Isaiah, Chapter 16

1. Send the lamb from Sela by the wilderness to the ruler of the land, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.    2. For it shall be that as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of the Arnon.    3. Take counsel, execute judgment; make your shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; do not betray him that wanders.    4. Let my outcasts dwell with you, Moab; be a shelter to them from the face of the plunderer: for the extortioner is at an end, the plunderer ceases, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.    5. And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking justice, and hastening righteousness.    6. We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his anger: but his lies shall not be established.    7. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kir-hareseth shall you mourn; surely they are stricken.    8. For the fields of Heshbon droop, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the choice plants thereof, they have come even to Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they have gone over the sea.    9. Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water you with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for your summer fruits and for your harvest dies away.    10. And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.    11. Therefore my heart shall lament like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir-haresh.    12. And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.    13. This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning Moab since that time.    14. But now the LORD has spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of a wage earner, and the glory of Moab shall be despised, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.