16:1 Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert, to the mount of the Daughter of Zion.
16:2 Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.
16:3 “Give us counsel, render a decision. Make your shadow like night–at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.
16:4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.” The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.
16:5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it–one from the house of David–one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.
16:6 We have heard of Moab’s pride–her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and her insolence–but her boasts are empty.
16:7 Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the men of Kir Hareseth.
16:8 The fields of Heshbon wither, the vines of Sibmah also. The rulers of the nations have trampled down the choicest vines, which once reached Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots spread out and went as far as the sea.
16:9 So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. O Heshbon, O Elealeh, I drench you with tears! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled.
16:10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out wine at the presses, for I have put an end to the shouting.
16:11 My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.
16:12 When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.
16:13 This is the word the LORD has already spoken concerning Moab.
16:14 But now the LORD says: “Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”
16:1 Send a lamb of tribute / To the ruler of the land, / From Sela across the wilderness / To the mountain of the daughter of Zion.
16:2 Like wandering birds, / Like a scattered nest, / Will the daughters of Moab be / At the fords of the Arnon.
16:3 Give us counsel, / Make a judgment concerning us. / Make your shadow at high noon / Like night to us. / Hide the outcasts; / Do not expose him who wanders.
16:4 Let the outcasts of Moab / Dwell with you; / Be a hiding place to them / From the destroyer. / When the extortioner finishes / And destruction ends, / When the oppressor is completely gone from the land,
16:5 Then will a throne be established in lovingkindness, / And upon it One will sit in truth / In the tent of David, / Judging and pursuing justice / And hastening righteousness.
16:6 We have heard of the pride of Moab ? / He is extremely proud ? / Of his haughtiness and pride and insolence; / His boastings are all untrue.
16:7 Therefore Moab will howl for Moab; / They all will howl. / For the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth / You will mourn, utterly stricken.
16:8 Because the fields of Heshbon have withered, / And the vine of Sibmah, too. / The lords of the nations / Have trampled under its choicest vines, / Which reached as far as Jazer, / Which meandered into the desert. / Its shoots spread abroad; / They crossed over to the sea.
16:9 Therefore I will weep bitterly for Jazer, / For the vine of Sibmah; / I will soak you with my tears, / Heshbon and Elealeh. / For the harvest shout is hushed / Over your summer fruit and over your reapings.
16:10 Rejoicing is taken away, and exultation from the fruited field; / In the vineyards there will be no singing for joy; no shouts will be uttered. / The treader will not tread out wine in the presses ? / I have made the harvest shout stop.
16:11 Therefore for Moab my bowels will moan like a lyre, / And my inward parts for Kir-heres.
16:12 And when Moab appears, / When they weary themselves at their high place, / And come to their sanctuary to pray, / It will not avail.
16:13 This is the word which Jehovah spoke concerning Moab long ago.
16:14 And now Jehovah has spoken, saying, Within three years, like the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be disgraced, with all its great multitude, and its remnant will be small ? a mere trifle, nothing great.