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from Sela across the wilderness,
to the mount of Daughter Zion.
2 Like fluttering birds,
pushed out of the nest;
so will be the daughters of Moab
at the fords of the Arnon.
3 “Give us counsel,
make a decision.
Make your shadow like night
at the height of noon;
hide the outcasts;
do not betray the refugees.
4 Let those who escape from Moab settle among you;
be a refuge to them from the destroyer.”
When the oppressor has come to an end
and destruction has ceased,
the marauders will vanish from the land,
5 Then in the tent of David
a throne will be established by faithful love;
a ruler, who is swift to execute justice
will sit on the throne judging,
in faithfulness, forever.
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab—
how very proud he is—
of his haughtiness, his pride, and his insolence;
but his boasting is empty.
7 Therefore let Moab wail;
let them all wail for Moab together.
Mourn and grieve
for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.
8 For the fields of Heshbon wither,
and the vines of Sibmah also.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled down its choice vines,
that reached as far as Jazer,
and spread to the desert.
Their shoots once spread abroad
and stretched out as far as the sea.
9 Therefore I weep for the vine of Sibmah,
with the weeping of Jazer;
I drench you with my tears,
O Heshbon and Elealeh;
for the shouts of joy have ceased
over your summer fruits and your harvest.
10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field;
there is no singing or shouts of joy in the vineyards;
no treaders tread out wine in the presses;
I have put an end to the shouting.
11 Therefore my heart throbs like a lyre for Moab,
and my inmost being for Kir-heres.
12 When Moab appears on the high place,
and wears himself out there,
then he goes to his sanctuary to pray,
yet he does not succeed.
13 This is the word that the Lord has already spoken about Moab in the past. 14 But now the Lord says, “Within three years as a hired man would count them, the glory of Moab will become despised, in spite of a very large population. Then those who survive will be very few and feeble.”