Isaiah 16
16
More Troubles for Moab
1Send lambs#16.1 lambs: The main product of Moab. as gifts
to the ruler of the land.
Send them across the desert
from Sela#16.1 Sela: A town in Edom. to Mount Zion.
2The women of Moab
crossing the Arnon River
are like a flock of birds
scattered from their nests.
3Moab's messengers say
to the people of Judah,
“Be kind and help us!
Shade us from the heat
of the noonday sun.
Hide our refugees!
Don't turn them away.
4Let our people live
in your country
and find safety here.”
Moab, your cruel enemies
will disappear;
they will no longer attack
and destroy your land.
5Then a kingdom of love
will be set up,
and someone from David's family
will rule with fairness.
He will do what is right
and quickly bring justice.
Moab's Pride Is Destroyed
6We have heard of Moab's pride.
Its people strut and boast,
but without reason.
7Tell everyone in Moab
to mourn for their nation.
Tell them to cry and weep
for those fancy raisins#16.7 fancy raisins: The Hebrew text has “raisin-cakes,” which could mean either the rich produce or the prosperous farmers.
of Kir-Hareseth.
8Vineyards near Heshbon
and Sibmah
have turned brown.
The rulers of nations
used to get drunk
on wine from those vineyards#16.8 The rulers … vineyards: Or “The rulers of nations have destroyed those vineyards.”
that spread to Jazer,
then across the desert
and beyond the sea.
9Now I mourn like Jazer
for the vineyards
of Sibmah.
I shed tears for Heshbon
and for Elealeh.
There will be no more
harvest celebrations
10or joyful and happy times,
while bringing in the crops.
Singing and shouting are gone
from the vineyards.
There are no joyful shouts
where grapes were pressed.
God has silenced them all.
11Deep in my heart I hurt
for Moab and Kir-Heres.
12It's useless for Moab's people
to wear themselves out
by going to their altars
to worship and pray.
13The Lord has already said all of this about Moab. 14Now he says, “The contract of a hired worker is good for three years, but Moab's glory and greatness won't last any longer than that. Only a few of its people will survive, and they will be left helpless.”
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Isaiah 16: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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.