Isaiah

CHAPTER 15

Moab^*

1Oracle on Moab:

Laid waste in a night,

Ar of Moab is destroyed;

Laid waste in a night,

Kir of Moab is destroyed.

2Daughter Dibon has gone up

to the high places to weep;

Over Nebo and over Medeba

Moab is wailing.

Every head is shaved,

every beard sheared off.^{* a}

3In the streets they wear sackcloth,

and on the rooftops;

In the squares

everyone wails, streaming with tears.^b

4Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,

they are heard as far as Jahaz.

At this the loins of Moab tremble,

his soul quivers within him;^c

5My heart cries out for Moab,

his fugitives reach Zoar,

Eglath-shelishiyah:

The ascent of Luhith

they ascend weeping;

On the way to Horonaim

they utter rending cries;^d

6The waters of Nimrim

have become a waste,

The grass is withered,

new growth is gone,

nothing is green.

7So now whatever they have acquired or stored away

they carry across the Wadi of the Poplars.

8The cry has gone round

the territory of Moab;

As far as Eglaim his wailing,

even at Beer-elim his wailing.

9^* The waters of Dimon are filled with blood,

but I will bring still more upon Dimon:

Lions for those who are fleeing from Moab

and for those who remain in the land!

* [15:1–16:14] Both the historical situation reflected in this oracle against Moab and the date of composition are uncertain. Variants of the same poem are found in Jer 48, and there are connections with Nm 21:27–30 as well.

* [15:2] Shaved…sheared off: traditional signs of grief.

* [15:9] There is a play on words between “Dimon” and dam, the Hebrew word for blood.

a. [15:2] Jer 48:37; Ez 7:18; Am 8:10.

b. [15:3] Is 22:12; Jer 48:38.

c. [15:4] Jer 48:34.

d. [15:5] Jer 48:5, 34.