Judgment on Moab (Isaiah 15:1–9)
1 UEB To Moab, Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, "Woe to Nebo, for it has been devastated. Kiriathaim has been humiliated and captured. Her fortress has been disgraced and crushed. 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 UEB The honor of Moab is no more. Their enemies in Heshbon plotted disaster against her. They said, 'Come and let us destroy her as a nation. Madmen will also perish—a sword will go after you.' 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 UEB Listen! A sound of screaming is coming from Horonaim, where there is ruin and great destruction. BSB BSB: A voice cries out from Horonaim: ‘Devastation and great destruction!’
4 UEB Moab has been destroyed. Her children have made their cries heard. BSB BSB: Moab will be shattered; her little ones will cry out.
5 UEB They go up the hill of Luhith weeping, for on the way down to Horonaim, screams are heard because of the 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 UEB Flee! Save your lives and become like a juniper bush in the wilderness. BSB BSB: ‘Flee! Run for your lives! Become like a juniper in the desert.’
7 UEB For because of your trust in your practices and your wealth, you also will be captured. Then Chemosh will go away into captivity, together with his priests and leaders. 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 UEB For the destroyer will come to every city; no city will escape. So the valley will perish and the plain will be devastated, as Yahweh 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 UEB Give wings to Moab, for she must certainly fly away. Her cities will become a wasteland, where there is no one to live in them. 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 UEB May anyone who is lazy in doing Yahweh's work be cursed! May anyone who keeps his sword back from shedding blood be cursed! 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 UEB Moab has felt secure since he was young. He is like his wine that has never been poured from pot to pot. He has never gone into captivity. Therefore he tastes as good as ever; his flavor remains unchanged. 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 UEB So see, the days are coming—this is Yahweh's declaration—when I will send him those who will tip him over and pour out all his pots and shatter his jars. 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 UEB Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh just as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their object of trust. BSB BSB: Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.
14 UEB How can you say, 'We are soldiers, powerful fighting men'? BSB BSB: How can you say, ‘We are warriors, mighty men ready for battle’?
15 UEB Moab will be devastated and its cities attacked. For its finest young men have gone down to the place of slaughter. This is the king's declaration! Yahweh of hosts is his name. 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 UEB Moab's disaster is soon to happen; calamity is hurrying quickly. BSB BSB: Moab’s calamity is at hand, and his affliction is rushing swiftly.
17 UEB All you who are around Moab, wail; and all you who know its fame, shout this, 'Woe, the strong staff, the honored rod, has been broken.' 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 UEB Come down from your honored place and sit on the dry ground, you daughter living in Dibon. For the one who will destroy Moab is attacking you, the one who will destroy your strongholds. 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 UEB Stand on the road and watch, you people who live in Aroer. Ask the ones who are fleeing and escaping. 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 UEB Moab has been shamed, for it has been shattered. Howl and lament; shout for help. Tell it to people by the Arnon River that Moab has been devastated. 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 UEB Now punishment has come to the hill country, to Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath, BSB BSB: Judgment has come upon the high plain—upon Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
22 UEB to Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim, BSB BSB: upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
23 UEB to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon, BSB BSB: upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
24 UEB To Kerioth and Bozrah, and to all the cities in the land of Moab— the farthest and the closest cities. BSB BSB: upon Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of Moab, those far and near.
25 UEB The horn of Moab has been hacked off; its arm has been broken—this is Yahweh's declaration. BSB BSB: The horn of Moab has been cut off, and his arm is broken,” declares the LORD.
26 UEB Make him drunk, because he acted proudly against Yahweh. Let Moab wallow in his vomit, and let him be an object of ridicule. 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 UEB For did not Israel become an object for laughter to you? Was he found among thieves, so that you shook your head at him as often as you spoke about 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 UEB Abandon the cities and camp on the cliffs, inhabitants of Moab. Become like a dove that is nesting over the mouth of a hole in the rocks. 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 UEB We have heard of Moab's pride—his arrogance, his haughtiness, his pride, his self-glory and the conceit in his heart. BSB BSB: We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.
30 UEB This is Yahweh's declaration—I myself know his defiant speech, which amounts to nothing, like his deeds. BSB BSB: I know his insolence,” declares the LORD, “but it is futile. His boasting is as empty as his deeds.
31 UEB So I will howl a lament for Moab, and I will shout in sorrow for all of Moab. I will lament for the people of Kir Hareseth. 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 UEB I will weep for you more than I did for Jazer, vine of Sibmah! Your branches passed across the Salt Sea and reached as far as Jazer. The destroyers have attacked your summer fruit and your wine. 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 UEB So celebration and rejoicing have been taken away from the fruit trees and the land of Moab. I have put an end to the wine from their winepresses. They will not tread with joyful shouts. Any shouts will not be shouts 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 UEB From the shouts at Heshbon as far as Elealeh, their sound is heard at Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, since even the waters of Nimrim have 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 UEB For I will put an end to anyone in Moab who makes sacrifices on the high places and burns incense to his gods—this is Yahweh's declaration. 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 UEB So my heart is lamenting for Moab like a flute. My heart is lamenting like flutes for the people of Kir Hareseth. The riches they gained are gone. 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 UEB For every head is bald and every beard shaved. Incisions are on every hand, and sackcloth is around their waists. 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 UEB There is mourning everywhere, on every flat roof of Moab and in Moab's plazas. For I have destroyed Moab like pots that no one wants—this is Yahweh's declaration. 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 UEB How it has been shattered! How they howl in their lamenting! Moab turns its back in shame! So Moab will become an object of derision and a terror to all those who are around 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 UEB For Yahweh says this, "See, the enemy will come flying like an eagle, spreading out his wings over Moab. BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, an eagle swoops down and spreads his wings against Moab.
41 UEB Kerioth has been captured, and its strongholds have been seized. For in that day the hearts of Moab's soldiers will be like the hearts of women in birth labor. 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 UEB So Moab will be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he made himself to be great against Yahweh. BSB BSB: Moab will be destroyed as a nation because he vaunted himself against the LORD.
43 UEB Terror and the pit, and a trap are coming on you, inhabitant of Moab—this is Yahweh's declaration. BSB BSB: Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,” declares the LORD.
44 UEB Anyone who flees because of terror will fall into the pit, and anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap, for I will bring this on them in the year of my vengeance against them—this is Yahweh's declaration. 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.
45 UEB The ones who flee will stand in the shadow of Heshbon without any strength, for fire will go out from Heshbon, flame from the middle of Sihon. It will devour the forehead of Moab and the top of the heads of the boastful people. BSB BSB: “Those who flee will stand helpless in Heshbon’s shadow, because fire has gone forth from Heshbon and a flame from within Sihon. It devours the foreheads of Moab and the skulls of the sons of tumult.
46 UEB Woe to you, Moab! Chemosh's people are destroyed, For your sons are taken as captives and your daughters into captivity. BSB BSB: Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; for your sons have been taken into exile and your daughters have gone into captivity.
47 UEB But I will restore the fortunes of Moab in later days—this is Yahweh's declaration." The judgment on Moab ends here. BSB BSB: Yet in the latter days I will restore Moab from captivity,” declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.
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