Isaiah 16:1-6

1 Send ye a lamb [to] the ruler of the land, From Selah in the wilderness, Unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2 And it hath come to pass, As a wandering bird, a nest cast out, Are daughters of Moab, [at] fords of Arnon.

3 Bring ye in counsel, do judgment, Make as night thy shadow in the midst of noon, Hide outcasts, the wanderer reveal not.

4 Sojourn in thee do My outcasts, O Moab, Be a secret hiding-place to them, From the face of a destroyer, For ceased hath the extortioner, Finished hath been a destroyer, Consumed the treaders down out of the land.

5 And established in kindness is the throne, And [one] hath sat on it in truth, in the tent of David, Judging and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

6 We have heard of the pride of Moab -- very proud, His pride, and his arrogance, and his wrath, Not right [are] his devices.

Isaiah 16:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 16

This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy against Moab; in which the prophet gives good advice, but in case of a haughty neglect of it, which he foresaw, threatens with ruin, and fixes a time for it. He advises the Moabites to pay their tribute to the king of Judah, or otherwise they should be turned out of their land, as a bird out of its nest, Isa 16:1,2 to protect, and not betray the people of the Jews that should flee to them, because of the Assyrian army, Isa 16:3,4 and for this end gives a great character of the king of Judah, and assures them of the stability of his kingdom, Isa 16:5 but for their pride, wrath, and lying, they are threatened with destruction, and are represented as howling under it, Isa 16:6,7 because of the spoil of their cities, vineyards, and fields, so that they have no harvest, nor vintage, nor gathering of summer fruits, or joy on these accounts, Isa 16:8-10 for which even the prophet expresses a concern, Isa 16:11 and after having observed the application of the Moabites to their gods without success, Isa 16:12 the chapter is closed with an assurance of the certain ruin of Moab, and of the time when it should be, Isa 16:13,14.