CHAPTER 16

1 Send ye the lamb to the governor of the land,
From the rock of the desert
To the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

2 And it shall be as a bird let loose, wandering from its nest,
So shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of Arnon.

3 Assemble a council; execute judgment;
Make thy shadow as the night in the midst of noon-day;
Hide the banished;
Betray not the fugitive.

4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee.
Moab, be thou a place of concealment
From the face of the destroyer;
For the extortioner hath ceased;
The destroyer hath failed;
He that trod us under foot hath been consumed out of the land.

5 And in mercy shall the throne be prepared;
And he shall sit upon it in steadfastness,
To judge in the tabernacle of David,
And to seek judgment,
And to hasten righteousness.

6 We have heard of the pride of Ahab, (he is very proud,)
His pride, his haughtiness, and his insolence; ¹
But his lies shall not be successful.

7 Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, all shall howl,
On account of the foundations of Kirhareseth;
You will groan, being only smitten.

8 For the vines of Heshbon are cut down,
The vine of Sibmah.
The lords of the nations have trodden down her choicest roots, ²
Which reached even to Jazer,
Which wandered even to the wilderness;
Her noble plants have been thrown down,
Which crossed the sea.

9 Therefore will I bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah;
I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh!
Because on thy summer fruits, and on thy harvest,
A shouting shall break forth. ³

10 Joy and rejoicing have been taken away from the fruitful field;
In the vineyards shall there be no rejoicing nor shouting.
The treader shall not tread wine in the presses;
I have made the shouting to cease.

11 Therefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab,
And my inward parts for Kirharesh.

12 And it shall be, when it shall be seen
That Moab hath been wearied on the high places,
Then shall he come to the sanctuary to pray,
And shall not profit by it.

13 This is the word which Jehovah uttered concerning Moab since that time.

14 Now, I say, Jehovah hath spoken, saying --
Three years, as the years of a hireling;
And the glory of Moab,
With all her multitude, however great,
Shall be turned into disgrace;
And her remnant shall be few, small, and feeble.