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Isaiah 16
New King James Version

### Moab Destroyed

16 Send (A)the lamb to the ruler of the land,
(B)From [a]Sela to the wilderness,
To the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 For it shall be as a (C)wandering bird thrown out of the nest;
So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the (D)Arnon.

3 “Take counsel, execute judgment;
Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day;
Hide the outcasts,
Do not betray him who escapes.
4 Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab;
Be a shelter to them from the face of the [b]spoiler.
For the extortioner is at an end,
Devastation ceases,
The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
5 In mercy (E)the throne will be established;
And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David,
(F)Judging and seeking justice and hastening (G)righteousness.”

6 We have heard of the (H)pride of Moab—
He is very proud—
Of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath;
(I)But his [c]lies shall not be so.
7 Therefore Moab shall (J)wail for Moab;
Everyone shall wail.
For the foundations (K)of Kir Hareseth you shall mourn;
Surely they are stricken.

8 For (L)the fields of Heshbon languish,
And (M)the vine of Sibmah;
The lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants,
Which have reached to Jazer
And wandered through the wilderness.
Her branches are stretched out,
They are gone over the (N)sea.
9 Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah,
With the weeping of Jazer;
I will drench you with my tears,
(O)O Heshbon and Elealeh;
For [d]battle cries have fallen
Over your summer fruits and your harvest.

10 (P)Gladness is taken away,
And joy from the plentiful field;
In the vineyards there will be no singing,
Nor will there be shouting;
No treaders will tread out wine in the presses;
I have made their shouting cease.
11 Therefore (Q)my [e]heart shall resound like a harp for Moab,
And my inner being for [f]Kir Heres.

12 And it shall come to pass,
When it is seen that Moab is weary on (R)the high place,
That he will come to his sanctuary to pray;
But he will not prevail.

13 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “Within three years, (S)as the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be despised with all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”

#### Footnotes

1. Isaiah 16:1 Lit. Rock
2. Isaiah 16:4 devastator
3. Isaiah 16:6 Lit. vain talk
4. Isaiah 16:9 Or shouting has
5. Isaiah 16:11 Lit. belly
6. Isaiah 16:11 Kir Hareseth, v. 7

#### Cross references

1. Isaiah 16:1 : 2 Kin. 3:4; Ezra 7:17
2. Isaiah 16:1 : 2 Kin. 14:7; Is. 42:11
3. Isaiah 16:2 : Prov. 27:8
4. Isaiah 16:2 : Num. 21:13
5. Isaiah 16:5 : [Is. 9:6, 7; 32:1; 55:4; Dan. 7:14; Mic. 4:7; Luke 1:33; Rev. 11:15]
6. Isaiah 16:5 : Ps. 72:2
7. Isaiah 16:5 : Is. 9:7
8. Isaiah 16:6 : Jer. 48:29; Amos 2:1; Obad. 3, 4; Zeph. 2:8, 10
9. Isaiah 16:6 : Is. 28:15
10. Isaiah 16:7 : Jer. 48:20
11. Isaiah 16:7 : 2 Kin. 3:25; Jer. 48:31
12. Isaiah 16:8 : Is. 24:7
13. Isaiah 16:8 : Is. 16:9
14. Isaiah 16:8 : Jer. 48:32
15. Isaiah 16:9 : Is. 15:4
16. Isaiah 16:10 : Is. 24:8; Jer. 48:33
17. Isaiah 16:11 : Is. 15:5; 63:15; Jer. 48:36; Hos. 11:8; Phil. 2:1
18. Isaiah 16:12 : Is. 15:2
19. Isaiah 16:14 : Job 7:1; 14:6; Is. 21:16

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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