Jeremiah 48:20

48:20 They will answer, ‘Moab is disgraced, for it has fallen!

Wail and cry out in mourning!

Announce along the Arnon River

that Moab has been destroyed.’

Jeremiah 51:8

51:8 But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed. ¹ 

Cry out in mourning over it!

Get medicine for her wounds!

Perhaps she can be healed!

Isaiah 13:6

13:6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment ²  is near;

it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. ³ 

Isaiah 14:31

14:31 Wail, O city gate!

Cry out, O city!

Melt with fear, ⁴  all you Philistines!

For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke,

and there are no stragglers in its ranks. ⁵ 

Isaiah 15:2

15:2 They went up to the temple, ⁶ 

the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. ⁷ 

Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, ⁸  Moab wails.

Every head is shaved bare,

every beard is trimmed off. ⁹ 

Isaiah 16:7

16:7 So Moab wails over its demise ¹⁰  –

they all wail!

Completely devastated, they moan

about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 23:1

The Lord Will Judge Tyre

23:1 Here is a message about Tyre:

Wail, you large ships, ¹² 

for the port is too devastated to enter! ¹³ 

From the land of Cyprus ¹⁴  this news is announced to them.

Isaiah 23:6

23:6 Travel to Tarshish!

Wail, you residents of the coast!

James 5:1

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ¹⁵  over the miseries that are coming on you.

[51:8]  ¹ tn The verbs in this verse and the following are all in the Hebrew perfect tense, a tense that often refers to a past action or a past action with present results. However, as the translator’s notes have indicated, the prophets use this tense to view the actions as if they were as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). The stance here is ideal, viewed as already accomplished.

[13:6]  ² tn Heb “the day of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).

[13:6]  ³ tn Heb “like destruction from the sovereign judge it comes.” The comparative preposition (כְּ, kÿ) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the destruction unleashed will have all the earmarks of divine judgment. One could paraphrase, “it comes as only destructive divine judgment can.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x.

[14:31]  ⁴ tn Or “despair” (see HALOT 555 s.v. מוג). The form נָמוֹג (namog) should be taken here as an infinitive absolute functioning as an imperative. See GKC 199-200 §72.v.

[14:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “and there is no one going alone in his appointed places.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. בּוֹדֵד (boded) appears to be a participle from בָּדַד (badad, “be separate”; see BDB 94 s.v. בָּדַד). מוֹעָד (mo’ad) may mean “assembly” or, by extension, “multitude” (see HALOT 558 s.v. *מוֹעָד), but the referent of the third masculine pronominal suffix attached to the noun is unclear. It probably refers to the “nation” mentioned in the next line.

[15:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[15:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.

[15:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”

[15:2]  ⁹ sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.

[16:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “So Moab wails for Moab.”

[16:7]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text has, “for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth you [masculine plural] moan, surely destroyed.” The “raisin cakes” could have cultic significance (see Hos 3:1), but the next verse focuses on agricultural disaster, so here the raisin cakes are mentioned as an example of the fine foods that are no longer available (see 2 Sam 6:19; Song 2:5) because the vines have been destroyed by the invader (see v. 8). Some prefer to take אֲשִׁישֵׁי (’ashishe, “raisin cakes of”) as “men of” (see HALOT 95 s.v. *אָשִׁישׁ; cf. NIV). The verb form תֶהְגּוּ (tehgu, “you moan”) is probably the result of dittography (note that the preceding word ends in tav [ת]) and should be emended to הגו (a perfect, third plural form), “they moan.”

[23:1]  ¹² tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.

[23:1]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for it is destroyed, from a house, from entering.” The translation assumes that the mem (מ) on בַּיִת (bayit) was originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. This assumption allows one to take בַּיִת as the subject of the preceding verb. It is used in a metaphorical sense for the port city of Tyre. The preposition min (מִן) prefixed to בּוֹא (bo’) indicates negative consequence: “so that no one can enter.” See BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b.

[23:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Kittim,” a designation for the people of Cyprus. See HALOT 504-05 s.v. כִּתִּיִּים.

[5:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”