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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.”

7. Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab. ²⁶⁰²⁶⁰ {Bogus footnote} He declares more plainly what has been already said, that this pride, and the cruelty which springs from it, will be the cause of their destruction. Since the Lord resisteth the proud, (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5,) it is impossible but that he will lay low this haughtiness, by which the Church is basely and shamefully trampled under foot; and, according to this example, the end of all proud men must be mournful. When he adds, Moab to Moab, he means that there will be what may be called a melancholy concert among them, in which they shall mutually complain of their calamities and bewail their distresses among themselves. Others render it, on account of Moab, but this is a feeble interpretation; for immediately afterwards it follows that the howling will be universal, or that it will be throughout the whole of the people.

On account of the foundations of Kir-hareseth. It is sufficiently evident that this was a chief and royal city; but some consider it to be a proper name, and others to be an appellative. There can be no doubt that the etymology of the word was derived from its being constructed of earthen materials. It is also possible that it received this name on account of the nature of the walls, which were built of bricks. It was a distinguished city in that country. He names the foundations rather than the city itself, because it was to be completely thrown down; as if he had said, “You shall not mourn the plundering of the city or the destruction of the buildings, but its entire overthrow; for no part of it shall be left.”

You will groan, being only smitten. ²⁶¹²⁶¹ {Bogus footnote} Some translate נכאים (nechaim) lame; but I prefer to take it as meaning smitten. The particle אך, (ach,) which is here prefixed to it, sometimes means certainly or truly; and sometimes it is put for but or notwithstanding. Those who explain it affirmatively suppose the meaning to be this, You will groan, being truly smitten; that is, “It will not be necessary for you to hire men to pretend mourning in your name, as is usually done in funerals, but you will mourn in earnest.” But I prefer to take אך (ach) as meaning only; that is, “All who shall be left will be wounded; not one shall be safe.” By this mode of expression he describes the utter destruction of that city, and intimates that those who are left will lament not only the distresses of others, but also their own. They, too, will be wounded. And if such severe punishments are inflicted on the proud, let us learn to submit ourselves with humility and modesty, and willingly to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. (1 Peter 5:6.)