| Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Send lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mountain of Daughter Zion. | 1Send lambs from Sela as tribute to the ruler of the land. Send them through the desert to the mountain of beautiful Zion. |
| 2Like a bird fleeing, forced from the nest, the daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon. | 2The women of Moab are left like homeless birds at the shallow crossings of the Arnon River. |
| 3Give us counsel and make a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade that is as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees. | 3“Help us,” they cry. “Defend us against our enemies. Protect us from their relentless attack. Do not betray us now that we have escaped. |
| 4Let my refugees stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the aggressor. When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ended, and marauders have vanished from the land, | 4Let our refugees stay among you. Hide them from our enemies until the terror is past.” When oppression and destruction have ended and enemy raiders have disappeared, |
| 5a throne will be established in love, and one will sit on it faithfully in the tent of David, judging and pursuing what is right, quick to execute justice. | 5then God will establish one of David’s descendants as king. He will rule with mercy and truth. He will always do what is just and be eager to do what is right. |
| 6We have heard of Moab's pride--how very proud he is--his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance, and his empty boasting. | 6We have heard about proud Moab— about its pride and arrogance and rage. But all that boasting has disappeared. |
| 7Therefore let Moab wail; let every one of them wail for Moab. You who are completely devastated, mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth. | 7The entire land of Moab weeps. Yes, everyone in Moab mourns for the cakes of raisins from Kir-hareseth. They are all gone now. |
| 8For Heshbon's terraced vineyards and the grapevines of Sibmah have withered. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choice vines that reached as far as Jazer and spread to the desert. Their shoots spread out and reached the sea. | 8The farms of Heshbon are abandoned; the vineyards at Sibmah are deserted. The rulers of the nations have broken down Moab— that beautiful grapevine. Its tendrils spread north as far as the town of Jazer and trailed eastward into the wilderness. Its shoots reached so far west that they crossed over the Dead Sea. |
| 9So I join with Jazer to weep for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest. | 9So now I weep for Jazer and the vineyards of Sibmah; my tears will flow for Heshbon and Elealeh. There are no more shouts of joy over your summer fruits and harvest. |
| 10Joy and rejoicing have been removed from the orchard; no one is singing or shouting for joy in the vineyards. No one tramples grapes in the winepresses. I have put an end to the shouting. | 10Gone now is the gladness, gone the joy of harvest. There will be no singing in the vineyards, no more happy shouts, no treading of grapes in the winepresses. I have ended all their harvest joys. |
| 11Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab, as does my innermost being for Kir-heres. | 11My heart’s cry for Moab is like a lament on a harp. I am filled with anguish for Kir-hareseth. |
| 12When Moab appears and tires himself out on the high place and comes to his sanctuary to pray, it will do him no good. | 12The people of Moab will worship at their pagan shrines, but it will do them no good. They will cry to the gods in their temples, but no one will be able to save them. |
| 13This is the message that the LORD previously announced about Moab. | 13The LORD has already said these things about Moab in the past. |
| 14And now the LORD says, "In three years, as a hired worker counts years, Moab's splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak." | 14But now the LORD says, “Within three years, counting each day, the glory of Moab will be ended. From its great population, only a feeble few will be left alive.” |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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