Dual Panel1The rulers of the land send a present of lambs from Sela by the wilderness to the mount of Zion;
2the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon are like fluttering birds, like scattered nestlings.
3“Give us counsel, intervene for us; let your shadow shield us at high noon as if it were night. Give the exiles shelter, do not betray the fugitives;
4let the exiles from Moab find a home with you and shelter them from the despoiler.” When oppression has done its work and the despoiling is over, when the heel of the aggressor has vanished from the land,
5a trusted throne will be set up in David's tent; on it there will sit a true judge, one who cares for justice and pursues right.
6We have heard how great is the haughtiness of Moab, we have heard of his pride, his surpassing pride -- his boastful talk is groundless!
7Therefore let Moab wail; let all the Moabites wail indeed; they will mourn for the prosperous farmers of Kir-hareseth, who face ruin;
8the vineyards of Heshbon languish, the vines of Sibmah, whose red grapes used to overpower the lords of the nations; they reached as far as Jazer and trailed out to the wilderness, and their spreading branches crossed the sea.
9I shall weep for Sibmah's vines as I weep for Jazer. I shall drench you with tears, Heshbon and Elealeh; for the shouts of the enemy have fallen on your summer fruits and harvest.
10Joy and gladness will be banished from the fields, no more will they tread wine in the winepresses; I have silenced the shouting of the harvesters.
11Therefore my heart throbs like a harp for Moab, and my soul for Kir-hareseth.
12Though the Moabites come to worship and weary themselves at the shrines, though they flock to their sanctuaries to pray, it will avail them nothing.
13Those are the words which the LORD spoke long ago about Moab;
14and now he says: “In three years, as a hired labourer counts them off exactly, the vast population in which Moab glories will be brought into contempt; those who are left will be few and feeble and bereft of all honour.”