Isaiah 15-21

New International Version

Ar^(D) in Moab is ruined,^(E)
    destroyed in a night!
Kir^(F) in Moab is ruined,
    destroyed in a night!
² Dibon^(G) goes up to its temple,
    to its high places^(H) to weep;
    Moab wails^(I) over Nebo^(J) and Medeba.
Every head is shaved^(K)
    and every beard cut off.^(L)
3 In the streets they wear sackcloth;^(M)
    on the roofs^(N) and in the public squares^(O)
they all wail,^(P)
    prostrate with weeping.^(Q)
4 Heshbon^(R) and Elealeh^(S) cry out,
    their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.^(T)
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
    and their hearts are faint.

⁵ My heart cries out^(U) over Moab;^(V)
    her fugitives^(W) flee as far as Zoar,^(X)
    as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
    weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaim^(Y)
    they lament their destruction.^(Z)
6 The waters of Nimrim are dried up^(AA)
    and the grass is withered;^(AB)
the vegetation is gone^(AC)
    and nothing green is left.^(AD)
7 So the wealth they have acquired^(AE) and stored up
    they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
⁸ Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
    their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
    their lamentation as far as Beer^(AF) Elim.
⁹ The waters of Dimon^[a] are full of blood,
    but I will bring still more upon Dimon^[b]—
a lion^(AG) upon the fugitives of Moab^(AH)
    and upon those who remain in the land.

16 Send lambs^(AI) as tribute^(AJ)
    to the ruler of the land,
from Sela,^(AK) across the desert,
    to the mount of Daughter Zion.^(AL)
2 Like fluttering birds
    pushed from the nest,^(AM)
so are the women of Moab^(AN)
    at the fords^(AO) of the Arnon.^(AP)

³ “Make up your mind,” Moab says.
    “Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night—
    at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,^(AQ)
    do not betray the refugees.
⁴ Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
    be their shelter^(AR) from the destroyer.”

The oppressor^(AS) will come to an end,
    and destruction will cease;^(AT)
    the aggressor will vanish from the land.
⁵ In love a throne^(AU) will be established;^(AV)
    in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
    one from the house^[c] of David^(AW)—
one who in judging seeks justice^(AX)
    and speeds the cause of righteousness.

⁶ We have heard of Moab’s^(AY) pride^(AZ)—
    how great is her arrogance!—
of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;
    but her boasts are empty.
⁷ Therefore the Moabites wail,^(BA)
    they wail together for Moab.
Lament and grieve
    for the raisin cakes^(BB) of Kir Hareseth.^(BC)
8 The fields of Heshbon^(BD) wither,^(BE)
    the vines of Sibmah^(BF) also.
The rulers of the nations
    have trampled down the choicest vines,^(BG)
which once reached Jazer^(BH)
    and spread toward the desert.
Their shoots spread out^(BI)
    and went as far as the sea.^[d](BJ)
9 So I weep,^(BK) as Jazer weeps,
    for the vines of Sibmah.
Heshbon and Elealeh,^(BL)
    I drench you with tears!^(BM)
The shouts of joy^(BN) over your ripened fruit
    and over your harvests^(BO) have been stilled.
¹⁰ Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;^(BP)
    no one sings or shouts^(BQ) in the vineyards;
no one treads^(BR) out wine at the presses,^(BS)
    for I have put an end to the shouting.
¹¹ My heart laments for Moab^(BT) like a harp,^(BU)
    my inmost being^(BV) for Kir Hareseth.
¹² When Moab appears at her high place,^(BW)
    she only wears herself out;
when she goes to her shrine^(BX) to pray,
    it is to no avail.^(BY)

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
    but will become a heap of ruins.^(CG)
2 The cities of Aroer^(CH) will be deserted
    and left to flocks,^(CI) which will lie down,^(CJ)
    with no one to make them afraid.^(CK)
3 The fortified^(CL) city will disappear from Ephraim,
    and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
    like the glory^(CM) of the Israelites,”^(CN)
declares the Lord Almighty.

⁴ “In that day^(CO) the glory^(CP) of Jacob will fade;
    the fat of his body will waste^(CQ) away.
⁵ It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
    gathering^(CR) the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain^(CS)
    in the Valley of Rephaim.^(CT)
6 Yet some gleanings will remain,^(CU)
    as when an olive tree is beaten,^(CV)
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
    four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁷ In that day^(CW) people will look^(CX) to their Maker^(CY)
    and turn their eyes to the Holy One^(CZ) of Israel.
⁸ They will not look to the altars,^(DA)
    the work of their hands,^(DB)
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles^[e](DC)
    and the incense altars their fingers^(DD) have made.

¹⁰ You have forgotten^(DF) God your Savior;^(DG)
    you have not remembered the Rock,^(DH) your fortress.^(DI)
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
    and plant imported vines,^(DJ)
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
    and on the morning^(DK) when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest^(DL) will be as nothing^(DM)
    in the day of disease and incurable^(DN) pain.^(DO)

¹² Woe to the many nations that rage^(DP)—
    they rage like the raging sea!^(DQ)
Woe to the peoples who roar^(DR)—
    they roar like the roaring of great waters!^(DS)
13 Although the peoples roar^(DT) like the roar of surging waters,
    when he rebukes^(DU) them they flee^(DV) far away,
driven before the wind like chaff^(DW) on the hills,
    like tumbleweed before a gale.^(DX)
14 In the evening, sudden^(DY) terror!^(DZ)
    Before the morning, they are gone!^(EA)
This is the portion of those who loot us,
    the lot of those who plunder us.

Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,^(EF)
    to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive^(EG) nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers.^(EH)

³ All you people of the world,^(EI)
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner^(EJ) is raised on the mountains,
    you will see it,
and when a trumpet^(EK) sounds,
    you will hear it.
⁴ This is what the Lord says to me:
    “I will remain quiet^(EL) and will look on from my dwelling place,^(EM)
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,^(EN)
    like a cloud of dew^(EO) in the heat of harvest.”
⁵ For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off^(EP) the shoots with pruning knives,
    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.^(EQ)
6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey^(ER)
    and to the wild animals;^(ES)
the birds will feed on them all summer,
    the wild animals all winter.

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,^(EU)
    from a people feared^(EV) far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers^(EW)—

See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud^(FA)
    and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
    and the hearts of the Egyptians melt^(FB) with fear.

² “I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian—
    brother will fight against brother,^(FC)
    neighbor against neighbor,
    city against city,
    kingdom against kingdom.^(FD)
3 The Egyptians will lose heart,^(FE)
    and I will bring their plans^(FF) to nothing;^(FG)
they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
    the mediums and the spiritists.^(FH)
4 I will hand the Egyptians over
    to the power of a cruel master,
and a fierce king^(FI) will rule over them,”
    declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

⁵ The waters of the river will dry up,^(FJ)
    and the riverbed will be parched and dry.^(FK)
6 The canals will stink;^(FL)
    the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.^(FM)
The reeds^(FN) and rushes will wither,^(FO)
7     also the plants^(FP) along the Nile,
    at the mouth of the river.
Every sown field^(FQ) along the Nile
    will become parched, will blow away and be no more.^(FR)
8 The fishermen^(FS) will groan and lament,
    all who cast hooks^(FT) into the Nile;
those who throw nets on the water
    will pine away.
⁹ Those who work with combed flax^(FU) will despair,
    the weavers of fine linen^(FV) will lose hope.
¹⁰ The workers in cloth will be dejected,
    and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

¹¹ The officials of Zoan^(FW) are nothing but fools;
    the wise counselors^(FX) of Pharaoh give senseless advice.^(FY)
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am one of the wise men,^(FZ)
    a disciple of the ancient kings”?

¹² Where are your wise men^(GA) now?
    Let them show you and make known
what the Lord Almighty
    has planned^(GB) against Egypt.
¹³ The officials of Zoan^(GC) have become fools,
    the leaders of Memphis^(GD) are deceived;
the cornerstones^(GE) of her peoples
    have led Egypt astray.
¹⁴ The Lord has poured into them
    a spirit of dizziness;^(GF)
they make Egypt stagger in all that she does,
    as a drunkard staggers^(GG) around in his vomit.
¹⁵ There is nothing Egypt can do—
    head or tail, palm branch or reed.^(GH)

Like whirlwinds^(IV) sweeping through the southland,^(IW)
    an invader comes from the desert,
    from a land of terror.

² A dire^(IX) vision has been shown to me:
    The traitor betrays,^(IY) the looter takes loot.
Elam,^(IZ) attack! Media,^(JA) lay siege!
    I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

³ At this my body is racked with pain,^(JB)
    pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;^(JC)
I am staggered by what I hear,
    I am bewildered^(JD) by what I see.
⁴ My heart^(JE) falters,
    fear makes me tremble;^(JF)
the twilight I longed for
    has become a horror^(JG) to me.

⁵ They set the tables,
    they spread the rugs,
    they eat, they drink!^(JH)
Get up, you officers,
    oil the shields!^(JI)

“Go, post a lookout^(JJ)
    and have him report what he sees.
⁷ When he sees chariots^(JK)
    with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
    or riders on camels,^(JL)
let him be alert,
    fully alert.”

“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
    every night I stay at my post.
⁹ Look, here comes a man in a chariot^(JN)
    with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
    ‘Babylon^(JO) has fallen,^(JP) has fallen!
All the images of its gods^(JQ)
    lie shattered^(JR) on the ground!’”

¹⁰ My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,^(JS)
    I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
    from the God of Israel.

Someone calls to me from Seir,^(JU)
    “Watchman, what is left of the night?
    Watchman, what is left of the night?”
¹² The watchman replies,
    “Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
    and come back yet again.”

You caravans of Dedanites,^(JX)
    who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
¹⁴     bring water for the thirsty;
you who live in Tema,^(JY)
    bring food for the fugitives.
¹⁵ They flee^(JZ) from the sword,^(KA)
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
    and from the heat of battle.