SEEK THE LORD’S MESSIAH
Key verse: 16:4b-5
NIV
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!
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)
13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: “Within three years,(BZ) as a servant bound by contract(CA) would count them,(CB) Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised,(CC) and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”(CD)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
- Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
- Isaiah 16:5 Hebrew tent
- Isaiah 16:8 Probably the Dead Sea
Cross references
- Isaiah 15:1 : 16:6-12pp — Jer 48:29-36
- Isaiah 15:1 : S Isa 13:1
- Isaiah 15:1 : Nu 22:3-6; S Dt 23:6; S Isa 11:14
- Isaiah 15:1 : S Nu 21:15
- Isaiah 15:1 : S Nu 17:12; Isa 25:12; 26:5; Jer 48:24, 41; 51:58
- Isaiah 15:1 : S 2Ki 3:25
- Isaiah 15:2 : S Nu 21:30
- Isaiah 15:2 : 1Ki 11:7; Isa 16:12; Jer 48:35
- Isaiah 15:2 : S Isa 13:6; 65:14
- Isaiah 15:2 : S Nu 32:38
- Isaiah 15:2 : S Lev 13:40; S Job 1:20
- Isaiah 15:2 : S 2Sa 10:4
- Isaiah 15:3 : S Isa 3:24
- Isaiah 15:3 : S Jos 2:8
- Isaiah 15:3 : Jer 48:38
- Isaiah 15:3 : Isa 14:31; Jer 47:2
- Isaiah 15:3 : ver 5; Isa 16:9; 22:4; La 2:11; Eze 7:18; Mic 1:8
- Isaiah 15:4 : S Nu 21:25; S Jos 13:26
- Isaiah 15:4 : S Nu 32:3
- Isaiah 15:4 : S Nu 21:23
- Isaiah 15:5 : S ver 3
- Isaiah 15:5 : Isa 16:11; Jer 48:31
- Isaiah 15:5 : S Nu 21:29
- Isaiah 15:5 : S Ge 13:10
- Isaiah 15:5 : Jer 48:3, 34
- Isaiah 15:5 : Jer 4:20; 48:5
- Isaiah 15:6 : Isa 19:5-7; Jer 48:34
- Isaiah 15:6 : Ps 37:2; Isa 16:8; 24:4, 7, 11; 33:9; 34:4; 37:27; 40:7; 51:6, 12; Hos 4:3; Joel 1:12
- Isaiah 15:6 : S Isa 14:17
- Isaiah 15:6 : Jer 14:5
- Isaiah 15:7 : Isa 30:6; Jer 48:36
- Isaiah 15:8 : S Nu 21:16
- Isaiah 15:9 : S 2Ki 17:25
- Isaiah 15:9 : Eze 25:8-11
- Isaiah 16:1 : S 2Ki 3:4
- Isaiah 16:1 : S 2Ch 32:23
- Isaiah 16:1 : S Jdg 1:36; Ob 3 fn
- Isaiah 16:1 : S Isa 10:32
- Isaiah 16:2 : Pr 27:8
- Isaiah 16:2 : Nu 21:29
- Isaiah 16:2 : Jdg 12:5
- Isaiah 16:2 : Nu 21:13-14; Jer 48:20
- Isaiah 16:3 : S 1Ki 18:4
- Isaiah 16:4 : Isa 58:7
- Isaiah 16:4 : S Isa 9:4
- Isaiah 16:4 : Isa 2:2-4
- Isaiah 16:5 : S 1Sa 13:14; Da 7:14; Mic 4:7
- Isaiah 16:5 : S Pr 20:28
- Isaiah 16:5 : S Isa 7:2; Lk 1:32
- Isaiah 16:5 : S Isa 9:7
- Isaiah 16:6 : Jer 25:21; Eze 25:8; Am 2:1; Zep 2:8
- Isaiah 16:6 : S Lev 26:19; S Job 20:6; Jer 49:16; Ob 1:3; Zep 2:10
- Isaiah 16:7 : S Isa 13:6; Jer 48:20; 49:3
- Isaiah 16:7 : S 1Ch 16:3
- Isaiah 16:7 : S 2Ki 3:25
- Isaiah 16:8 : S Nu 21:25
- Isaiah 16:8 : S Isa 15:6
- Isaiah 16:8 : S Nu 32:3
- Isaiah 16:8 : S Isa 5:2
- Isaiah 16:8 : S Nu 21:32
- Isaiah 16:8 : S Job 8:16
- Isaiah 16:8 : Ps 80:11
- Isaiah 16:9 : S Isa 15:3; Eze 27:31
- Isaiah 16:9 : S Nu 32:3
- Isaiah 16:9 : S Job 7:3
- Isaiah 16:9 : S Ezr 3:13
- Isaiah 16:9 : Jer 40:12
- Isaiah 16:10 : Isa 24:7-8
- Isaiah 16:10 : Jer 25:30
- Isaiah 16:10 : S Jdg 9:27
- Isaiah 16:10 : S Job 24:11; S Isa 5:2
- Isaiah 16:11 : S Isa 15:5
- Isaiah 16:11 : S Job 30:31
- Isaiah 16:11 : Isa 63:15; Hos 11:8; Php 2:1
- Isaiah 16:12 : 1Ki 11:7
- Isaiah 16:12 : S Isa 15:2
- Isaiah 16:12 : S 1Ki 18:29; Ps 115:4-7; Isa 44:17-18; 1Co 8:4
- Isaiah 16:14 : Isa 20:3; 37:30
- Isaiah 16:14 : S Lev 25:50
- Isaiah 16:14 : S Lev 19:13
- Isaiah 16:14 : Isa 25:10; Jer 48:42
- Isaiah 16:14 : Isa 21:17
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway
ESV
An Oracle Concerning Moab
15 An (A)oracle concerning (B)Moab.
Because (C)Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,
Moab is undone;
because (D)Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,
Moab is undone.
2 He has gone up to the temple,[a] and to (E)Dibon,
to the high places[b] to weep;
over (F)Nebo and over (G)Medeba
Moab (H)wails.
On every head is (I)baldness;
every beard is shorn;
3 in the streets they wear sackcloth;
on the housetops and in the squares
everyone wails and melts in tears.
4 (J)Heshbon and (K)Elealeh cry out;
their voice is heard as far as (L)Jahaz;
therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;
his soul trembles.
5 My heart cries out for Moab;
her fugitives flee to Zoar,
to (M)Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the (N)ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping;
on the road to (O)Horonaim
they raise a cry of destruction;
6 the waters of (P)Nimrim
are a desolation;
the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,
the greenery is no more.
7 (Q)Therefore the abundance they have gained
and what they have laid up
they carry away
over the Brook of the Willows.
8 For a cry has gone
around the land of Moab;
her wailing reaches to Eglaim;
her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.
9 For the waters of (R)Dibon[c] are full of blood;
for I will bring upon Dibon even more,
(S)a lion for those of Moab who escape,
for the remnant of the land.
16 (T)Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
from (U)Sela, by way of the desert,
to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 Like fleeing birds,
like a scattered nest,
so are the daughters of Moab
at (V)the fords of the Arnon.
3 “Give counsel;
grant justice;
(W)make your shade like night
at the height of noon;
shelter the outcasts;
do not reveal the fugitive;
4 let (X)the outcasts of Moab
sojourn among you;
be a shelter to them[d]
from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more,
and destruction has ceased,
and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,
5 (Y)then a throne will be established in steadfast love,
and on it will sit in faithfulness
in the tent of David
one who judges and seeks justice
and is swift to do righteousness.”
6 (Z)We have heard of the pride of Moab—
how proud he is!—
(AA)of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
in his idle boasting he is not right.
7 Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,
(AB)let everyone wail.
Mourn, utterly stricken,
for the (AC)raisin cakes of (AD)Kir-hareseth.
8 For the fields of Heshbon languish,
and (AE)the vine of Sibmah;
the lords of the nations
have struck down its branches,
which reached to Jazer
and strayed to the desert;
its shoots spread abroad
and passed over the sea.
9 Therefore (AF)I weep with (AG)the weeping of Jazer
for the vine of Sibmah;
I drench you with my tears,
O Heshbon and Elealeh;
for over (AH)your summer fruit and your harvest
the shout has ceased.
10 (AI)And joy and gladness are taken away from (AJ)the fruitful field,
and in the vineyards no (AK)songs are sung,
no cheers are raised;
no (AL)treader treads out wine (AM)in the presses;
I have put an end to the shouting.
11 Therefore (AN)my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,
and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.
12 And when Moab presents himself, when (AO)he wearies himself on (AP)the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.
13 This is the word that the Lord spoke concerning Moab (AQ)in the past. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “In three years, (AR)like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be (AS)very few and feeble.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 15:2 Hebrew the house
- Isaiah 15:2 Or temple, even Dibon to the high places
- Isaiah 15:9 Dead Sea Scroll, Vulgate (compare Syriac); Masoretic Text Dimon; twice in this verse
- Isaiah 16:4 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; Masoretic Text let my outcasts sojourn among you; as for Moab, be a shelter to them
Cross references
- Isaiah 15:1 : [See ch. 14:28 above]; See ch. 13:1
- Isaiah 15:1 : See Jer. 48; Ezek. 25:8-11; Amos 2:1-3; Zeph. 2:8, 9
- Isaiah 15:1 : Num. 21:15, 28
- Isaiah 15:1 : [ch. 16:7, 11]
- Isaiah 15:2 : Num. 21:30
- Isaiah 15:2 : Deut. 34:1
- Isaiah 15:2 : Num. 21:30
- Isaiah 15:2 : ch. 13:6
- Isaiah 15:2 : See ch. 3:24
- Isaiah 15:4 : Num. 32:37
- Isaiah 15:4 : Num. 32:37
- Isaiah 15:4 : Jer. 48:34
- Isaiah 15:5 : [See ver. 4 above]; Jer. 48:34
- Isaiah 15:5 : Jer. 48:5
- Isaiah 15:5 : Jer. 48:5
- Isaiah 15:6 : [Num. 32:36]
- Isaiah 15:7 : Jer. 48:36
- Isaiah 15:9 : [ver. 2]
- Isaiah 15:9 : [2 Kgs. 17:25; Jer. 50:17]
- Isaiah 16:1 : 2 Kgs. 3:4
- Isaiah 16:1 : ch. 42:11; 2 Kgs. 14:7
- Isaiah 16:2 : Judg. 11:18
- Isaiah 16:3 : [1 Kgs. 18:4]
- Isaiah 16:4 : 1 Sam. 22:3
- Isaiah 16:5 : ch. 32:1, 2; Dan. 7:14, 27; Mic. 4:7; Luke 1:33
- Isaiah 16:6 : Jer. 48:29; Zeph. 2:10
- Isaiah 16:6 : Judg. 3:14; 2 Kgs. 13:20; [2 Chr. 20:1]
- Isaiah 16:7 : ch. 15:3
- Isaiah 16:7 : 2 Sam. 6:19; [ver. 9]
- Isaiah 16:7 : 2 Kgs. 3:25; [ch. 15:1]
- Isaiah 16:8 : Jer. 48:32
- Isaiah 16:9 : [ch. 15:5]
- Isaiah 16:9 : [See ver. 8 above]; Jer. 48:32
- Isaiah 16:9 : [ver. 7]
- Isaiah 16:10 : Jer. 48:33
- Isaiah 16:10 : [ch. 9:3]
- Isaiah 16:10 : [Judg. 9:27]
- Isaiah 16:10 : ch. 63:3; Jer. 25:30
- Isaiah 16:10 : ch. 5:2
- Isaiah 16:11 : ch. 15:5; Jer. 48:36
- Isaiah 16:12 : [1 Kgs. 18:29]
- Isaiah 16:12 : ch. 15:2; [Num. 22:41; 23:14, 28]
- Isaiah 16:13 : See Amos 2:1-3
- Isaiah 16:14 : ch. 21:16
- Isaiah 16:14 : [ch. 10:22]
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway
Moab would soon face severe trial and pain. Moab, like Babylon, Assyria, and Philistia, was under God’s judgment. However, unlike the judgments against those nations, the judgments against Moab were expressed as laments. This may be because the Moabites were related to the Israelites through Lot. Isaiah foretold the destruction of one Moabite city after another. Vegetation would be wiped out. Their water cisterns would be filled with blood. Moab’s future saw only weeping and lament.
Moabite fugitives would seek relief from Judah. They recognized Judah’s political strength. But Judah’s true strength was God who would one day put an end to all oppression and aggression. In love, the LORD would establish the Messiah’s throne. He will faithfully rule with justice and righteousness. But the Moabites only wanted refuge from Judah and were too proud to seek the LORD and his Messiah. Moab continued chasing her own idols but to no avail. Therefore, God’s judgment would remain. When adversity comes, do you only seek temporary relief from pain? Do you also seek the Lord Jesus who loves you and will bring an end to all oppression and destruction?
Prayer: Father, thank you for establishing Jesus’ throne. In times of distress, help me to not only seek deliverance from pain but to know you better.
One Word: Turn to Jesus.