1Send lambs to the ruler of the land [[a]you Moabites],

From Sela [that is, Petra in Edom] through the wilderness to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).

2For like wandering birds or scattered nestlings,

The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the [river] Arnon.

3[Say to the ruler] “Give us advice, make a decision [for Moab, king of Judah];

Cast your shadow [over us] like night in the midst of noon;

Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive [to his pursuer].

4“Let our outcasts of Moab live among you;

Be a [sheltered] hiding place to them from the destroyer.”

For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased,

Oppressors [who trample men] have completely disappeared from the land,

5A throne will be established in lovingkindness,

And One will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent (dynasty, family) of David;

Judging and seeking justice

And being prompt to do righteousness.

6We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride--

Even of his arrogance, his conceit, his rage,

His untruthful boasting.

7Therefore Moab will wail for Moab; everyone will wail.

You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth,

As those who are utterly stricken and discouraged.

8For the fields of Heshbon have languished and withered, and the vines of Sibmah as well;

The lords of the nations have trampled down [Moab’s] choice vine branches,

Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered into the wilderness;

Its tendrils stretched out, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.

9Therefore I (Isaiah) will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vines of Sibmah.

I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh;

For the war-cry [of the enemy] has fallen on your summer fruits and your harvest.

10Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field;

In the vineyards there will be no singing or joyful sound;

No treader treads out wine in the presses,

For I (God) put an end to the joyful shouting.

11Therefore my heart sounds like a harp [in mournful compassion] for Moab,

And my inner being mourns for Kir-hareseth.

12So it will come to pass when Moab presents himself,

When he wearies himself [worshiping] on his high place [of idolatry]

And comes to his sanctuary [of Chemosh, god of Moab] to pray,

That he will not prevail.

13This is the word which the LORD spoke earlier concerning Moab [when Moab’s pride and resistance to God were first known]. 14But now the LORD speaks, saying, “Within [b]three years, as the years of a hired man [who will not serve longer than the agreed time], the glory of Moab will be degraded along with all [c]the great population, and the remnant [that survives] will be very small and of no account.”