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A message about Moab

15 This is a message about Moab:

In one night an enemy has destroyed Ar.
In one night they have destroyed Kir.
    Those towns in Moab are now a heap of stones!

The people in Dibon have gone up to their temple to weep. They have gone up to the altars where they worship their gods. Moab's people are weeping because of what has happened at Nebo and Medeba. They are so upset that they have cut off their hair and their beards. They are wearing rough sackcloth in the streets. On the roofs of their houses and in the open places in their towns, they are weeping. They fall to the ground as they weep.

The people in Heshbon and Elealeh cry aloud. People as far as Jahaz hear the sound of their voices! The soldiers of Moab cry aloud because they are afraid. They are shaking with fear.

I am very upset because of what is happening to Moab's people. They are running away, as far as Zoar and Eglath-Shelishiyah.

They weep while they climb up the hill to Luhith.
On the road to Horonaim they shout aloud,
    ‘An enemy has destroyed us!’
Streams in Nimrim valley have become dry.
    The grass has died. No green plants remain.
So Moab's people are leaving.
    They are going across Willow stream.
They are carrying away their things
    and the food that they had stored.
Everywhere in Moab's country the people are calling out for help.
    The noise of their sad songs has reached Eglaim and Beer-Elim.
Blood fills the streams of Dimon.
But I, the Lord, will cause even more trouble to happen there.
    A lion is ready to attack!
Those who are trying to escape will die,
    as well as those who remain in the land.

A Prophecy Against Moab(A)

15 A prophecy(B) against Moab:(C)

Ar(D) in Moab is ruined,(E)
    destroyed in a night!
Kir(F) in Moab is ruined,
    destroyed in a night!
Dibon(G) goes up to its temple,
    to its high places(H) to weep;
    Moab wails(I) over Nebo(J) and Medeba.
Every head is shaved(K)
    and every beard cut off.(L)
In the streets they wear sackcloth;(M)
    on the roofs(N) and in the public squares(O)
they all wail,(P)
    prostrate with weeping.(Q)
Heshbon(R) and Elealeh(S) cry out,
    their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.(T)
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
    and their hearts are faint.

My heart cries out(U) over Moab;(V)
    her fugitives(W) flee as far as Zoar,(X)
    as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
    weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaim(Y)
    they lament their destruction.(Z)
The waters of Nimrim are dried up(AA)
    and the grass is withered;(AB)
the vegetation is gone(AC)
    and nothing green is left.(AD)
So the wealth they have acquired(AE) and stored up
    they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
    their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
    their lamentation as far as Beer(AF) Elim.
The waters of Dimon[a] are full of blood,
    but I will bring still more upon Dimon[b]
a lion(AG) upon the fugitives of Moab(AH)
    and upon those who remain in the land.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
  2. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.