Isaiah 16:9-12

16:9 So I weep along with Jazer ¹ 

over the vines of Sibmah.

I will saturate you ²  with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh,

for the conquering invaders shout triumphantly

over your fruit and crops. ³ 

16:10 Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards,

and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts;

no one treads out juice in the wine vats ⁴  –

I have brought the joyful shouts to an end. ⁵ 

16:11 So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, ⁶ 

my inner being sighs ⁷  for Kir Hareseth. ⁸ 

16:12 When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places, ⁹ 

and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective! ¹⁰ 

[16:9]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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.”

[16:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “wine in the vats the treader does not tread.”

[16:10]  ⁵ sn The Lord appears to be the speaker here. See 15:9.

[16:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “so my intestines sigh for Moab like a harp.” The word מֵעַי (me’ay, “intestines”) is used here of the seat of the emotions. English idiom requires the word “heart.” The point of the comparison to a harp is not entirely clear. Perhaps his sighs of mourning resemble a harp in sound, or his constant sighing is like the repetitive strumming of a harp.

[16:11]  ⁷ tn The verb is supplied in the translation; “sighs” in the preceding line does double duty in the parallel structure.

[16:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “Kir Heres” (so ASV, NRSV, TEV, CEV), a variant name for “Kir Hareseth” (see v. 7).

[16:12]  ⁹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[16:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “when he appears, when he grows tired, Moab on the high places, and enters his temple to pray, he will not prevail.” It is possible that “when he grows tired” is an explanatory gloss for the preceding “when he appears.”