Isaiah 16
16
A Plea for Mercy
1Send a flock of lambs from the rock # 16:1 Or possibly a place in Edom called Sela (see 2 Kings 14:7). Sela means “rock” or “cliff.” of the desert
as a gift to the leaders in Jerusalem, # 16:1 Or “Send a lamb of the lord of the land.” This would have been a gift of tribute sent to secure Judah’s protection.
to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion.
2At the banks of the River Arnon, the women of Moab
are like newly hatched, fluttering birds.
3They say, “Make a decision!
Give us shelter. # 16:3 Or “Make your shade like night at noon.” Hide the fugitives. Don’t betray them!
4Allow the Moabite fugitives to stay with you.
Be a shelter for them from the destroyer!”
One day the oppressor will be no more.
The destroyer # 16:4 Or “Destruction.” will come to an end,
and the tyrant will vanish from the land.
5Then a government of unfailing love # 16:5 Or “a throne,” a metonymy for a king or government being established. will be established,
with a faithful king in the tabernacle of David,
passionate for justice and swift to do what is right.
Moab’s Demise
6We have heard about Moab’s pride.
How haughty she is—filled with arrogance and insolence,
with nothing more than empty boasts!
7So now Moab will wail;
everyone will wail over the ruin of their country.
Lament and grieve for the foundations of Kir-Hareseth. # 16:7 Or “over the raisin cakes [delicacies] of Kir-Hareseth [wall of earthen potsherds]” or “You shall care for those who dwell in Seth” (LXX).
8All the lush fields of Heshbon are dried up.
The vineyards of Sibmah have struck down the lords of nations, # 16:8 “The lords of the nations have broken down its vines.”
whose vines reached northward to Jazer # 16:8 Modern Sumia, a suburb of Heshbon.
and spread to the desert.
Their shoots spread out and extend across the Dead Sea. # 16:8 Moab’s spreading, creeping vines of Heshbon (“stronghold”) become a metaphor for the tentacles of pride that spread throughout the heart of man.
9So I weep along with Jazer over the vines of Sibmah.
I drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh, # 16:9 Elealeh is a city. Elealeh means “a mighty one [God] ascends.” See Num. 32:37.
for the shouts of joy over the harvest
of fruit and grain have ceased.
10Joyful celebrations are stilled in the orchards;
in the vineyards, no one sings or shouts,
and no one treads out wine in the presses.
I have silenced your gleeful shouts.
11Like harp strings, my heartstrings throb for Moab, # 16:11 Even for pride-filled Moab, God’s heart was moved with compassion.
and my inner being sighs for your broken walls, Kir-Hareseth. # 16:11 Or “for Kir-Hareseth [wall of earthen potsherds].”
12When Moab comes to their high places
to plead with all their might
and enter their temples to pray, it will have no effect.
13This was the word the Lord Yahweh spoke in the past about Moab, 14but now the Lord Yahweh says, “In exactly three years, # 16:14 Or “in three years as the years of [or “counted by”] a hireling.” the splendor of Moab and her huge population will shrink to nothing; only a small and feeble remnant will remain.”
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Isaiah 16: TPT
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