Reach Out in Mercy – Isaiah 15:1-16:14
15 The oracle concerning Moab. In just one night Ar of Moab is devastated and destroyed! In just one night Kir is devastated and destroyed! (2) Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off. (3) In their streets they wear sackcloth; on their rooftops and in the public squares they all wail and weep profusely. (4) Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, his soul trembles within him. (5) My heart cries out over Moab; his fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the ascent of Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.
(6) They mourn because the waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and there is no green thing left. (7) Therefore the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars. (8) Their cry of distress echoes along the border of Moab; their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim, their lamentation as far as Beer Elim—(9) because the waters of Dibon are full of blood. But I will bring still more devastation upon Dibon, namely, a lion against those who flee from Moab and against those who remain in the land.
16 Send lambs as tribute to the Ruler of the land—from Sela, across the desert, to the mount of the Daughter of Zion. (2) Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon River. (3) Give them counsel, execute justice on their behalf; make your shadow over them like night in the middle of the day! Hide the fugitives; do not betray the refugees! (4) Let my fugitives stay with you, be a hiding place for Moab from the face of the destroyer; because the oppressor has come to an end, destruction has ceased, the aggressors have vanished from the land. (5) Furthermore, a throne will be established by mercy—surely one shall sit upon it in the tent of David, rendering judgments, seeking justice, and being swift to do what is right.
(6) We have heard of Moab’s pride, that he is very proud. We have heard of his arrogance and his pride and his wrath. But all his boastings have come to an end! (7) Therefore the Moabites wail over their plight, all of Moab wails; they mourn over the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth, because they are utterly devastated. (8) They mourn because the fields of Heshbon wither, and also the vines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled down the choice vines that once reached as far as Jazer and spread out towards the wilderness—their shoots spread out and went as far as the Mediterranean Sea! (9) Therefore I will weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. O Heshbon and Elealeh, I will drench you with my tears, because the shout of joy over your ripening fruits and over your harvest has been stilled. (10) Gladness and joy have been taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts for joy in the vineyards; no one treads out wine in the presses. I have caused the joyful shout to cease. (11) Therefore my heart laments like a mournful harp for Moab—my inmost being laments for Kir Hareseth. (12) When Moab presents himself to his gods, when he wears himself out with supplications at his sacred high places, and when he comes to his shrine to pray, it will be to no avail.
(13) This is the word Jehovah has already spoken concerning Moab in the past. (14) But now Jehovah declares, Within three years, as they are reckoned when making a contract with a hired laborer, Moab’s splendor will be degraded, together with his great population, and his survivors will be very few and insignificant.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
