Isaiah 15:1-2

The Lord Will Judge Moab

15:1 Here is a message about Moab:

Indeed, in a night it is devastated,

Ar of Moab is destroyed!

Indeed, in a night it is devastated,

Kir of Moab is destroyed!

15:2 They went up to the temple, ¹ 

the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. ² 

Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, ³  Moab wails.

Every head is shaved bare,

every beard is trimmed off. ⁴ 

Isaiah 16:9

16:9 So I weep along with Jazer ⁵ 

over the vines of Sibmah.

I will saturate you ⁶  with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh,

for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly

over your fruit and crops. ⁷ 

Amos 1:5

1:5 I will break the bar ⁸  on the gate of Damascus.

I will remove ⁹  the ruler ¹⁰  from Wicked Valley, ¹¹ 

the one who holds the royal scepter from Beth Eden. ¹² 

The people of Aram will be deported to Kir.” ¹³ 

The Lord has spoken!

Amos 9:7

9:7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,” ¹⁴  says the Lord.

“Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,

but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor ¹⁵  and the Arameans from Kir. ¹⁶ 

[15:2]  ¹ tn Heb “house.”

[15:2]  ² tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.

[15:2]  ³ tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”

[15:2]  ⁴ sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.

[16:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “So I weep with the weeping of Jazer.” Once more the speaker (the Lord? – see v. 10b) plays the role of a mourner (see 15:5).

[16:9]  ⁶ tc The form אֲרַיָּוֶךְ (’arayyavekh) should be emended to אֲרַוָּיֶךְ (’aravvayekh; the vav [ו] and yod [י] have been accidentally transposed) from רָוָה (ravah, “be saturated”).

[16:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “for over your fruit and over your harvest shouting has fallen.” The translation assumes that the shouting is that of the conqueror (Jer 51:14). Another possibility is that the shouting is that of the harvesters (see v. 10b, as well as Jer 25:30), in which case one might translate, “for the joyful shouting over the fruit and crops has fallen silent.”

[1:5]  ⁸ sn The bar on the city gate symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

[1:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some English versions take the Hebrew term in a collective sense as “inhabitants” (e.g., KJV, NKJV, NASB, NRSV). The context and the parallel in the next clause (“the one who holds the royal scepter”), however, suggest that the royal house is in view. For this term (יוֹשֵׁב, yoshev), see N. K. Gottwald, The Tribes of Yahweh, 512-30.

[1:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “valley of wickedness.” Though many English versions take the Hebrew phrase בִקְעַת־אָוֶן (biq’-at ’aven) as a literal geographical place name (“Valley of Aven,” so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), it appears to be a derogatory epithet for Damascus and the kingdom of Aram.

[1:5]  ¹² tn Many associate the name “Beth Eden” with Bit Adini, an Aramean state located near the Euphrates River, but it may be a sarcastic epithet meaning “house of pleasure.”

[1:5]  ¹³ sn According to Amos 9:7, the Arameans originally came from Kir. The Lord threatens to reverse their history and send them back there.

[9:7]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text has a rhetorical question, “Are you children of Israel not like the Cushites to me?” The rhetorical question has been converted to an affirmative statement in the translation for clarity. See the comment at 8:8.

[9:7]  ¹⁵ sn Caphtor may refer to the island of Crete.

[9:7]  ¹⁶ tn The second half of v. 7 is also phrased as a rhetorical question in the Hebrew text, “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?” The translation converts the rhetorical question into an affirmation for clarity.