The prophet prayeth for Christ's coming. The affliction of the Moabites
for their pride.
16:1. Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra
of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion.
16:2. And it shall come to pass, that as a bird fleeing away, and as
young ones flying out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in
the passage of Arnon.
16:3. Take counsel, gather a council: make thy shadow as the night in
the midday: hide them that flee, and betray not them that wander about.
16:4. My fugitives shall dwell with thee: O Moab, be thou a covert to
them from the face of the destroyer: for the dust is at an end, the
wretch is consumed: he hath failed, that trod the earth under foot.
16:5. And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon
it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment
and quickly rendering that which is just.
16:6. We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud: his
pride and his arrogancy, and his indignation is more than his strength.
16:7. Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, every one shall howl: to them
that rejoice upon the brick walls, tell ye their stripes.
16:8. For the suburbs of Hesebon are desolate, and the lords of the
nations have destroyed the vineyard of Sabama: the branches thereof
have reached even to Jazer: they have wandered in the wilderness, the
branches thereof are left, they are gone over the sea.
16:9. Therefore I will lament with the weeping of Jazer the vineyard of
Sabama: I will water thee with my tears, O Hesebon, and Eleale: for the
voice of the treaders hath rushed in upon thy vintage, and upon thy
harvest.
16:10. And gladness and joy shall be taken away from Carmel, and there
shall be no rejoicing nor shouting in the vineyards. He shall not tread
out wine in the press that was wont to tread it out: the voice of the
treaders I have taken away.
Carmel. . .This name is often taken to signify a fair and fruitful hill
or field, such as mount Carmel is.
16:11. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and my
inward parts for the brick wall.
16:12. And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is wearied
on his high places, that he shall go in to his sanctuaries to pray, and
shall not prevail.
16:13. This is the word, that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time:
16:14. And now the Lord hath spoken, saying: In three years, as the
years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be taken away for all the
multitude of the people, and it shall be left small and feeble, not
many.