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¹The [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning Moab: Because in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined; Because in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.

²They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba; Everyone's head is shaved, and every beard is cut off [in mourning].

³In their streets they have wrapped themselves with sackcloth; On their [flat] housetops and in their open squares Everyone is wailing, dissolved in tears.

⁴Heshbon and Elealeh [cities claimed by Moab] cry out; Their voice is heard as far as Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out; Moab's soul trembles within him.

⁵My heart cries out for Moab; His fugitives are [fleeing] as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah. For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping; For on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their destruction.

⁶For the waters of Nimrim are desolate. Indeed the grass is withered, the new growth dies; There is no green thing.

⁷Therefore the abundance which they have acquired and stored away They carry off over the Brook of the Willows.

⁸For the cry of distress has echoed around the territory of Moab; The wailing goes as far as Eglaim and the mournful cry to Beer-elim.

⁹For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; Yet I will bring even more woes on Dimon— A lion upon those of Moab who escape and upon the remnant of the land.

¹Send lambs to the ruler of the land [ you Moabites], From Sela [that is, Petra in Edom] through the wilderness to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).

²For like wandering birds or scattered nestlings, The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the [river] Arnon.

³[Say to the ruler] "Give us advice, make a decision [for Moab, king of Judah]; Cast your shadow [over us] like night in the midst of noon; Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive [to his pursuer].

⁴"Let our outcasts of Moab live among you; Be a [sheltered] hiding place to them from the destroyer." For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased, Oppressors [who trample men] have completely disappeared from the land,

⁵A throne will be established in lovingkindness, And One will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent (dynasty, family) of David; Judging and seeking justice And being prompt to do righteousness.

⁶We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride— Even of his arrogance, his conceit, his rage, His untruthful boasting.

⁷Therefore Moab will wail for Moab; everyone will wail. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, As those who are utterly stricken and discouraged.

⁸For the fields of Heshbon have languished and withered, and the vines of Sibmah as well; The lords of the nations have trampled down [Moab's] choice vine branches, Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered into the wilderness; Its tendrils stretched out, they passed over [the shores of] the [Dead] Sea.

⁹Therefore I (Isaiah) will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vines of Sibmah. I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; For the war-cry [of the enemy] has fallen on your summer fruits and your harvest.

¹⁰Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field; In the vineyards there will be no singing or joyful sound; No treader treads out wine in the presses, For I (God) put an end to the joyful shouting.

¹¹Therefore my heart sounds like a harp [in mournful compassion] for Moab, And my inner being mourns for Kir-hareseth.

¹²So it will come to pass when Moab presents himself, When he wearies himself [worshiping] on his high place [of idolatry] And comes to his sanctuary [of Chemosh, god of Moab] to pray, That he will not prevail.

¹³This is the word which the LORD spoke earlier concerning Moab [when Moab's pride and resistance to God were first known].

¹⁴But now the LORD speaks, saying, "Within three years, as the years of a hired man [who will not serve longer than the agreed time], the glory of Moab will be degraded along with all the great population, and the remnant [that survives] will be very small and of no account."

¹The [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning Damascus [capital of Aram (Syria), and Israel's defense against Assyria]. "Listen carefully, Damascus will cease to be a city And will become a fallen ruin.

²"The cities of Aroer [east of the Jordan] are deserted; They will be [only a refuge] for flocks to lie down in, And there will be no one to make them afraid.

³"The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, And the kingdom from Damascus And the remnant of Aram (Syria); They will be like the [departed] glory of [her ally] the children of Israel," Declares the LORD of hosts.

⁴"Now in that day the [former] glory of Jacob [Israel—his might, his population, his prosperity] will fade, And the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

⁵"And it will be like the reaper gathering the standing grain, As his arm harvests the ears of grain; Yes, it will be like one gleaning ears of grain In the [fertile] Valley of Rephaim.

⁶"Yet gleanings will be left in the land [of Israel] like the shaking of the olive tree, Two or three olives on the topmost branch, Four or five on the [outermost] branches of the fruitful tree," Declares the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁷In that day man will have regard for his Maker, And his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel [with awe-inspired reverence].

⁸And he will not have regard for the [idolatrous] altars, the work of his hands, Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made, Neither the Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah) nor the incense altars.

⁹In that day the strong cities of Aram and Israel will be like deserted places in the forest, Or like branches which they abandoned before the children of Israel; And the land will be a desolation.

¹⁰Because you [Judah] have forgotten the God of your salvation And have not remembered the Rock of your Stronghold— Therefore you plant lovely plants And set the grounds with vine slips of a strange god,

¹¹In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in, And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom; Yet [promising as it is] the harvest will be a heap [of ruins that passes away] In the day of sickness and incurable pain.

¹²Oh, the uproar of many peoples Who roar like the roaring of the seas, And the noise of nations Who roar like the rumbling of mighty waters!

¹³The nations roar on like the roaring of many waters, But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away, And be chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind, Or like whirling dust before the storm.

¹⁴At evening time, now look, sudden terror! Before morning the Assyrians are no more. This is the portion (fate) of those who plunder us, And the lot of those who pillage us.

¹Woe (judgment is coming) to the land of whirring wings Which is beyond the rivers of Cush (Ethiopia),

²Which sends ambassadors by the sea, Even in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation [of people] tall and smooth (clean shaven), To a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide.

³All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, When a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it! When a trumpet is blown, you will hear it!

⁴For this is what the LORD has said to me, "I will be quiet and I will look on from My dwelling place, Like shimmering heat above the sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."

⁵For before the harvest, when the blossom is over And the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the sprigs [without buds] with pruning knives, And [He will] remove and cut away the spreading branches.

⁶They (warriors) will be left together for the mountain birds of prey, And for the beasts of the earth; And the birds of prey will [spend the] summer feeding on them, And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

⁷At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the LORD of hosts From a people tall and smooth (clean shaven), From a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the rivers divide— To the place [of worship] of the name of the LORD of hosts, to Mount Zion [in Jerusalem].

¹The [mournful, inspired] oracle ( a burden to be carried) concerning Egypt: Listen carefully, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

²"So I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will fight, each one against his brother and each one against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

³"Then the spirit of the Egyptians will become exhausted within them and emptied out; And I will confuse their strategy, So that they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, And mediums and soothsayers.

⁴"And I will hand over the Egyptians to a hard and cruel master, And a mighty king will rule over them," declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

⁵The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry.

⁶The canals will become foul-smelling, The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up, The reeds and the rushes will rot away.

⁷The meadows by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile, And all the sown fields of the Nile Will become dry, be blown away, and be no more.

⁸The fishermen will lament (cry out in grief), And all those who cast a hook into the Nile will mourn, And those who spread nets upon the waters will languish.

⁹Moreover, those who make linen from combed flax And those who weave white cloth will be ashamed.

¹⁰[Those who are] the pillars and foundations of Egypt will be crushed; And all those who work for wages will be grieved in soul.

¹¹The princes of Zoan are complete fools; The counsel of the Pharaoh's wisest advisors has become stupid. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?"

¹²Where then are your wise men? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the LORD of hosts Has purposed against Egypt [if they can].

¹³The princes of Zoan have acted like fools, The princes of Memphis are deluded [and entertain false hope]; Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes Have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴The LORD has mixed a spirit of distortion within her; Her leaders have caused Egypt to stagger in all that she does, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

¹⁵There will be no work for Egypt Which head or tail, [high] palm branch or [low] bulrush, may do.

¹⁶In that day the Egyptians will become like [helpless] women, and they will tremble and be frightened because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He is going to wave over them.

¹⁷The land of Judah [Assyria's ally] will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the LORD of hosts which He is planning against Egypt.

¹⁸In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of [the Hebrews of] Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One [of them] will be called the City of Destruction.

¹⁹In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a memorial stone to the LORD near its border.

²⁰It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior, a [Great] Defender, and He will rescue them.

²¹And so the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know [heed, honor, and cherish] the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifices [of animals] and offerings [of produce]; they will make a vow to the LORD and fulfill it.

²²The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing it; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and heal them.

²³In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship and serve [the LORD] with the Assyrians.

²⁴In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and with Assyria [in a Messianic league], a blessing in the midst of the earth,

²⁵whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage."