Prophecy of Moab’s Devastation

16 (A)Send the tribute lamb to the ruler of the land,
From [a](B)Sela by way of the wilderness to the (C)mountain of the daughter of Zion.
Then, like (D)fluttering birds or scattered nestlings,
The daughters of (E)Moab will be at the crossing places of the (F)Arnon.
[b]Give us advice, make a decision;
[c]Cast your (G)shadow like night [d]at high noon;
(H)Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive.
Let the [e]outcasts of Moab stay with you;
Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer.”
For the oppressor has come to an end, destruction has ceased,
(I)Oppressors have been removed from the land.
A (J)throne will be established in faithfulness,
And a judge will sit on it in trustworthiness in the tent of (K)David;
Moreover, he will seek justice,
And be prompt in righteousness.

(L)We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride;
Even of his arrogance, pride, and fury;
(M)His idle boasts are [f]false.
Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail.
You will moan for the (N)raisin cakes of (O)Kir-hareseth
As those who are utterly stricken.
For the fields of (P)Heshbon have [g]withered, the vines of (Q)Sibmah as well;
The lords of the nations have trampled down its choice clusters
Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered to the deserts;
(R)Its [h]tendrils spread themselves out and passed over the sea.
Therefore I will (S)weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah;
I will drench you with my tears, (T)Heshbon and Elealeh;
For the shouting over your (U)summer fruits and your harvest has fallen away.
10 (V)Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field;
In the (W)vineyards also there will be no cries of joy or jubilant shouting,
No (X)treader treads out wine in the presses,
For I have made the shouting to cease.
11 Therefore my [i](Y)inner being sounds like a harp for Moab.
And my [j]heart for Kir-hareseth.
12 So it will come about when Moab (Z)presents himself,
When he (AA)tires himself upon his (AB)high place
And comes to his sanctuary to pray,
That he will not prevail.

13 This is the word which the Lord spoke earlier concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as [k](AC)a hired worker would count them, the glory of (AD)Moab will become contemptible along with all his great population, and his remnant will be very small and [l]impotent.”

Prophecy about Damascus

17 The (AE)pronouncement concerning (AF)Damascus:

“Behold, Damascus is about to be (AG)removed from being a city
And will become a (AH)fallen ruin.
The cities [m]of (AI)Aroer are abandoned;
They will be for (AJ)herds [n]to lie down in,
And there will be (AK)no one to frighten them.
The [o](AL)fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
And [p]sovereignty from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram;
They will be like the (AM)glory of the sons of Israel,”
Declares the Lord of armies.

Now on that day the (AN)glory of Jacob will [q]fade,
And (AO)the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
It will be (AP)like the [r]reaper gathering the standing grain,
As his arm harvests the ears,
Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain
In the (AQ)Valley of Rephaim.
Yet (AR)gleanings will be left in it like the [s]shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives on the topmost branch,
Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree,
Declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
On that day man will (AS)look to his Maker
And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.
And he will not look to the (AT)altars, the work of his hands,
Nor will he look to that which his (AU)fingers have made,
Even the [t](AV)Asherim and incense altars.
On that day [u]their strong cities will be like [v]abandoned places in the forest,
Or like branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel;
And [w]the land will be a desolation.
10 For (AW)you have forgotten the (AX)God of your salvation
And have not remembered the (AY)rock of your refuge.
Therefore you plant delightful plants
And set them with vine shoots of a strange god.
11 On the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,
And in the (AZ)morning you bring your seed to blossom;
But the harvest will (BA)flee
On a day of illness and incurable pain.

12 Oh, the uproar of many peoples
(BB)Who roar like the roaring of the seas,
And the rumbling of nations
Who rush on like the (BC)rumbling of mighty waters!
13 The (BD)nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters,
But He will (BE)rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
And be chased (BF)like chaff on the mountains before the wind,
Or like whirling dust before a gale.
14 At evening time, behold, there is terror!
Before morning (BG)they are gone.
This will be the [x]fate of those who plunder us
And the lot of those who pillage us.

Message to Ethiopia

18 Woe, land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of [y](BH)Cush,
Which sends messengers by the sea,
Even in (BI)papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation [z](BJ)tall and smooth,
To a people (BK)feared [aa]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
(BL)All you who inhabit the world, and live on earth,
As soon as a flag is raised on the mountains, (BM)you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

For this is what the Lord has told me:

“I will quietly look [ab]from My (BN)dwelling place
Like dazzling heat in the [ac](BO)sunshine,
Like a cloud of (BP)dew in the heat of harvest.”
For (BQ)before the harvest, as soon as the bud [ad]blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
He will cut off the shoots with pruning knives,
And remove and tear away the spreading branches.
They will be left together for mountain birds (BR)of prey,
And for the animals of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the animals of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
At that time a gift of tribute will be brought to the Lord of armies
[ae]From a (BS)people [af]tall and smooth,
From a people feared [ag]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the (BT)place of the name of the Lord of armies, to Mount Zion.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 16:1 I.e., Petra in Edom
  2. Isaiah 16:3 Lit Bring
  3. Isaiah 16:3 Lit Set
  4. Isaiah 16:3 Lit in the midst of the noon
  5. Isaiah 16:4 As in most ancient versions; MT My outcasts, as for Moab
  6. Isaiah 16:6 Lit not so
  7. Isaiah 16:8 Or dried out
  8. Isaiah 16:8 I.e., parts of a climbing plant that attach to its support
  9. Isaiah 16:11 Lit entrails murmur
  10. Isaiah 16:11 Lit inward parts
  11. Isaiah 16:14 Lit the years of a hired
  12. Isaiah 16:14 Lit not mighty
  13. Isaiah 17:2 LXX forever and ever
  14. Isaiah 17:2 Lit and they will lie down
  15. Isaiah 17:3 Or fortification
  16. Isaiah 17:3 Or royal power
  17. Isaiah 17:4 Lit become little
  18. Isaiah 17:5 Lit gathering of the harvest, the standing grain
  19. Isaiah 17:6 Lit striking
  20. Isaiah 17:8 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
  21. Isaiah 17:9 Lit his; i.e., mankind’s
  22. Isaiah 17:9 LXX the deserted places of the Amorites and the Hivites which they abandoned
  23. Isaiah 17:9 Lit it
  24. Isaiah 17:14 Lit portion
  25. Isaiah 18:1 Or Ethiopia
  26. Isaiah 18:2 Lit drawn out
  27. Isaiah 18:2 Lit from it and beyond
  28. Isaiah 18:4 Lit in
  29. Isaiah 18:4 Lit light
  30. Isaiah 18:5 Lit is finished
  31. Isaiah 18:7 Some ancient versions and DSS; MT implies Consisting of a people
  32. Isaiah 18:7 Lit drawn out
  33. Isaiah 18:7 Lit from it and beyond

Moab Destroyed

16 Send (A)the lamb to the ruler of the land,
(B)From [a]Sela to the wilderness,
To the mount of the daughter of Zion.
For it shall be as a (C)wandering bird thrown out of the nest;
So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the (D)Arnon.

“Take counsel, execute judgment;
Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day;
Hide the outcasts,
Do not betray him who escapes.
Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab;
Be a shelter to them from the face of the [b]spoiler.
For the extortioner is at an end,
Devastation ceases,
The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
In mercy (E)the throne will be established;
And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David,
(F)Judging and seeking justice and hastening (G)righteousness.”

We have heard of the (H)pride of Moab—
He is very proud—
Of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath;
(I)But his [c]lies shall not be so.
Therefore Moab shall (J)wail for Moab;
Everyone shall wail.
For the foundations (K)of Kir Hareseth you shall mourn;
Surely they are stricken.

For (L)the fields of Heshbon languish,
And (M)the vine of Sibmah;
The lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants,
Which have reached to Jazer
And wandered through the wilderness.
Her branches are stretched out,
They are gone over the (N)sea.
Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah,
With the weeping of Jazer;
I will drench you with my tears,
(O)O Heshbon and Elealeh;
For [d]battle cries have fallen
Over your summer fruits and your harvest.

10 (P)Gladness is taken away,
And joy from the plentiful field;
In the vineyards there will be no singing,
Nor will there be shouting;
No treaders will tread out wine in the presses;
I have made their shouting cease.
11 Therefore (Q)my [e]heart shall resound like a harp for Moab,
And my inner being for [f]Kir Heres.

12 And it shall come to pass,
When it is seen that Moab is weary on (R)the high place,
That he will come to his sanctuary to pray;
But he will not prevail.

13 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “Within three years, (S)as the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be despised with all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”

Proclamation Against Syria and Israel

17 The (T)burden[g] against Damascus.

“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
[h]The cities of (U)Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks
Which lie down, and (V)no one will make them afraid.
(W)The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

“In that day it shall come to pass
That the glory of Jacob will [i]wane,
And (X)the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
(Y)It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;
It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain
In the Valley of Rephaim.
(Z)Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five in its most fruitful branches,”
Says the Lord God of Israel.

In that day a man will (AA)look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his (AB)fingers have made,
Nor the [j]wooden images nor the incense altars.

In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken [k]bough
And [l]an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.

10 Because you have forgotten (AC)the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your [m]stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.

12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise (AD)like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will (AE)rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And (AF)be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.

Proclamation Against Ethiopia

18 Woe (AG)to the land shadowed with buzzing wings,
Which is beyond the rivers of [n]Ethiopia,
Which sends ambassadors by sea,
Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying,
“Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin,
To a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide.”

All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth:
(AH)When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it;
And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.
For so the Lord said to me,
“I will take My rest,
And I will [o]look from My dwelling place
Like clear heat in sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect
And the sour grape is ripening in the flower,
He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks
And take away and cut down the branches.
They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey
And for the beasts of the earth;
The birds of prey will summer on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.

In that time (AI)a present will be brought to the Lord of hosts
[p]From a people tall and smooth of skin,
And from a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts,
To Mount Zion.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 16:1 Lit. Rock
  2. Isaiah 16:4 devastator
  3. Isaiah 16:6 Lit. vain talk
  4. Isaiah 16:9 Or shouting has
  5. Isaiah 16:11 Lit. belly
  6. Isaiah 16:11 Kir Hareseth, v. 7
  7. Isaiah 17:1 oracle, prophecy
  8. Isaiah 17:2 So with MT, Vg.; LXX It shall be forsaken forever; Tg. Its cities shall be forsaken and desolate
  9. Isaiah 17:4 fade
  10. Isaiah 17:8 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
  11. Isaiah 17:9 LXX Hivites; Tg. laid waste; Vg. as the plows
  12. Isaiah 17:9 LXX Amorites; Tg. in ruins; Vg. corn
  13. Isaiah 17:10 refuge
  14. Isaiah 18:1 Heb. Cush
  15. Isaiah 18:4 watch
  16. Isaiah 18:7 So with DSS, LXX, Vg.; MT omits From; Tg. To