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Moab Will Be Punished

15 (A) This is a message about Moab:

The towns of Ar and Kir
were destroyed in a night.
    Moab is left in ruins!
Everyone in Dibon has gone up
to the temple[a] and the shrines
    to cry and weep.
All of Moab is crying.
Heads and beards are shaved[b]
    because of what happened
    at Nebo and Medeba.
In the towns and at home,
everyone wears sackcloth
    and cries loud and long.
From Heshbon and Elealeh,
    weeping is heard in Jahaz;
Moab's warriors scream
    while trembling with fear.

Pity Moab

I pity Moab!
Its people are running to Zoar
    and to Eglath-Shelishiyah.
They cry on their way up
    to the town of Luhith;
on the road to Horonaim
    they tell of disasters.
The streams of Nimrim
and the grasslands
    have dried up.
Every plant is parched.

The people of Moab are leaving,
    crossing over Willow Creek,
taking everything they own
    and have worked for.
In the towns of Eglaim
    and of Beerelim
and everywhere else in Moab
    mournful cries are heard.
The streams near Dimon
    are flowing with blood.
But the Lord will bring
    even worse trouble to Dimon,[c]
because all in Moab who escape
    will be attacked by lions.[d]

Footnotes

  1. 15.2 Everyone … temple: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 15.2 Heads … shaved: As a sign of sorrow and mourning.
  3. 15.9 Dimon … Dimon: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation have “Dibon … Dibon.”
  4. 15.9 lions: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 9.

A Prophecy Against Moab(A)

15 A prophecy(B) against Moab:(C)

Ar(D) in Moab is ruined,(E)
    destroyed in a night!
Kir(F) in Moab is ruined,
    destroyed in a night!
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)
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)
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.

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)
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)
So the wealth they have acquired(AE) and stored up
    they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
    their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
    their lamentation as far as Beer(AF) Elim.
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.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
  2. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.