New International Version | New Living Translation |
1Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert, to the mount 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 fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. | 2The women of Moab are left like homeless birds at the shallow crossings of the Arnon River. |
3"Make up your mind," Moab says. "Render a decision. Make your shadow like night-- at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. | 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 the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer." The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish 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, |
5In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it-- one from the house of David-- one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness. | 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 great is her arrogance!-- of her conceit, her pride and her insolence; but her boasts are empty. | 6We have heard about proud Moab— about its pride and arrogance and rage. But all that boasting has disappeared. |
7Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve 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. |
8The fields of Heshbon wither, the vines of Sibmah also. The rulers of the nations have trampled down the choicest vines, which once reached Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots spread out and went as far as 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 weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. Heshbon and Elealeh, I drench you with tears! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled. | 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 gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out wine at the presses, for 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. |
11My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth. | 11My heart’s cry for Moab is like a lament on a harp. I am filled with anguish for Kir-hareseth. |
12When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail. | 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 word the LORD has already spoken concerning Moab. | 13The LORD has already said these things about Moab in the past. |
14But now the LORD says: "Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab's splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble." | 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.” |
New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | 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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