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Isaiah 16 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

Prophecy of Moab’s Devastation

Isa 16:1

Send lambs to the ruler of the land [[fn]you Moabites],

From Sela [that is, Petra in Edom] through the wilderness to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).

Isa 16:2

For like wandering birds or scattered nestlings,

The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the [river] Arnon.

Isa 16:3

[Say to the ruler] “Give us advice, make a decision [for Moab, king of Judah];

Cast your shadow [over us] like night in the midst of noon;

Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive [to his pursuer].

Isa 16:4

“Let our outcasts of Moab live among you;

Be a [sheltered] hiding place to them from the destroyer.”

For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased,

Oppressors [who trample men] have completely disappeared from the land,

Isa 16:5

A throne will be established in lovingkindness,

And One will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent (dynasty, family) of David;

Judging and seeking justice

And being prompt to do righteousness.

Isa 16:6

We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride—

Even of his arrogance, his conceit, his rage,

His untruthful boasting.

Isa 16:7

Therefore Moab will wail for Moab; everyone will wail.

You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth,

As those who are utterly stricken and discouraged.

Isa 16:8

For the fields of Heshbon have languished and withered, and the vines of Sibmah as well;

The lords of the nations have trampled down [Moab’s] choice vine branches,

Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered into the wilderness;

Its tendrils stretched out, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.

Isa 16:9

Therefore I (Isaiah) will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vines of Sibmah.

I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh;

For the war-cry [of the enemy] has fallen on your summer fruits and your harvest.

Isa 16:10

Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field;

In the vineyards there will be no singing or joyful sound;

No treader treads out wine in the presses,

For I (God) put an end to the joyful shouting.

Isa 16:11

Therefore my heart sounds like a harp [in mournful compassion] for Moab,

And my inner being mourns for Kir-hareseth.

Isa 16:12

So it will come to pass when Moab presents himself,

When he wearies himself [worshiping] on his high place [of idolatry]

And comes to his sanctuary [of Chemosh, god of Moab] to pray,

That he will not prevail.

Isa 16:13

This is the word which the LORD spoke earlier concerning Moab [when Moab’s pride and resistance to God were first known].

Isa 16:14But now the LORD speaks, saying, “Within [fn]three years, as the years of a hired man [who will not serve longer than the agreed time], the glory of Moab will be degraded along with all [fn]the great population, and the remnant [that survives] will be very small and of no account.”
AMP Footnotes
As King Mesha sent 100,000 lambs each year to King Ahab of Israel (2 Kin 3:4), so now the Moabites are advised to win the king’s favor and protection by diverting their tribute to the king in Jerusalem as an acknowledgment of subjection.
This prophecy was fulfilled after the death of King Ahaz of Judah (Is 14:28), about the third year of King Hezekiah’s reign. Moab was not left completely without population at this time; there was still a “remnant.” The final desolation of Moab was reserved for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 582 B.C., some five years after the taking of Jerusalem. The ruins of Elealeh, Heshbon, Medeba, Dimon, etc., still exist to confirm through modern research the accuracy of the fulfillment of this prophecy.
Lit all the great number.
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Isaiah Chapter 16 — Additional Translations: