Isaiah 15:1-8

A Message About Moab

1 Here is a message the LORD gave me about Moab. The city of Ar in Moab is destroyed. It happened in a single night. Kir in Moab is also destroyed. It happened in a single night.
2 The people of Dibon go up to their temple to worship. They go to their high places to sob. The people of Moab cry over the cities of Nebo and Medeba. All of their heads are shaved. All of their beards have been cut off.
3 In the streets they wear black clothes. On their roofs and in the market places all of them are crying. They fall down flat with their faces toward the ground. And they sob.
4 The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out. Their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz. So the fighting men of Moab cry out. Their hearts are weak.
5 My heart cries out over Moab. Some who run away get as far as Zoar. Others run all the way to Eglath Shelishiyah. Others go up the road to Luhith. They are sobbing as they go. Still others travel the road to Horonaim. They sing a song of sadness because their town is being destroyed.
6 The waters at Nimrim are dried up. And so is the grass. The plants have died. Nothing green is left.
7 The people are trying to escape through the Valley of the Poplar Trees. They are carrying with them the wealth they have collected and stored up.
8 Their loud cries echo along the border of Moab. They reach as far as Eglaim. Their songs of sadness reach all the way to Beer Elim.

Isaiah 15:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 15

This chapter is a prophecy of the destruction of the Moabites; two of their principal cities are mentioned as made desolate, Isa 15:1 the inhabitants in divers places are represented as weeping and mourning, and showing various signs of it, Isa 15:2,3 yea, not only the common people, but the armed soldiers also, Isa 15:4 nay, even the prophet himself, Isa 15:5 the reasons of which were the great drought, so that there were no grass, nor green thing, Isa 15:6 the carrying away of their good things, either by themselves or others, Isa 15:7 the flight and cry of the people to the very borders of the land, Isa 15:8 and the great effusion of blood, Isa 15:9.

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