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16. Prophecy Against Moab

¹ Send lambs as tribute
   to the ruler of the land,
from Sela, across the desert,
   to the mount of Daughter Zion.
² Like fluttering birds
   pushed from the nest,
so are the women of Moab
   at the fords of the Arnon.

    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.
⁴ Let 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.
⁵ In love a throne will be established;
   in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
   one from the house Hebrew tent of David—
one who in judging seeks justice
   and speeds the cause of righteousness.

    ⁶ We have heard of Moab’s pride—
   how great is her arrogance!—
of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;
   but her boasts are empty.
⁷ Therefore the Moabites wail,
   they wail together for Moab.
Lament and grieve
   for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.
⁸ The 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. Probably the Dead Sea
⁹ So 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.
¹⁰ Joy 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.
¹¹ My heart laments for Moab like a harp,
   my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.
¹² When Moab appears at her high place,
   she only wears herself out;
when she goes to her shrine to pray,
   it is to no avail.

¹³ This is the word the LORD has already spoken concerning Moab. ¹⁴ But 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.”

12. And it shall be. He again returns to that statement which he formerly noticed, namely, that idolaters in their affliction betake themselves to their idols, hoping to obtain some relief from them. Yet it means somewhat more; for while idolaters have their ordinary temples and places of worship, if any uncommon calamity befalls them, they go to another temple more sacred than the rest, expecting that there they will be more abundantly favored with the presence of their god. In like manner, the Papists of the present day, when they are reduced to any uncommon danger, (for this fault has existed in all ages,) think that they will more readily obtain their wish by running to St. Claude, or to Mary of Loretto, or to any other celebrated idol, than if they assembled in some neighboring church. They resolve that their extraordinary prayers shall be offered up in a church which is at a great distance. It is in this sense that the Prophet applies the term Sanctuary to that which was most highly celebrated among the Moabites, and says that they will go to it, but without any advantage. Now it is evident from sacred history that their most celebrated temple was dedicated to Chemosh. (1 Kings 11:7.)

And shall not profit by it. ²⁶⁹²⁶⁹ {Bogus footnote} The phrase לא יוכל, (lo yuchal,) they shall not be able, is explained by some to mean, that they shall at length be so completely worn out that they will not have sufficient strength to go to the temple. But I think it better to render it thus, he shall not profit by it; for he shuts out the Moabites from all hope of safety, by saying that they will find no protection even in their gods.

When it is seen. The word נראה, (nirah,) seen, is emphatic. It means that idolaters are not guided by reason, but rather by the impressions made on their senses, like brute beasts: for as the beasts judge by feeling, smelling, and seeing, so idolaters have no other guide than the judgment of the flesh. Accordingly, if any one shall show that they are doing wrong, he will gain nothing by it. Though they have often known by experience that they gain nothing by so many laborious exertions, they will not desist from them, but will contrive new methods and introduce new modes of worship, hoping that God will approve of them. If they succeed according to their wish, they ascribe everything to their superstitions, and become more obstinate. If they perceive that they have derived no advantage, they reject their contrivances, condemn the superstitious worship, and curse their gods. In short, they rely altogether on the events, and do not judge of anything either by reason or by the word of God. The consequence is, that, as they are guided by what befalls them, they are continually changing their plans. But the Prophet appears to mean somewhat more, namely, that when their folly, in having hitherto labored to no purpose, shall have been openly manifested and exposed, the Moabites will come into the temple of Chemosh, rather through shame than in the exercise of judgment.