Isaiah 16:1-14 - Moab's Hopeless Situation
1 Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land, from the rock of 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; do not betray him that escapes. 4 Let my outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the presence of the destroyer; for the extortioner shall come to an end, the destroyer shall cease, the oppressor shall be 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 hastening 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 vines of Heshbon were cut off and the vines of Sibmah; the lords of the Gentiles have trodden down the offshoots thereof, which had come even unto Jazer and extended through the wilderness; they had gone over the sea. 9 Therefore I will bewail with the weeping Jazer of the vine of Sibmah; I will cause thee to drink my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh, for the song shall cease upon thy summer fruits and thy harvest. 10 And gladness is taken away and joy out of the fertile field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be rejoicing: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage song to cease. 11 Therefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab and my inward parts for Kirharesh. 12 And it shall come to pass when it is seen that Moab is weary upon the high places that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray, but he shall be unable to.
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 a hireling counts the years, the glory of Moab shall be cast down, with all her great multitude; and the remnant shall be few, small and feeble.