15:1 Here is a message about Moab:
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Ar of Moab is destroyed!
Indeed, in a night it is devastated,
Kir of Moab is destroyed!
15:2 They went up to the temple, 1
the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. 2
Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, 3 Moab wails.
Every head is shaved bare,
every beard is trimmed off. 4
15:3 In their streets they wear sackcloth;
on their roofs and in their town squares
all of them wail,
they fall down weeping.
15:4 The people of 5 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
For this reason Moab’s soldiers shout in distress;
their courage wavers. 6
15:5 My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight, 7
and for the fugitives 8 stretched out 9 as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah.
For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith;
they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim. 10
15:6 For the waters of Nimrim are gone; 11
the grass is dried up,
the vegetation has disappeared,
and there are no plants.
15:7 For this reason what they have made and stored up,
they carry over the Stream of the Poplars.
15:8 Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory;
their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim. 12
15:9 Indeed, the waters of Dimon 13 are full of blood!
Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon. 14
A lion will attack 15 the Moabite fugitives
and the people left in the land.
16:1 Send rams as tribute to the ruler of the land, 16
from Sela in the desert 17
to the hill of Daughter Zion.
16:2 At the fords of the Arnon 18
the Moabite women are like a bird
that flies about when forced from its nest. 19
16:3 “Bring a plan, make a decision! 20
Provide some shade in the middle of the day! 21
Hide the fugitives! Do not betray 22 the one who tries to escape!
16:4 Please let the Moabite fugitives live 23 among you.
Hide them 24 from the destroyer!”
Certainly 25 the one who applies pressure will cease, 26
the destroyer will come to an end,
those who trample will disappear 27 from the earth.
16:5 Then a trustworthy king will be established;
he will rule in a reliable manner,
this one from David’s family. 28
He will be sure to make just decisions
and will be experienced in executing justice. 29
16:6 We have heard about Moab’s pride,
their great arrogance,
their boasting, pride, and excess. 30
But their boastful claims are empty! 31
16:7 So Moab wails over its demise 32 –
they all wail!
Completely devastated, they moan
about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. 33
16:8 For the fields of Heshbon are dried up,
as well as the vines of Sibmah.
The rulers of the nations trample all over its vines,
which reach Jazer and spread to the desert;
their shoots spread out and cross the sea.
16:9 So I weep along with Jazer 34
over the vines of Sibmah.
I will saturate you 35 with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh,
for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly
over your fruit and crops. 36
16:10 Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards,
and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts;
no one treads out juice in the wine vats 37 –
I have brought the joyful shouts to an end. 38
16:11 So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, 39
my inner being sighs 40 for Kir Hareseth. 41
16:12 When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places, 42
and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective! 43
16:13 This is the message the Lord previously announced about Moab. 16:14 Now the Lord makes this announcement: “Within exactly three years 44 Moab’s splendor will disappear, along with all her many people; there will be just a few, insignificant survivors left.” 45
17:1 Here is a message about Damascus:
“Look, Damascus is no longer a city,
it is a heap of ruins!
17:2 The cities of Aroer are abandoned. 46
They will be used for herds,
which will lie down there in peace. 47
17:3 Fortified cities will disappear from Ephraim,
and Damascus will lose its kingdom. 48
The survivors in Syria
will end up like the splendor of the Israelites,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
17:4 “At that time 49
Jacob’s splendor will be greatly diminished, 50
and he will become skin and bones. 51
17:5 It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest,
and his hand gleans the ear of grain.
It will be like one gathering the ears of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
17:6 There will be some left behind,
like when an olive tree is beaten –
two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,
four or five on its fruitful branches,”
says the Lord God of Israel.
17:7 At that time 52 men will trust in their creator; 53
they will depend on 54 the Holy One of Israel. 55
17:8 They will no longer trust in 56 the altars their hands made,
or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made. 57
17:9 At that time 58 their fortified cities will be
like the abandoned summits of the Amorites, 59
which they abandoned because of the Israelites;
there will be desolation.
17:10 For you ignore 60 the God who rescues you;
you pay no attention to your strong protector. 61
So this is what happens:
You cultivate beautiful plants
and plant exotic vines. 62
17:11 The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow; 63
the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout.
Yet the harvest will disappear 64 in the day of disease
and incurable pain.
17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead, 65
those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. 66
The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, 67
those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. 68
17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, 69
when he shouts at 70 them, they will flee to a distant land,
driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,
or like dead thistles 71 before a strong gale.
17:14 In the evening there is sudden terror; 72
by morning they vanish. 73
This is the fate of those who try to plunder us,
the destiny of those who try to loot us! 74
18:1 The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, 75
the one beyond the rivers of Cush,
18:2 that sends messengers by sea,
who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.
Go, you swift messengers,
to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, 76
to a people that are feared far and wide, 77
to a nation strong and victorious, 78
whose land rivers divide. 79
18:3 All you who live in the world,
who reside on the earth,
you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains;
you will hear a trumpet being blown.
18:4 For this is what the Lord has told me:
“I will wait 80 and watch from my place,
like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, 81
like a cloud of mist 82 in the heat 83 of harvest.” 84
18:5 For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted,
and the ripening fruit appears, 85
he will cut off the unproductive shoots 86 with pruning knives;
he will prune the tendrils. 87
18:6 They will all be left 88 for the birds of the hills
and the wild animals; 89
the birds will eat them during the summer,
and all the wild animals will eat them during the winter.
18:7 At that time
tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies,
by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned,
a people that are feared far and wide,
a nation strong and victorious,
whose land rivers divide. 90
The tribute 91 will be brought to the place where the Lord who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion. 92
19:1 Here is a message about Egypt:
Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud
and approaches Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him;
the Egyptians lose their courage. 93
19:2 “I will provoke civil strife in Egypt, 94
brothers will fight with each other,
as will neighbors,
cities, and kingdoms. 95
19:3 The Egyptians will panic, 96
and I will confuse their strategy. 97
They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,
from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. 98
19:4 I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master;
a powerful king will rule over them,”
says the sovereign master, 99 the Lord who commands armies.
19:5 The water of the sea will be dried up,
and the river will dry up and be empty. 100
19:6 The canals 101 will stink; 102
the streams of Egypt will trickle and then dry up;
the bulrushes and reeds will decay,
19:7 along with the plants by the mouth of the river. 103
All the cultivated land near the river
will turn to dust and be blown away. 104
19:8 The fishermen will mourn and lament,
all those who cast a fishhook into the river,
and those who spread out a net on the water’s surface will grieve. 105
19:9 Those who make clothes from combed flax will be embarrassed;
those who weave will turn pale. 106
19:10 Those who make cloth 107 will be demoralized; 108
all the hired workers will be depressed. 109
19:11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; 110
Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice.
How dare you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one of the sages,
one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?” 111
19:12 But where, oh where, are your wise men? 112
Let them tell you, let them find out
what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.
19:13 The officials of Zoan are fools,
the officials of Memphis 113 are misled;
the rulers 114 of her tribes lead Egypt astray.
19:14 The Lord has made them undiscerning; 115
they lead Egypt astray in all she does,
so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit. 116
19:15 Egypt will not be able to do a thing,
head or tail, shoots and stalk. 117
19:16 At that time 118 the Egyptians 119 will be like women. 120 They will tremble and fear because the Lord who commands armies brandishes his fist against them. 121 19:17 The land of Judah will humiliate Egypt. Everyone who hears about Judah will be afraid because of what the Lord who commands armies is planning to do to them. 122
19:18 At that time five cities 123 in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord who commands armies. One will be called the City of the Sun. 124 19:19 At that time there will be an altar for the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, as well as a sacred pillar 125 dedicated to the Lord at its border. 19:20 It 126 will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of 127 the Lord who commands armies. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender 128 who will rescue them. 19:21 The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptians, and they 129 will acknowledge the Lord’s authority 130 at that time. 131 They will present sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them. 19:22 The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and then healing them. They will turn to the Lord and he will listen to their prayers 132 and heal them.
19:23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 133 19:24 At that time Israel will be the third member of the group, along with Egypt and Assyria, and will be a recipient of blessing 134 in the earth. 135 19:25 The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, 136 “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, 137 Israel!”
20:1 The Lord revealed the following message during the year in which King Sargon of Assyria sent his commanding general to Ashdod, and he fought against it and captured it. 138 20:2 At that time the Lord announced through 139 Isaiah son of Amoz: “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and take your sandals off your feet.” He did as instructed and walked around in undergarments 140 and barefoot. 20:3 Later the Lord explained, “In the same way that my servant Isaiah has walked around in undergarments and barefoot for the past three years, as an object lesson and omen pertaining to Egypt and Cush, 20:4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, both young and old. They will be in undergarments and barefoot, with the buttocks exposed; the Egyptians will be publicly humiliated. 141 20:5 Those who put their hope in Cush and took pride in Egypt will be afraid and embarrassed. 142 20:6 At that time 143 those who live on this coast 144 will say, ‘Look what has happened to our source of hope to whom we fled for help, expecting to be rescued from the king of Assyria! How can we escape now?’”
21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: 145
Like strong winds blowing in the south, 146
one invades from the desert,
from a land that is feared.
21:2 I have received a distressing message: 147
“The deceiver deceives,
the destroyer destroys.
Attack, you Elamites!
Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning!” 148
21:3 For this reason my stomach churns; 149
cramps overwhelm me
like the contractions of a woman in labor.
I am disturbed 150 by what I hear,
horrified by what I see.
21:4 My heart palpitates, 151
I shake in fear; 152
the twilight I desired
has brought me terror.
21:5 Arrange the table,
lay out 153 the carpet,
eat and drink! 154
Get up, you officers,
smear oil on the shields! 155
21:6 For this is what the sovereign master 156 has told me:
“Go, post a guard!
He must report what he sees.
21:7 When he sees chariots,
teams of horses, 157
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels,
he must be alert,
very alert.”
21:8 Then the guard 158 cries out:
“On the watchtower, O sovereign master, 159
I stand all day long;
at my post
I am stationed every night.
21:9 Look what’s coming!
A charioteer,
a team of horses.” 160
When questioned, he replies, 161
“Babylon has fallen, fallen!
All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
21:10 O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor, 162
what I have heard
from the Lord who commands armies,
the God of Israel,
I have reported to you.
21:11 Here is a message about Dumah: 163
Someone calls to me from Seir, 164
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?” 165
21:12 The watchman replies,
“Morning is coming, but then night. 166
If you want to ask, ask;
come back again.” 167
21:13 Here is a message about Arabia:
In the thicket of Arabia you spend the night,
you Dedanite caravans.
21:14 Bring out some water for the thirsty.
You who live in the land of Tema,
bring some food for the fugitives.
21:15 For they flee from the swords –
from the drawn sword
and from the battle-ready bow
and from the severity of the battle.
21:16 For this is what the sovereign master 168 has told me: “Within exactly one year 169 all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end. 21:17 Just a handful of archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be left.” 170 Indeed, 171 the Lord God of Israel has spoken.