[1] Send the tribute lamb to the ruler of the land, From Sela by way of the wilderness to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. [2] Then, like fleeing birds or scattered nestlings, The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon. [3] “Bring us counsel, make a decision; Cast your shadow like night at high noon; Hide those banished, do not reveal the one who flees. [4] “Let the banished of Moab sojourn with you; Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer.” For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased, Oppressors have completely disappeared from the land. [5] And a throne will be established in lovingkindness, And a judge will sit on it in truth in the tent of David; Moreover, he will seek justice And be prompt in righteousness. [6] We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride; Even of his lofty pride, pride, and fury; His idle boasts are false. [7] Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail. You will moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth As those who are utterly stricken. [8] For the fields of Heshbon have languished, the vines of Sibmah as well; The lords of the nations have trampled down its choice clusters Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered to the deserts; Its tendrils spread themselves out and passed over the sea. [9] Therefore I will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah; I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; For the shouting over your summer fruits and your harvest has fallen away. [10] Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful orchard; In the vineyards also there will be no cries of joy or shouts of jubilation, No treader treads out wine in the presses, For I have made the shouting to cease. [11] Therefore my inner being moans like a harp for Moab And my inward feelings for Kir-hareseth. [12] So it will be when Moab appears, When he wearies himself upon his high place And comes to his sanctuary to pray, That he will not prevail. [13] This is the word which Yahweh spoke earlier concerning Moab. [14] But now Yahweh speaks, saying, “Within three years, as a hired man would count them, the glory of Moab will be dishonored along with all his great population, and his remnant will be very small and not mighty.”
