3Give us counsel and make a decision.
Shelter us at noonday
with shade that is as dark as night.
Hide the refugees;a
do not betray the one who flees.
4Let my refugees stay with you;
be a refuge for MoabA from the aggressor.
When the oppressor has gone,
destruction has ended,
and marauders have vanished from the land,
5a throne will be established in love,a
and one will sit on it faithfullyA
in the tent of David,
judging and pursuing what is right,
quick to execute justice.
6We have heard of Moab’s pridea —
how very proud he is —
his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance,
and his empty boasting.
7Therefore let Moab wail;
let every one of them wail for Moab.
You who are completely devastated, mourn
for the raisin cakesa of Kir-hareseth.b
8For Heshbon’s terraced vineyards
and the grapevines of Sibmah have withered.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled its choice vines
that reached as far as Jazera
and spread to the desert.
Their shoots spread out
and reached the sea.b
9So I join with Jazer
to weep for the vines of Sibmah;
I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears.
Triumphant shouts have fallen silentA
over your summer fruit and your harvest.
10Joy and rejoicinga have been removed from the orchard;
no one is singing or shouting for joy in the vineyards.b
No one tramples grapesA in the winepresses.
I have put an end to the shouting.
11Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab,a
as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.
12When Moab appears
and tires himself out on the high placea
and comes to his sanctuary to pray,
it will do him no good.b
