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Isaiah 16-18
The Message
Isaiah 16-18
The Message
A New Government in the David Tradition
16 1-4 “Dispatch a gift of lambs,” says Moab,
“to the leaders in Jerusalem—
Lambs from Sela sent across the desert
to buy the goodwill of Jerusalem.
The towns and people of Moab
are at a loss,
New-hatched birds knocked from the nest,
fluttering helplessly
At the banks of the Arnon River,
unable to cross:
‘Tell us what to do,
help us out!
Protect us,
hide us!
Give the refugees from Moab
sanctuary with you.
Be a safe place for those on the run
from the killing fields.’”
4-5 “When this is all over,” Judah answers,
“the tyrant toppled,
The killing at an end,
all signs of these cruelties long gone,
A new government of love will be established
in the venerable David tradition.
A Ruler you can depend upon
will head this government,
A Ruler passionate for justice,
a Ruler quick to set things right.”
* * *
6-12 We’ve heard—everyone’s heard!—of Moab’s pride,
world-famous for pride—
Arrogant, self-important, insufferable,
full of hot air.
So now let Moab lament for a change,
with antiphonal mock-laments from the neighbors!
What a shame! How terrible!
No more fine fruitcakes and Kir-hareseth candies!
All those lush Heshbon fields dried up,
the rich Sibmah vineyards withered!
Foreign thugs have crushed and torn out
the famous grapevines
That once reached all the way to Jazer,
right to the edge of the desert,
Ripped out the crops in every direction
as far as the eye can see.
I’ll join the weeping. I’ll weep right along with Jazer,
weep for the Sibmah vineyards.
And yes, Heshbon and Elealeh,
I’ll mingle my tears with your tears!
The joyful shouting at harvest is gone.
Instead of song and celebration, dead silence.
No more boisterous laughter in the orchards,
no more hearty work songs in the vineyards.
Instead of the bustle and sound of good work in the fields,
silence—deathly and deadening silence.
My heartstrings throb like harp strings for Moab,
my soul in sympathy for sad Kir-heres.
When Moab trudges to the shrine to pray,
he wastes both time and energy.
Going to the sanctuary and praying for relief
is useless. Nothing ever happens.
13-14 This is God’s earlier Message on Moab. God’s updated Message is, “In three years, no longer than the term of an enlisted soldier, Moab’s impressive presence will be gone, that splendid hot-air balloon will be punctured, and instead of a vigorous population, just a few shuffling bums panhandling handouts.”
Damascus: A Pile of Dust and Rubble
17 1-3 A Message concerning Damascus:
“Watch this: Damascus undone as a city,
a pile of dust and rubble!
Her towns emptied of people.
The sheep and goats will move in
And take over the towns
as if they owned them—which they will!
Not a sign of a fort is left in Ephraim,
not a trace of government left in Damascus.
What’s left of Aram?
The same as what’s left of Israel—not much.”
Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
The Day Is Coming
4-6 “The Day is coming when Jacob’s robust splendor goes pale
and his well-fed body turns skinny.
The country will be left empty, picked clean
as a field harvested by field hands.
She’ll be like a few stalks of barley left standing
in the lush Valley of Rephaim after harvest,
Or like the couple of ripe olives overlooked
in the top of the olive tree,
Or the four or five apples
that the pickers couldn’t reach in the orchard.”
Decree of the God of Israel.
7-8 Yes, the Day is coming when people will notice The One Who Made Them, take a long hard look at The Holy of Israel. They’ll lose interest in all the stuff they’ve made—altars and monuments and rituals, their homemade, handmade religion—however impressive it is.
9 And yes, the Day is coming when their fortress cities will be abandoned—the very same cities that the Hivites and Amorites abandoned when Israel invaded! And the country will be empty, desolate.
You Have Forgotten God
10-11 And why? Because you have forgotten God-Your-Salvation,
not remembered your Rock-of-Refuge.
And so, even though you are very religious,
planting all sorts of bushes and herbs and trees
to honor and influence your fertility gods,
And even though you make them grow so well,
bursting with buds and sprouts and blossoms,
Nothing will come of them. Instead of a harvest
you’ll get nothing but grief and pain, pain, pain.
12-13 Oh my! Thunder! A thundering herd of people!
Thunder like the crashing of ocean waves!
Nations roaring, roaring,
like the roar of a massive waterfall,
Roaring like a deafening Niagara!
But God will silence them with a word,
And then he’ll blow them away like dead leaves off a tree,
like down from a thistle.
14 At bedtime, terror fills the air.
By morning it’s gone—not a sign of it anywhere!
This is what happens to those who would ruin us,
this is the fate of those out to get us.
People Mighty and Merciless
18 1-2 Doom to the land of flies and mosquitoes
beyond the Ethiopian rivers,
Shipping emissaries all over the world,
down rivers and across seas.
Go, swift messengers,
go to this people tall and handsome,
This people held in respect everywhere,
this people mighty and merciless,
from the land crisscrossed with rivers.
3 Everybody everywhere,
all earth-dwellers:
When you see a flag flying on the mountain, look!
When you hear the trumpet blown, listen!
4-6 For here’s what God told me:
“I’m not going to say anything,
but simply look on from where I live,
Quiet as warmth that comes from the sun,
silent as dew during harvest.”
And then, just before harvest, after the blossom
has turned into a maturing grape,
He’ll step in and prune back the new shoots,
ruthlessly hack off all the growing branches.
He’ll leave them piled on the ground
for birds and animals to feed on—
Fodder for the summering birds,
fodder for the wintering animals.
7 Then tribute will be brought to God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
brought from this people tall and handsome,
This people once held in respect everywhere,
this people once mighty and merciless,
From the land crisscrossed with rivers,
to Mount Zion, God’s place.
Isaiah 16-18
New International Version
Isaiah 16-18
New International Version
16 Send lambs(A) as tribute(B)
to the ruler of the land,
from Sela,(C) across the desert,
to the mount of Daughter Zion.(D)
2 Like fluttering birds
pushed from the nest,(E)
so are the women of Moab(F)
at the fords(G) of the Arnon.(H)
3 “Make up your mind,” Moab says.
“Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night—
at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,(I)
do not betray the refugees.
4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
be their shelter(J) from the destroyer.”
The oppressor(K) will come to an end,
and destruction will cease;(L)
the aggressor will vanish from the land.
5 In love a throne(M) will be established;(N)
in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
one from the house[a] of David(O)—
one who in judging seeks justice(P)
and speeds the cause of righteousness.
6 We have heard of Moab’s(Q) pride(R)—
how great is her arrogance!—
of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;
but her boasts are empty.
7 Therefore the Moabites wail,(S)
they wail together for Moab.
Lament and grieve
for the raisin cakes(T) of Kir Hareseth.(U)
8 The fields of Heshbon(V) wither,(W)
the vines of Sibmah(X) also.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled down the choicest vines,(Y)
which once reached Jazer(Z)
and spread toward the desert.
Their shoots spread out(AA)
and went as far as the sea.[b](AB)
9 So I weep,(AC) as Jazer weeps,
for the vines of Sibmah.
Heshbon and Elealeh,(AD)
I drench you with tears!(AE)
The shouts of joy(AF) over your ripened fruit
and over your harvests(AG) have been stilled.
10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;(AH)
no one sings or shouts(AI) in the vineyards;
no one treads(AJ) out wine at the presses,(AK)
for I have put an end to the shouting.
11 My heart laments for Moab(AL) like a harp,(AM)
my inmost being(AN) for Kir Hareseth.
12 When Moab appears at her high place,(AO)
she only wears herself out;
when she goes to her shrine(AP) to pray,
it is to no avail.(AQ)
13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: “Within three years,(AR) as a servant bound by contract(AS) would count them,(AT) Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised,(AU) and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”(AV)
A Prophecy Against Damascus
17 A prophecy(AW) against Damascus:(AX)
“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
but will become a heap of ruins.(AY)
2 The cities of Aroer(AZ) will be deserted
and left to flocks,(BA) which will lie down,(BB)
with no one to make them afraid.(BC)
3 The fortified(BD) city will disappear from Ephraim,
and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
like the glory(BE) of the Israelites,”(BF)
declares the Lord Almighty.
4 “In that day(BG) the glory(BH) of Jacob will fade;
the fat of his body will waste(BI) away.
5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
gathering(BJ) the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain(BK)
in the Valley of Rephaim.(BL)
6 Yet some gleanings will remain,(BM)
as when an olive tree is beaten,(BN)
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 In that day(BO) people will look(BP) to their Maker(BQ)
and turn their eyes to the Holy One(BR) of Israel.
8 They will not look to the altars,(BS)
the work of their hands,(BT)
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles[c](BU)
and the incense altars their fingers(BV) have made.
9 In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth.(BW) And all will be desolation.
10 You have forgotten(BX) God your Savior;(BY)
you have not remembered the Rock,(BZ) your fortress.(CA)
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
and plant imported vines,(CB)
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
and on the morning(CC) when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest(CD) will be as nothing(CE)
in the day of disease and incurable(CF) pain.(CG)
12 Woe to the many nations that rage(CH)—
they rage like the raging sea!(CI)
Woe to the peoples who roar(CJ)—
they roar like the roaring of great waters!(CK)
13 Although the peoples roar(CL) like the roar of surging waters,
when he rebukes(CM) them they flee(CN) far away,
driven before the wind like chaff(CO) on the hills,
like tumbleweed before a gale.(CP)
14 In the evening, sudden(CQ) terror!(CR)
Before the morning, they are gone!(CS)
This is the portion of those who loot us,
the lot of those who plunder us.
A Prophecy Against Cush
18 Woe(CT) to the land of whirring wings[d]
along the rivers of Cush,[e](CU)
2 which sends envoys(CV) by sea
in papyrus(CW) boats over the water.
Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,(CX)
to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive(CY) nation of strange speech,
whose land is divided by rivers.(CZ)
3 All you people of the world,(DA)
you who live on the earth,
when a banner(DB) is raised on the mountains,
you will see it,
and when a trumpet(DC) sounds,
you will hear it.
4 This is what the Lord says to me:
“I will remain quiet(DD) and will look on from my dwelling place,(DE)
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,(DF)
like a cloud of dew(DG) in the heat of harvest.”
5 For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off(DH) the shoots with pruning knives,
and cut down and take away the spreading branches.(DI)
6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey(DJ)
and to the wild animals;(DK)
the birds will feed on them all summer,
the wild animals all winter.
7 At that time gifts(DL) will be brought to the Lord Almighty
from a people tall and smooth-skinned,(DM)
from a people feared(DN) far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
whose land is divided by rivers(DO)—
the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.(DP)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 16:5 Hebrew tent
- Isaiah 16:8 Probably the Dead Sea
- Isaiah 17:8 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
- Isaiah 18:1 Or of locusts
- Isaiah 18:1 That is, the upper Nile region
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.