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16 Send lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of daughter Zion. 2 Like fluttering birds, like scattered nestlings, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. 3 “Give counsel, grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive; 4 let the outcasts of Moab settle among you; be a refuge to them from the destroyer.”
When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and marauders have vanished from the land, 5 then a throne shall be established in steadfast love in the tent of David, and on it shall sit in faithfulness a ruler who seeks justice and is swift to do what is right.
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab —how proud he is!— of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; his boasts are false. 7 Therefore let Moab wail, let everyone wail for Moab. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.
8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vines of Sibmah, whose clusters once made drunk the lords of the nations, reached to Jazer and strayed to the desert; their shoots once spread abroad and crossed over the sea. 9 Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vines of Sibmah; I drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for the shout over your fruit harvest and your grain harvest has ceased. 10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field; and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no shouts are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; the vintage-shout is hushed. 11 Therefore my heart throbs like a harp for Moab, and my very soul for Kir-heres. 12 When Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself upon the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail. 13 This was the word that the L ord spoke concerning Moab in the past. 14But now the L ord says, In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all its great multitude; and those who survive will be very few and feeble.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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9. Therefore I will bewail. The Prophet here takes upon him the character of another person, as we have formerly remarked; for in the name of the Moabites he laments and groans. It is undoubtedly true that believers always shudder at the judgments of God, and cannot lay aside the feelings of human nature, so as not to commiserate the destruction of the wicked. Yet he does not describe his own feelings; but his intention is to give additional weight to his instruction, that no one may entertain a doubt as to the accomplishment. He therefore represents in the person of a Moabite, as on a stage, the mourning and grief which shall be felt by all after that calamity, in order to hold out to the Jews a confirmation of this promise, which otherwise might have been thought to be incredible. Because on thy summer-fruits and on thy harvest a shouting shall break forth, or shall fall. 267267 {Bogus footnote} This last clause of the verse is variously explained by commentators. נפל, (naphal,) signifies to fall, or to burst forth. Those who translate it, to burst forth, consider the word הידד, (hedad,) shouting, to refer to the enemies themselves; as if he had said, “The shouting of enemies bursts forth on thy harvest;” so that there is an implied contrast between this shouting and the joy of which he will afterwards speak. Others explain it to mean, that the shoutings will be laid; that is, “there shall be no more shouting, and no longer shall the glad and merry voices of the reapers be heard, cheering themselves after the harvest.” But I would rather refer it to the shouting of enemies; and on this point I follow a most faithful interpreter of this passage, the Prophet Jeremiah, who says that the spoiler bursts forth, (Jeremiah 48:32,) where Isaiah speaks of the shouting of the enemy; as if he had said, “When thou shalt make preparations for gathering in thy harvest and thy vintage, the enemies will rush in, and, instead of joy and cheerful song, their shouting shall be heard, which shall drive thee far away.” |