Isaiah 15 - Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Moab Will Be Punished

15 (A) This is a message about Moab:

The towns of Ar and Kir
were destroyed in a night.
Moab is left in ruins!
2 Everyone in Dibon has gone up
to the temple[a] and the shrines
to cry and weep.
All of Moab is crying.
Heads and beards are shaved[b]
because of what happened
at Nebo and Medeba.
3 In the towns and at home,
everyone wears sackcloth
and cries loud and long.
4 From Heshbon and Elealeh,
weeping is heard in Jahaz;
Moab's warriors scream
while trembling with fear.

Pity Moab

5 I pity Moab!
Its people are running to Zoar
and to Eglath-Shelishiyah.
They cry on their way up
to the town of Luhith;
on the road to Horonaim
they tell of disasters.
6 The streams of Nimrim
and the grasslands
have dried up.
Every plant is parched.

7 The people of Moab are leaving,
crossing over Willow Creek,
taking everything they own
and have worked for.
8 In the towns of Eglaim
and of Beerelim
and everywhere else in Moab
mournful cries are heard.
9 The streams near Dimon
are flowing with blood.
But the Lord will bring
even worse trouble to Dimon,[c]
because all in Moab who escape
will be attacked by lions.[d]

Footnotes

  1. 15.2 Everyone … temple: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 15.2 Heads … shaved: As a sign of sorrow and mourning.
  3. 15.9 Dimon … Dimon: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation have “Dibon … Dibon.”
  4. 15.9 lions: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 9.

Cross references

  1. 15.1—16.14 : Is 25.10-12; Jr 48.1-47; Ez 25.8-11; Am 2.1-3; Zep 2.8-11.