1  Send ye the lambs for the ruler of the land from the crags that are toward the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

1  I will send as it were reptiles on the land: is not the mount of the daughter of Sion a desolate rock?

1  THE prophecy concerning the rest of the land. I will send the son of the ruler of the land from the rock city of the wilderness, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2  For it shall be that, as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of Arnon.

2  For thou shalt be as a young bird taken away from a bird that has flown: even thou shalt be so, daughter of Moab: and then do thou, O Arnon,

2  And this shall be: like a bird fleeing away, and like fledglings flying from the nest, so will the daughters of Moab be at the passage of Arnon.

3  'Give counsel, execute justice; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not the fugitive.

3  take farther counsel, and continually make thou a shelter from grief: they flee in darkness at mid-day; they are amazed; be not thou led captive.

3  Form a plan. Call a council. Let your shadow be as if it were night, even at midday. Conceal the fugitives, and do not betray the wanderers.

4  Let mine outcasts dwell with thee; as for Moab, be thou a covert to him from the face of the spoiler.' For the extortion is at an end, spoiling ceaseth, they that trampled down are consumed out of the land;

4  The fugitives of Moab shall sojourn with thee; they shall be to you a shelter from the face of the pursuer: for thine alliance has been taken away, and the oppressing ruler has perished from off the earth.

4  My fugitives will live with you. Become a hiding place, O Moab, from the face of the destroyer. For the dust is at its end; the miserable one has been consumed. He who trampled the earth has failed.

5  And a throne is established through mercy, and there sitteth thereon in truth, in the tent of David, one that judgeth, and seeketh justice, and is ready in righteousness.

5  And a throne will be prepared in mercy, and One shall sit upon it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment, and quickly repaying what is just.

5  In mercy shall a throne be established, and he shall sit upon it, in truth in the tabernacle of David, a judge who seeks justice and hastens righteousness.

6  We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud; even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his arrogancy, his ill-founded boastings.

7  Therefore shall Moab wail for Moab, every one shall wail; for the sweet cakes of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn, sorely stricken.

7  Moab shall howl; for all shall howl in the land of Moab: but thou shalt care for them that dwell in Seth, and thou shalt not be ashamed.

7  For this reason, Moab will wail to Moab; each one will wail. Speak of their wounds to those who rejoice upon the brick walls.

8  For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah, whose choice plants did overcome the lords of nations; they reached even unto Jazer, they wandered into the wilderness; her branches were spread abroad, they passed over the sea.

8  The plains of Esebon shall mourn, the vine of Sebama: swallowing up the nations, trample ye her vines, even to Jazer: ye shall not come together; wander ye in the desert: they that were sent are deserted, for they have gone over to the sea.

8  For the suburbs of Heshbon are deserted, and the lords of the Gentiles have cut down the vineyard of Sibmah. Its vines have arrived even at Jazer. They have wandered in the desert. Its seedlings have been abandoned. They have crossed over the sea.

9  Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah; I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh; for upon thy summer fruits and upon thy harvest the battle shout is fallen.

10  And gladness and joy are taken away out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting; no treader shall tread out wine in the presses; I have made the vintage shout to cease.

10  And gladness and rejoicing shall be taken away from the vineyards; and they shall not at all tread wine into the vats; for the vintage has ceased.

10  And so, rejoicing and exultation will be taken away from Carmel, and there will be no jubilation or exultation in the vineyards. He who was accustomed to tread will not tread out the wine in the winepress. I have taken away the sound of those who tread.

11  Wherefore my heart moaneth like a harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-heres.

11  Therefore my belly shall sound as a harp for Moab, and thou hast repaired my inward parts as a wall.

11  Over this, my heart will resonate like a harp for Moab, and my inner most being for the brick wall.

12  And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab hath wearied himself upon the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail

12  And it shall be to thy shame, (for Moab is wearied at the altars,) that he shall go in to the idols thereof to pray, but they shall not be at all able to deliver him.

12  And this shall be: when it is seen that Moab has struggled upon his high places, he will enter his holy places to pray, but he will not prevail.

13  This is the word that YHWH spoke concerning Moab in time past.

14  But now YHWH hath spoken, saying: 'Within three years, as the years of a hireling, and the glory of Moab shall wax contemptible for all his great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and without strength.'

14  And now I say, in three years, of the years of an hireling, the glory of Moab shall be dishonoured with all his great wealth; and he shall be left few in number, and not honoured.

14  And now the Lord has spoken, saying: In three years, like the years of a hired hand, the glory of Moab concerning the entire multitude of the people will be taken away, and what is left behind will be small and weak and not so numerous.