Isaiah 16
16
1People 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.
2The women of Moab are at the places
where people go across the Arnon River.
They are like birds that flap their wings
when they are pushed from their nest.
3The 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.
4Let 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.
5A 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.
6We 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 brag about themselves.
But all their bragging is nothing but empty words.
7So 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.
8The 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 toward the desert.
Their new growth went
all the way to the Dead Sea.
9Jazer 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.
10Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards.
No one sings or shouts in the vineyards.
No one stomps on grapes at the winepresses.
That’s because the Lord has put an end to the shouting.
11My heart mourns over Moab like a song of sadness played on a harp.
Deep down inside me I mourn over Kir Hareseth.
12Moab’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.
13That’s the message the Lord has already spoken against Moab. 14But 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.”
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Isaiah 16: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Isaiah 16
16
A New Government in the David Tradition
1-4a “Dispatch a gift of lambs,” says Moab,
“to the leaders in Jerusalem—
Lambs from Sela sent across the desert
to buy the goodwill of Jerusalem.
The towns and people of Moab
are at a loss,
New-hatched birds knocked from the nest,
fluttering helplessly
At the banks of the Arnon River,
unable to cross:
‘Tell us what to do,
help us out!
Protect us,
hide us!
Give the refugees from Moab
sanctuary with you.
Be a safe place for those on the run
from the killing fields.’”
4b-5 “When this is all over,” Judah answers,
“the tyrant toppled,
The killing at an end,
all signs of these cruelties long gone,
A new government of love will be established
in the venerable David tradition.
A Ruler you can depend upon
will head this government,
A Ruler passionate for justice,
a Ruler quick to set things right.”
* * *
6-12We’ve heard—everyone’s heard!—of Moab’s pride,
world-famous for pride—
Arrogant, self-important, insufferable,
full of hot air.
So now let Moab lament for a change,
with antiphonal mock-laments from the neighbors!
What a shame! How terrible!
No more fine fruitcakes and Kir-hareseth candies!
All those lush Heshbon fields dried up,
the rich Sibmah vineyards withered!
Foreign thugs have crushed and torn out
the famous grapevines
That once reached all the way to Jazer,
right to the edge of the desert,
Ripped out the crops in every direction
as far as the eye can see.
I’ll join the weeping. I’ll weep right along with Jazer,
weep for the Sibmah vineyards.
And yes, Heshbon and Elealeh,
I’ll mingle my tears with your tears!
The joyful shouting at harvest is gone.
Instead of song and celebration, dead silence.
No more boisterous laughter in the orchards,
no more hearty work songs in the vineyards.
Instead of the bustle and sound of good work in the fields,
silence—deathly and deadening silence.
My heartstrings throb like harp strings for Moab,
my soul in sympathy for sad Kir-heres.
When Moab trudges to the shrine to pray,
he wastes both time and energy.
Going to the sanctuary and praying for relief
is useless. Nothing ever happens.
13-14This is God’s earlier Message on Moab. God’s updated Message is, “In three years, no longer than the term of an enlisted soldier, Moab’s impressive presence will be gone, that splendid hot-air balloon will be punctured, and instead of a vigorous population, just a few shuffling bums panhandling handouts.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.