Isaiah 16-18
New International Reader's Version
16 People of Moab, send lambs as a gift
to the ruler of Judah.
Send them from Sela.
Send them across the desert.
Send them to Mount Zion in the city of Jerusalem.
2 The women of Moab are at the places
where people go across the Arnon River.
They are like birds that flap their wings
when they are pushed from their nest.
3 The Moabites say to the rulers of Judah,
“Make up your mind. Make a decision.
Cover us with your shadow.
Make it like night even at noon.
Hide those of us who are running away.
Don’t turn them over to their enemies.
4 Let those who have run away from Moab stay with you.
Keep them safe from those who are trying to destroy them.”
Those who crush others will be destroyed.
The killing will stop.
The attackers will disappear from the earth.
5 A man from the royal house of David will sit on Judah’s throne.
He will rule with faithful love.
When he judges he will do what is fair.
He will be quick to do what is right.
6 We have heard all about Moab’s pride.
We have heard how very proud they are.
They think they are so much better than others.
They brag about themselves.
But all their bragging is nothing but empty words.
7 So the people of Moab cry out.
All of them cry over their country.
Sing a song of sadness.
Weep that you can no longer enjoy the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.
8 The fields of Heshbon dry up.
So do the vines of Sibmah.
The rulers of the nations
have walked all over its finest vines.
Those vines once reached as far as Jazer.
They spread out toward the desert.
Their new growth went
all the way to the Dead Sea.
9 Jazer weeps for the vines of Sibmah.
And so do I.
Heshbon and Elealeh,
I soak you with my tears!
There isn’t any ripe fruit for people to shout about.
There isn’t any harvest to make them happy.
10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards.
No one sings or shouts in the vineyards.
No one stomps on grapes at the winepresses.
That’s because the Lord has put an end to the shouting.
11 My heart mourns over Moab like a song of sadness played on a harp.
Deep down inside me I mourn over Kir Hareseth.
12 Moab’s people go to their high place to pray.
But all they do is wear themselves out.
Their god Chemosh can’t help them at all.
13 That’s the message the Lord has already spoken against Moab. 14 But now he says, “In exactly three years, people will look down on Moab’s glory. Now Moab has many people. But by that time only a few of them will be left alive. And even they will be weak.”
Prophecies Against Damascus and Israel
17 Here is a prophecy against Damascus that the Lord gave me. He said,
“Damascus will not be a city anymore.
Instead, all its buildings will be knocked down.
2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted.
They will be left to the flocks that lie down there.
No one will make them afraid.
3 Ephraim’s people will no longer have cities with high walls around them.
Royal power will disappear from Damascus.
Those who are left alive in Aram
will be like the glory of the people of Israel,”
announces the Lord who rules over all.
4 “In days to come, the glory of Jacob’s people will fade.
Their strength will get weaker and weaker.
5 It will be as when workers cut and gather grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
They gather up stalks in their arms.
Only a few heads of grain are left.
6 In the same way, only a few people will be left alive.
It will be as when workers knock olives off the trees.
Only two or three olives are left on the highest branches.
Four or five at most are left on the limbs that produce fruit,”
announces the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 In days to come, people will look to their Maker for help.
They will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
8 They won’t trust in the altars
they made with their own hands.
They won’t pay any attention to the poles they used
to worship the female god named Asherah.
And they won’t depend on the incense altars
they made with their own fingers.
9 At that time the strong cities in Israel will be deserted. They will be as they were when the Israelites drove the Canaanites away. They will be like places that are taken over by bushes and weeds. The whole land will become dry and empty.
10 Israel, you have forgotten God, who saves you.
You have not remembered the Rock, who keeps you safe.
You might set out the finest plants.
You might plant vines from other lands.
11 The plants might start to grow on the day you set them out.
The vines might begin to bud on the morning you plant them.
But even if they do, there won’t be any harvest.
Instead, there will be sickness and pain that won’t go away.
12 How terrible it will be for the nations that attack us!
The noise of their armies is like the sound of the ocean.
How terrible it will be for the nations who fight against us!
They are as loud as huge waves crashing on the shore.
13 They sound like the roar of rushing waters.
But when the Lord speaks out against them, they run far away.
The wind blows them away like straw on the hills.
A strong wind drives them along like tumbleweeds.
14 In the evening, the nations terrify us.
But before morning comes, they are gone.
That’s what happens to those who steal our goods.
That’s what happens to those who take what belongs to us.
A Prophecy Against Cush
18 How terrible it will be for the land
whose armies are like large numbers of flying insects!
That land is along the rivers of Cush.
2 Its people send messengers on the Nile River.
They travel over the water in papyrus boats.
Messengers, hurry back home!
Go back to your people,
who are tall and have smooth skin.
Everyone is afraid of them.
They are warriors whose language is different from ours.
Their land is divided up by rivers.
3 Pay attention, all you people of the world!
Listen, all you who live on earth!
Banners will be lifted up on the mountains.
And you will see them.
Trumpets will be blown.
And you will hear them.
4 The Lord says to me,
“I will look down from heaven, where I live.
I will be as quiet as summer heat in the sunshine.
I will be as quiet as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 A farmer cuts off new growth with pruning knives.
He cuts down spreading branches and takes them away.
He does it before the grapes are harvested.
That’s when the blooms are gone and the grapes are ripe.
In the same way, the Lord will cut off the nations
that are gathered against his people.
6 Their dead bodies will be left for the birds of the mountains to eat.
They will be left for the wild animals.
The birds will eat the dead bodies all summer long.
The wild animals will eat them all through the winter.
7 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord who rules over all.
The people who are tall and have smooth skin will bring them.
Everyone is afraid of those people.
They are warriors whose language is different from ours.
Their land is divided up by rivers.
They will bring their gifts to Mount Zion. That’s where the Lord who rules over all has put his Name.
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