1 SEND ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2 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  Take counsel, execute judgment; [ Reduced to refugee status, the people of Moab want someone to cover their sins and care for them. Parallel lines—“to those who rule in the earth” and “to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion”—imply that the Moabites are appealing for help to Jehovah’s people in Zion who have now come into their own. The reference to Moab’s “women” may be both literal and figurative (cf. Isaiah 3:12; 19:16).] make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.

4  Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; [ As the type of a kindred people with a sense of entitlement, the Moabites, who form a part of Isaiah’s Greater Babylon, look to others to alleviate the woes they have brought on themselves by their own actions or inactions. ] be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.

5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, [ The answer to the Moabites’ plight isn’t a temporary refuge from Assyria’s aggression or relief from covenant curses. It is the establishment of a government that administers justice and righteousness. By bringing things to a head in his Day of Judgment, Jehovah puts an end to man’s tyranny of man and replaces it with a theocracy in which Israel’s God rules. Jehovah’s “loving kindness” signifies his millennial covenant with his end-time son and servant, ancient David’s heir (Isaiah 55:3). ] judging, [ The term “judge” identifies both Jehovah and his servant—Jehovah’s righteousness (Isaiah 2:4; 11:3-4; 41:2; 51:5). ] and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

6 ¶ 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. [ Moab’s self-exaltation—like that of Greater Babylon—inevitably leads to humiliation in Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. ]

7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.

8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea. [ When the Assyrian alliance of nations destroys Greater Babylon, agriculture undergoes a dearth as typified by withering “vines” and “vineyards” (Isaiah 24:7; 42:15). Jehovah’s people who return to Zion in a new wandering in the wilderness, on the other hand, experience the opposite: “Then shall a Spirit from on high be poured out on us; the desert shall become productive land and lands now productive be reckoned as brushwood” (Isaiah 32:15). The idea of vines that “spread abroad across the sea” alludes to the interdependence of all parts of Greater Babylon’s economic empire (Isaiah 23:7-8, Isaiah 23:7-8, 11; 47:5; 47:5).]

9 ¶ Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.

10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease. [ A reversal of circumstances between Zion and Greater Babylon marks Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. Although the “summer fruit and harvest” denotes the most joyous time of the year, that joy turns to gloom as Moab, which formerly enjoyed prosperity, now lies in ruins. Jehovah’s elect, on the other hand—who suffered gloom prior to Jehovah’s Day of Judgment—now experience joy: “Jehovah is comforting Zion, bringing solace to all her ruins; he is making her wilderness like Eden, her desert as the garden of Jehovah. Joyful rejoicing takes place there, thanksgiving with the voice of song” (Isaiah 51:3). ]

11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh.

12 ¶ And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail. [ Repentance comes too late to avoid catastrophe for this fraternal people. Now they must endure the hardships of that evil time as a consequence of wickedness until their iniquities are purged. Still, those who love all of God’s children loathe to see others suffer and are profoundly moved at Moab’s belated penitence (Isaiah 15:2-3). They know that Jehovah readily hears those who love him, whose hearts are right with him: “O people of Zion, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall have no cause to weep. He will graciously respond at the cry of your voice; he will answer you as soon as he hears it” (Isaiah 30:19).]

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

14 But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, [ Moab’s three-year lease of time in which to mend its ways applies to Greater Babylon in general. In his long-suffering, Jehovah sends the world three years of warning through his servant before his Day of Judgment commences (Isaiah 20:1-6). Then, in a long-awaited reversal of circumstances, Greater Babylon’s glory turns to ignominy while Zion’s ignominy turns to glory (Isaiah 47:1; 52:1-3). Although Greater Babylon comprises a majority of the world’s population, it boasts of no righteous surviving remnant (Isaiah 13:19; 14:22; 21:9). The few souls of Moab who remain alive aren’t noteworthy. ] and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.