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Moab’s Pending Judgment

15 A message[a] concerning Moab:

“For Ir[b] in Moab is destroyed in a night,
    and Moab[c] is ruined!
Because Ir[d] in Moab is destroyed in a single night,
    Moab is ruined!
He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon,
    to the high places to weep;
over Nebo and over Medeba
    Moab wails.
His head is completely[e] bald,
    and[f] every beard is shaved off.
In its streets they wear sackcloth;
    on its rooftops and in its squares
        everyone wails and falls down[g] weeping.
Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,
    their voices are heard as far as Jahaz;
therefore the loins[h] of Moab cry aloud;
    its heart quakes for itself.
My heart cries out over Moab;
    her fugitives flee as far as Zoar,
        as far as Eglath-shelishiyah.
For at the ascent to Luhith
    they go up weeping;
on the road to Horonaim
    they raise a cry of destruction.
The Nimrim waters are desolate;
    the grass is withered,
its vegetation gone;
        there is[i] no foliage left.
Therefore the wealth they have acquired
    and what they have stored up—
they carry them away
    over the Arab[j] Wadi.[k]
For the cry has gone out
    along the border of Moab;
her wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
    her wailing reaches as far as Beer-elim.
The Dibon[l] streams are full of blood;
    but I will bring upon Dibon[m] even more—
a lion will pounce[n] upon those of Moab who escape,
upon[o] those who remain in the land.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 15:1 Lit. An oracle
  2. Isaiah 15:1 Or For the city; so 1QIsaa; MT reads Ar; LXX lacks For Ir
  3. Isaiah 15:1 So 1QIsaa; MT reads it; LXX lacks it
  4. Isaiah 15:1 Or Because the city; so 1QIsaa; 4QIsao MT LXX read Because the wall or Because Kir
  5. Isaiah 15:2 So 1QIsaa; MT reads all its heads are; MTmss LXX read Over every head; cf. Jer 48:37
  6. Isaiah 15:2 So 1QIsaa Mtmss LXX; the Heb. lacks and
  7. Isaiah 15:3 So 1QIsaa; MT reads falling down; LXX lacks and falls down
  8. Isaiah 15:4 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; MT reads armed men
  9. Isaiah 15:6 So 1QIsaa; MT reads was or there has been; LXX reads there will be
  10. Isaiah 15:7 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; MT reads Willow
  11. Isaiah 15:7 I.e. a seasonal stream or river that channels water during rain seasons but is dry at other times
  12. Isaiah 15:9 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Dimon; LXX reads Remmon
  13. Isaiah 15:9 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Dimon; LXX reads Remmon
  14. Isaiah 15:9 1QIsaa LXX MT lack will pounce
  15. Isaiah 15:9 So 1QIsaa LXX; the Heb. lacks upon

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.