1 Dispatch a lamb to the ruler {moshel: regional authority} of the land, sending it from Sela toward the wilderness and up to the mount of the daughter of Zion {bat-tziyon: Jerusalem personified}.
2 It will be like a wandering bird {noded: drifting aimlessly} driven from the nest; so the daughters of Moab will be at the fords {maavarot: crossing points} of the Arnon.
3 Bring counsel, render judgment {pelilah: legal decision}; set your shadow {tsillekh: protective covering} like night in the middle of noon; hide the outcasts, and do not reveal the wanderer.
4 Let my outcasts {niddachay: those driven away} sojourn with you, Moab; be a shelter for them from the face of the destroyer. For the oppressor has come to an end, plundering has ceased, and the trampler {rômēs: destructive oppressor} has vanished from the land.
5 A throne will be established by mercy {chesed: steadfast love}, and one will sit on it in truth in the tent of David, judging and diligently seeking justice, and swiftly bringing righteousness {tsedek: conformity to divine standard}.
6 We have heard of Moab’s {mo-av: ancient eastern kingdom} pride—how very proud he is—his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath {evrah: intense fury}; but his boasts are not true.
7 Therefore Moab will wail for Moab; all of it will wail. For the raisin-cakes {ashishim: pressed fruit offerings} of Kir-Hareseth {kir-chareshet: fortified Moabite city} you will groan, utterly stricken.
8 For the fields {shadmot: cultivated fields} of Heshbon are withered, and the vine of Sibmah languishes; the lords of the nations have struck its choice branches {seruqeha: select shoots}. They reached as far as Jazer and strayed into the wilderness; its tendrils are spread out, and they have crossed over the sea.
9 Therefore I will weep with Jazer’s lament for the vine of Sibmah; I will drench {arayyavekh: metaphorical flooding} you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh, for the shout {heidad: harvest rejoicing} over your summer fruit and your harvest has fallen.
10 Joy and gladness {simchah: festal rejoicing} have been withdrawn from the fertile plateau; in the vineyards there shall be no singing or shouting; no wine will be trodden in the winepresses; I {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} have brought the vintage shout to an end.
11 Therefore my inner parts {me'ai: seat of deep emotion} groan like a harp for Moab, and my inward being {kirbi: inner self} groans for Kir Hares.
12 And it shall be, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place {bamah: elevated worship site}, that he will come to his sanctuary {mikdash: cultic shrine} to pray, but he will not prevail.
13 This is the message the LORD {YHWH, Prophetic Speaker} spoke concerning Moab from of old {meaz: Earlier Times}.
14 And now the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Speaker} has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as the years of a hired worker {sakhir: contract laborer}, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt among all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small, not mighty.”