘Render a decision. Make your shadow like night – at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. 4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.’ The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land. 5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it – one from the house* of David – one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness. 6 We have heard of Moab’s pride – how great is her arrogance! – of her conceit, her pride and her insolence; but her boasts are empty. 7 Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. 8 The fields of Heshbon wither, the vines of Sibmah also. The rulers of the nations have trampled down the choicest vines, which once reached Jazer and spread towards the desert. Their shoots spread out and went as far as the sea.* 9 So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. Heshbon and Elealeh, I drench you with tears! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled. 10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no-one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no-one treads out wine at the presses, for I have put an end to the shouting. 11 My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth. 12 When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail. 13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: ‘Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendour and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.’

Jesaja 16 | New International Reader’s Version New International Version