1 Send thetributelamb to the ruler of the land,From 16:1Petra in Edom Sela by way of the wilderness to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.
2 Then, like 16:2Or fluttering fleeing birdsorscattered 16:2Lit nest nestlings,The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon.
3 “Bringuscounsel, make a decision; 16:3Lit Set Cast your shadow like night 16:3Lit in the midst of the noon at high noon;Hide those banished, do not reveal the one who flees.
4 “Let the 16:4As in the versions; M.T. My banished ones, as for Moab banished of Moab sojourn with you;Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer.”For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased,Oppressors have completelydisappearedfrom the land.
5 And a throne will be established in lovingkindness,And a judge will sit on it in truth in the tent of David;Moreover, he will seek justiceAnd be prompt in righteousness.
6 ¶We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride;Evenof his lofty pride, pride, and fury;His idle boasts are 16:6Lit not so false.
7 Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail.You will moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-haresethAs those who are utterly stricken.
8 For the fields of Heshbon have languished, the vines of Sibmahas well;The lords of the nations have trampled down its choice clustersWhich reached as far as Jazerandwandered to the deserts;Its tendrils spread themselves outandpassed over the sea.
9 Therefore I will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah;I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh;For the shouting over your summer fruits and your harvest has fallen away.
10 Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful orchard;In the vineyards also there will be no cries of joy or shouts of jubilation,No treader treads out wine in the presses,ForI have made the shouting to cease.
11 Therefore my 16:11Lit entrails murmur inner being moans like a harp for MoabAnd my 16:11Lit inward part inward feelings for Kir-hareseth.
12 So it will be when Moab appears,When he wearies himself uponhishigh placeAnd comes to his sanctuary to pray,That he will not prevail.
13 This is the word which Yahweh spoke earlier concerning Moab.
14 But now Yahweh speaks, saying, “Within three years, as 16:14Lit the years of a hireling a hired man would count them, the glory of Moab will be dishonored along with allhisgreat population, andhisremnant will be very smallandnot mighty.”