Judgment on Moab (Isaiah 15:1–9)
1 Brenton Thus has the Lord said concerning Moab, Woe to Nabau! for it has perished: Cariathaim is taken: Amath and Agath are put to shame. BSB BSB: Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be devastated. Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced; the fortress will be shattered and dismantled.
2 Brenton There is no longer any healing for Moab, nor glorying in Esebon: he has devised evils against her: we have cut her off from being a nation, and she shall be completely still: after thee shall go a sword; BSB BSB: There is no longer praise for Moab; in Heshbon they devise evil against her: ‘Come, let us cut her off from nationhood.’ You too, O people of Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.
3 Brenton for there is a voice of men crying out of Oronaim, destruction and great ruin. BSB BSB: A voice cries out from Horonaim: ‘Devastation and great destruction!’
4 Brenton Moab is ruined, proclaim it to Zogora: BSB BSB: Moab will be shattered; her little ones will cry out.
5 Brenton for Aloth is filled with weeping: one shall go up weeping by the way of Oronaim; ye have heard a cry of destruction. BSB BSB: For on the ascent to Luhith they weep bitterly as they go, and on the descent to Horonaim cries of distress resound over the destruction:
6 Brenton Flee ye, and save your lives, and ye shall be as a wild ass in the desert. BSB BSB: ‘Flee! Run for your lives! Become like a juniper in the desert.’
7 Brenton Since thou hast trusted in thy strong-hold, therefore thou shalt be taken: and Chamos shall go forth into captivity, and his priests, and his princes together. BSB BSB: Because you trust in your works and treasures, you too will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials.
8 Brenton And destruction shall come upon every city, it shall by no means escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain country shall be completely destroyed, as the Lord has said. BSB BSB: The destroyer will move against every city, and not one town will escape. The valley will also be ruined, and the high plain will be destroyed, as the LORD has said.
9 Brenton Set marks upon Moab, for she shall be touched with a plague-spot, and all her cities shall become desolate; whence shall there be an inhabitant for her? BSB BSB: Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her cities will become desolate, with no one to dwell in them.
10 Brenton Cursed is the man that does the works of the Lord carelessly, keeping back his sword from blood. BSB BSB: Cursed is the one who is remiss in doing the work of the LORD, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from bloodshed.
11 Brenton Moab has been at ease from a child, and trusted in his glory; he has not poured out his liquor from vessel to vessel, and has not gone into banishment, therefore his taste remained in him, and his smell departed not. BSB BSB: Moab has been at ease from youth, settled like wine on its dregs; he has not been poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile. So his flavor has remained the same, and his aroma is unchanged.
12 Brenton Therefore, behold, his days come, saith the Lord, when I shall send upon him bad leaders, and they shall lead him astray, and they shall utterly break in pieces his possessions, and shall cut his horns asunder. BSB BSB: Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will send to him wanderers, who will pour him out. They will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.
13 Brenton And Moab shall be ashamed of Chamos, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bæthel their hope, having trusted in them. BSB BSB: Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.
14 Brenton How will ye say, We are strong, and men strong for war? BSB BSB: How can you say, ‘We are warriors, mighty men ready for battle’?
15 Brenton Moab is ruined, even his city, and his choice young men have gone down to slaughter. BSB BSB: Moab has been destroyed and its towns have been invaded; the best of its young men have gone down in the slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
16 Brenton The day of Moab is near at hand, and his iniquity moves swiftly to vengeance . BSB BSB: Moab’s calamity is at hand, and his affliction is rushing swiftly.
17 Brenton Shake the head at him, all ye that are round about him; all of you utter his name; say ye, How is the glorious staff broken to pieces, the rod of magnificence! BSB BSB: Mourn for him, all you who surround him, everyone who knows his name; tell how the mighty scepter is shattered—the glorious staff!
18 Brenton Come down from thy glory, and sit down in a damp place: Dæbon shall be broken, because Moab is destroyed: there has gone up against thee one to ravage thy strong-hold. BSB BSB: Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.
19 Brenton Stand by the way, and look, thou that dwellest in Arer; and ask him that is fleeing, and him that escapes, and say, What has happened? BSB BSB: Stand by the road and watch, O dweller of Aroer! Ask the man fleeing or the woman escaping, ‘What has happened?’
20 Brenton Moab is put to shame, because he is broken: howl and cry; proclaim in Arnon, that Moab has perished. BSB BSB: Moab is put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out! Declare by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
21 Brenton And judgment is coming against the land of Misor, upon Chelon, and Rephas, and Mophas, BSB BSB: Judgment has come upon the high plain—upon Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
22 Brenton and upon Dæbon, and upon Nabau, and upon the house of Dæthlathaim, BSB BSB: upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
23 Brenton and upon Cariathaim, and upon the house of Gæmol, and upon the house of Maon, BSB BSB: upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
24 Brenton and upon Carioth, and upon Bosor, and upon all the cities of Moab, far and near. BSB BSB: upon Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of Moab, those far and near.
25 Brenton The horn of Moab is broken, and his arm is crushed. BSB BSB: The horn of Moab has been cut off, and his arm is broken,” declares the LORD.
26 Brenton Make ye him drunk; for he has magnified himself against the Lord: and Moab shall clap with his hand, and shall be also himself a laughing-stock. BSB BSB: “Make him drunk, because he has magnified himself against the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock.
27 Brenton For surely Israel was to thee a laughing-stock, and was found among thy thefts, because thou didst fight against him. BSB BSB: Was not Israel your object of ridicule? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.
28 Brenton The inhabitants of Moab have left the cities, and dwelt in rocks; they have become as doves nestling in rocks, at the mouth of a cave. BSB BSB: Abandon the towns and settle among the rocks, O dwellers of Moab! Be like a dove that nests at the mouth of a cave.
29 Brenton And I have heard of the pride of Moab, he has greatly heightened his pride and his haughtiness, and his heart has been lifted up. BSB BSB: We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.
30 Brenton But I know his works: is it not enough for him? has he not done thus? BSB BSB: I know his insolence,” declares the LORD, “but it is futile. His boasting is as empty as his deeds.
31 Brenton Therefore howl ye for Moab on all sides; cry out against the shorn men in a gloomy place. I will weep for thee, BSB BSB: Therefore I will wail for Moab; I will cry out for all of Moab; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
32 Brenton O vine of Aserema, as with the weeping of Jazer: thy branches are gone over the sea, they reached the cities of Jazer: destruction has come upon thy fruits, and upon thy grape-gatherers. BSB BSB: I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah, more than I weep for Jazer. Your tendrils have extended to the sea; they reach even to Jazer. The destroyer has descended on your summer fruit and grape harvest.
33 Brenton Joy and gladness have been utterly swept off the land of Moab: and though there was wine in thy presses, in the morning they trod it not, neither in the evening did they raise the cry of joy. BSB BSB: Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard and from the fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; their shouts are not for joy.
34 Brenton From the cry of Esebon even to Ætam their cities uttered their voice, from Zogor to Oronaim, and their tidings as a heifer of three years old, for the water also of Nebrin shall be dried up. BSB BSB: There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices to Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.
35 Brenton And I will destroy Moab, saith the Lord, as he comes up to the altar, and burns incense to his gods. BSB BSB: In Moab, declares the LORD, I will bring an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods.
36 Brenton Therefore the heart of Moab shall sound as pipes, my heart shall sound as a pipe for the shorn men; forasmuch as what every man has gained has perished from him. BSB BSB: Therefore My heart laments like a flute for Moab; it laments like a flute for the men of Kir-heres, because the wealth they acquired has perished.
37 Brenton They shall all have their heads shaved in every place, and every beard shall be shaved; and all hands shall beat the breasts , and on all loins shall be sackcloth. BSB BSB: For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.
38 Brenton And on all the housetops of Moab, and in his streets shall be mourning : for I have broken him , saith the Lord, as a vessel, which is useless. BSB BSB: On all the rooftops of Moab and in the public squares, everyone is mourning; for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar,” declares the LORD.
39 Brenton How has he changed! how has Moab turned his back! Moab is put to shame, and become a laughing-stock, and an object of anger to all that are round about him. BSB BSB: “How shattered it is! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule and horror to all those around him.”
40 Brenton For thus said the Lord; BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, an eagle swoops down and spreads his wings against Moab.
41 Brenton Carioth is taken, and the strong-holds have been taken together. BSB BSB: Kirioth has been taken, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42 Brenton And Moab shall perish from being a multitude, because he has magnified himself against the Lord. BSB BSB: Moab will be destroyed as a nation because he vaunted himself against the LORD.
43 Brenton A snare, and fear, and the pit, are upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab. BSB BSB: Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,” declares the LORD.
44 Brenton He that flees from the terror shall fall into the pit, and he that comes up out of the pit shall even be taken in the snare: for I will bring these things upon Moab in the year of their visitation. BSB BSB: “Whoever flees the panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For I will bring upon Moab the year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.