1 S end the tribute lamb to the ruler of the land, From Sela by way of the wilderness to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

¶ Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land, from the rock of the wilderness unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2 T hen, like fleeing birds or scattered nestlings, The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon.

For it shall be that as a wandering bird cast out of the nest so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.

3 “ Give us advice, make a decision; Cast your shadow like night at high noon; Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive.

Take counsel; execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; do not betray him that escapes.

4 “ Let the outcasts of Moab stay 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.

Let my outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the presence of the destroyer; for the extortioner shall come to an end, the destroyer shall cease, the oppressor shall be consumed out of the land.

5 A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, And a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; Moreover, he will seek justice And be prompt in righteousness.

And in mercy shall the throne be established; and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and hastening righteousness.

6 W e have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride; Even of his arrogance, pride, and fury; His idle boasts are false.

¶ We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud, even of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath, but his lies shall not be so.

7 T herefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail. You will moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth As those who are utterly stricken.

Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab; every one shall howl; for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.

8 F or the fields of Heshbon have withered, 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.

For the vines of Heshbon were cut off and the vines of Sibmah; the lords of the Gentiles have trodden down the offshoots thereof, which had come even unto Jazer and extended through the wilderness; they had gone over the sea.

9 T herefore 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.

Therefore I will bewail with the weeping Jazer of the vine of Sibmah; I will cause thee to drink my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh, for the song shall cease upon thy summer fruits and thy harvest.

10 G ladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field; In the vineyards also there will be no cries of joy or jubilant shouting, No treader treads out wine in the presses, For I have made the shouting to cease.

And gladness is taken away and joy out of the fertile field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be rejoicing: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage song to cease.

11 T herefore my heart intones like a harp for Moab And my inward feelings for Kir-hareseth.

Therefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab and my inward parts for Kirharesh.

12 S o it will come about when Moab presents himself, When he wearies himself upon his high place And comes to his sanctuary to pray, That he will not prevail.

And it shall come to pass when it is seen that Moab is weary upon the high places that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray, but he shall be unable to.

13 T his is the word which the Lord spoke earlier concerning Moab.

This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning Moab since that time.

14 B ut now the Lord speaks, saying, “Within three years, as a hired man would count them, the glory of Moab will be degraded along with all his great population, and his remnant will be very small and impotent.”

But now the LORD has spoken, saying, Within three years, as a hireling counts the years, the glory of Moab shall be cast down, with all her great multitude; and the remnant shall be few, small and feeble.