Isaiah 16

¹ Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto 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 Arnon. ³ Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. ⁴ Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, 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 judgment, and hasting righteousness. ⁶ We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so. ⁷ Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken. ⁸ For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea. ⁹ Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. ¹⁰ And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful 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 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh. 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 hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. ¹⁴ But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.

Study Helps

Glossary

Sela Place v. 1: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Sela.
Zion Place v. 1: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Arnon Place v. 2: Biblical river. Modern identification: Wadi Mujib.
Moab Place v. 2-4, 6-8, 11-14: Biblical region. Modern identification: Kerak.
David Person v. 5: Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam. 17:25 .
Tabernacle Object v. 5: (1. ) A house or dwelling-place ( Job 5:24 ; 18:6 , etc. ). (2. ) A portable shrine (comp. Acts 19:24 ) containing the image of Moloch ( Amos 5:26 ; marg. and R. V., “Siccuth”). (3. ) The human body.
Kir-hareseth Place v. 7, 11: Built fortress, a city and fortress of Moab, the modern Kerak, a small town on the brow of a steep hill about 6 miles from Rabbath-Moab and 10 miles from the Dead Sea.
Heshbon Place v. 8-9: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell Hesban.
Jazer Place v. 8-9: He (God) helps, a city of the Amorites on the east of Jordan, and assigned, with neighbouring places in Gilead, to Gad ( Num. 32:1 , 35; Josh. 13:25 ). It was allotted to the Merarite Levites (21:39). Modern identification: Khirbet Sara.
Salt Sea Place v. 8: (Heb. yam), signifies (1) “the gathering together of the waters,” the ocean ( Gen. 1:10 ); (2) a river, as the Nile ( Isa. 19:5 ), the Euphrates ( Isa. 21:1 ; Jer. 51:36 ); (3) the Red Sea. Modern identification: Dead Sea.
Sibmah Place v. 8-9: Coolness; fragrance, a town in Reuben, in the territory of Moab, on the east of Jordan ( Josh. 13:19 ); called also Shebam and Shibmah ( Num. 32:3 , 38). It was famous for its vines ( Isa. 16:9 ; Jer. 48:32 ). Modern identification: Qarn al Qubish.
Elealeh Place v. 9: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Al ‘Al.