Background
Chapter 16 continues the oracle against Moab from chapter 15. It has three movements. First, a surprising invitation: Moab should send tribute to Zion and seek refuge there, and Judah should shelter Moab’s refugees (verses 1–5). This part contains one of Isaiah’s messianic glimpses, a throne “established in mercy” in the tabernacle of David. Second, the reason Moab won’t accept the invitation, its pride, and Isaiah’s lament as its vineyards wither (verses 6–12). Third, a dated postscript: within three years Moab’s glory will be humbled (verses 13–14).
The thread through the chapter
Isaiah 16 poses a question that runs through the whole Bible: when disaster comes, where will you go for refuge?
Moab’s refugees are wandering like birds pushed out of a nest (verse 2). Isaiah’s counsel is remarkable. Send the customary tribute of lambs to Jerusalem, “the mount of the daughter of Zion” (verse 1). In other words, submit to Zion’s king and ask for protection. Then, in verses 3–4, the voice seems to shift, and Judah is urged to shelter Moab’s outcasts: “hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.” Enemies are to become refugees and guests.
Why would this work? Because in Zion “in mercy shall the throne be established,” with a righteous King on it in “the tabernacle of David” (verse 5). The Davidic King of Isaiah 9 and 11 is the one who can shelter Moab.
But Moab won’t come. “We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud” (verse 6). The words pile up: pride, haughtiness, arrogance, wrath. Moab would rather wail at its own high places (verse 12) than humble itself before Zion’s King.
So Isaiah weeps again, this time over Moab’s famous vineyards, now trampled and silent (verses 7–11). The saddest thing about this chapter isn’t Moab’s destruction. It is the open door Moab refused to walk through.
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
Seek refuge in Zion
Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela across the desert to Mount Zion. Moab’s women are like birds pushed from the nest, fluttering at the fords of the Arnon. “Give us advice! Make a decision! Shade us as though it were night even at noon. Hide the refugees; don’t betray the fugitives. Let Moab’s outcasts live among you; be their shelter from the destroyer.” When the oppressor is gone and the destruction has ended, a throne will be established in steadfast love. A faithful King will sit on it in the house of David, one who judges fairly, seeks justice, and is quick to do what is right.
1 Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.
3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.
4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.
5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
The pride of Moab
We have heard about Moab’s pride. It is enormous: arrogance, conceit, and fury, and its boasting is empty. So Moab wails for Moab. Everyone mourns for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, completely ruined. Heshbon’s fields wither, and so do the vines of Sibmah. Rulers of the nations have trampled its best vines, which once spread to Jazer, into the desert, and across the sea. So I weep with Jazer for the vines of Sibmah. I drench you with my tears, Heshbon and Elealeh, because the harvest shouts are gone. Joy is gone from the orchards. No one sings in the vineyards, and no one treads grapes in the presses. I have ended the harvest shouting. My heart moans for Moab like a harp, my inner self for Kir-hareseth. When Moab wears itself out at its high place and goes to its shrine to pray, it will do no good.
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.
7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.
8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.
9 Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.
10 And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.
11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh.
12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.
Within three years
This is what the Lord said about Moab in the past. But now the Lord says: “Within three years, counted as exactly as a hired worker counts his contract, Moab’s splendor and its great population will be brought into contempt. Only a few will be left, small and weak.”
Seeing Christ in Isaiah 16
The center of this chapter is verse 5: a throne established in mercy (chesed), in the tabernacle of David, with a King who judges in truth and hurries to do right. That is Jesus Christ, the Son of David, whose throne is a refuge for outcasts from every nation, including Moab.
The chapter also shows two ways to respond to Him. One is to send the lamb to Zion (verse 1) and find shelter. The other is to stay proud and pray at your own high place (verses 6, 12). He offers His covert “from the face of the spoiler” (verse 4) to all. Moab’s tragedy was refusing it.
Liken it to yourself
- When I’m in trouble, what is my first instinct: to seek the Lord’s refuge, or to climb to my own “high place” and try harder?
- Verse 3 asks Judah to hide the outcasts. Who are the outcasts in my community, and what would it mean to be a “covert” for them?
- Is there any area where pride, even quiet pride, is keeping me from accepting help that’s being offered?
Worth exploring next
- The tabernacle of David. Read Amos 9:11–12 and Acts 15:13–17. How did the early Church understand the rebuilding of David’s tabernacle?
- The Lord’s compassion. Compare Isaiah’s “bowels” for Moab with Isa. 63:15, 3 Ne. 17:6–7, and Alma 7:11–12.
- Pride. Read President Ezra Taft Benson’s “Beware of Pride” (April 1989) and compare its description with Isaiah 16:6.
This chapter elsewhere in scripture
- Jer. 48:29–47 — Jeremiah’s later version of the lament over Moab’s pride and vineyards.
Sources & further reading
- “Moab”, Bible Dictionary.
- Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride”, general conference, Apr. 1989.
- Chapter 14: A Voice of Warning to the Wicked (Isaiah 13–23), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
- John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998.
- Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.