Isaiah 16:7
New International Version
Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.

New Living Translation
The entire land of Moab weeps. Yes, everyone in Moab mourns for the cakes of raisins from Kir-hareseth. They are all gone now.

English Standard Version
Therefore let Moab wail for Moab, let everyone wail. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore let Moab wail; let them wail together for Moab. Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, you who are utterly stricken.

King James Bible
Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.

New King James Version
Therefore Moab shall wail for Moab; Everyone shall wail. For the foundations of Kir Hareseth you shall mourn; Surely they are stricken.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail. You will moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth As those who are utterly stricken.

NASB 1995
Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail. You will moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth As those who are utterly stricken.

NASB 1977
Therefore Moab shall wail; everyone of Moab shall wail. You shall moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth As those who are utterly stricken.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail. You will moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth As those who are utterly stricken.

Amplified Bible
Therefore Moab will wail for Moab; everyone will wail. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, As those who are utterly stricken and discouraged.

Christian Standard Bible
Therefore let Moab wail; let every one of them wail for Moab. You who are completely devastated, mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Therefore let Moab wail; let every one of them wail for Moab. Mourn, you who are completely devastated, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

American Standard Version
Therefore shall Moab wail for Moab, every one shall wail: for the raisin-cakes of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn, utterly stricken.

Contemporary English Version
Tell everyone in Moab to mourn for their nation. Tell them to cry and weep for those fancy raisins of Kir-Hareseth.

English Revised Version
Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the raisin-cakes of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn, utterly stricken.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
That is why Moab will wail. Everyone will wail for Moab. Mourn and grieve over the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.

Good News Translation
The people of Moab will weep because of the troubles they suffer. They will all weep when they remember the fine food they used to eat in the city of Kir Heres. They will be driven to despair.

International Standard Version
Therefore, let Moab not wail, let everyone wail for Moab. Lament and grieve deeply for the ruined remains of Kir-hareseth.

Majority Standard Bible
Therefore let Moab wail; let them wail together for Moab. Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, you who are utterly stricken.

NET Bible
So Moab wails over its demise--they all wail! Completely devastated, they moan about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.

New Heart English Bible
Ah, let not Moab wail; let everyone wail for Moab. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth, utterly stricken.

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.

World English Bible
Therefore Moab will wail for Moab. Everyone will wail. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth, utterly stricken.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Therefore Moab howls for Moab, all of it howls, "" It meditates for the grape-cakes of Kir-Hareseth, "" They are surely struck.

Young's Literal Translation
Therefore howl doth Moab for Moab, all of it doth howl, For the grape-cakes of Kir-Hareseth it meditateth, Surely they are smitten.

Smith's Literal Translation
For this shall Moab wail for Moab, every one shall wail: for the foundations of the wall of Haresheth shall ye sigh; surely they were smitten.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, every one shall howl: to them that rejoice upon the brick walls, tell ye their stripes.

Catholic Public Domain Version
For this reason, Moab will wail to Moab; each one will wail. Speak of their wounds to those who rejoice upon the brick walls.

New American Bible
Therefore let Moab wail, let everyone wail for Moab; For the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth let them sigh, stricken with grief.

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore let Moab wail, let everyone wail for Moab. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Therefore shall Moab howl; every one shall howl for Moab, for the foundations of the walls are destroyed; surely they groan like the sick.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Because of this, Moab shall howl and all shall howl for Moab. You shall moan as the sick for the foundations of the wall that are destroyed
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Therefore shall Moab wail for Moab, Every one shall wail; for the sweet cakes of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn, Sorely stricken.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Moab shall howl; for all shall howl in the land of Moab: but thou shalt care for them that dwell in Seth, and thou shalt not be ashamed.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
A Prophecy of Moab's Devastation
6We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty. 7Therefore let Moab wail; let them wail together for Moab. Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, you who are utterly stricken. 8For the fields of Heshbon have withered, along with the grapevines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choicest vines, which had reached as far as Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots had spread out and passed over the sea.…

Cross References
Jeremiah 48:31-32
Therefore I will wail for Moab; I will cry out for all of Moab; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres. / I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah, more than I weep for Jazer. Your tendrils have extended to the sea; they reach even to Jazer. The destroyer has descended on your summer fruit and grape harvest.

Jeremiah 48:36-38
Therefore My heart laments like a flute for Moab; it laments like a flute for the men of Kir-heres, because the wealth they acquired has perished. / For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth. / On all the rooftops of Moab and in the public squares, everyone is mourning; for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar,” declares the LORD.

Ezekiel 27:31-32
They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning. / As they wail and mourn over you, they will take up a lament for you: ‘Who was ever like Tyre, silenced in the middle of the sea?

Lamentations 2:11
My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

Lamentations 1:2
She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

Amos 6:6
You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

Zephaniah 2:9
Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”

Isaiah 15:5
My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath-shelishiyah. With weeping they ascend the slope of Luhith; they lament their destruction on the road to Horonaim.

Isaiah 21:2-4
A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.” / Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see. / My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight I desired has turned to horror.

Isaiah 22:4
Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

Isaiah 24:7-9
The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan. / The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent. / They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it.

Isaiah 32:12-13
Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines, / and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.

Isaiah 33:7
Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.

Isaiah 34:13-15
Her towers will be overgrown with thorns, her fortresses with thistles and briers. She will become a haunt for jackals, an abode for ostriches. / The desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and one wild goat will call to another. There the night creature will settle and find her place of repose. / There the owl will make her nest; she will lay and hatch her eggs and gather her brood under her shadow. Even there the birds of prey will gather, each with its mate.

Isaiah 35:10
So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall you mourn; surely they are stricken.

shall Moab

Isaiah 15:2-5
He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off…

Jeremiah 48:20
Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,

Kirhareseth

Isaiah 16:11
Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh.

Isaiah 15:1
The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence;

2 Kings 3:25
And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.

mourn.

Isaiah 8:19
And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

Jump to Previous
Afflicted Cakes Cries Crushed Earth Foundations Grief Grieve Hareseth Howl Kir Kir-Hareseth Lament Moab Moabites Moan Mourn Raisin Raisin-Cakes Sorely Stricken Surely Sweet Together Utterly Verily Wail Weeping
Jump to Next
Afflicted Cakes Cries Crushed Earth Foundations Grief Grieve Hareseth Howl Kir Kir-Hareseth Lament Moab Moabites Moan Mourn Raisin Raisin-Cakes Sorely Stricken Surely Sweet Together Utterly Verily Wail Weeping
Isaiah 16
1. Moab is exhorted to yield obedience to the throne of David
6. Moab is threatened for her pride
9. The prophet bewails her
12. The judgment of Moab














Therefore let Moab wail
The word "wail" in Hebrew is "yalal," which conveys a deep, mournful cry, often associated with lamentation and mourning. In the context of Isaiah, this wailing is a response to impending judgment and destruction. Moab, a nation often in conflict with Israel, is depicted here as facing divine retribution. Historically, Moab was a neighboring nation east of the Dead Sea, often at odds with Israel. The call for Moab to wail signifies the seriousness of their plight and the inevitability of God's judgment due to their pride and idolatry.

let them wail together for Moab
The repetition of "wail" emphasizes the collective nature of the mourning. It is not just an individual lament but a national outcry. The phrase "together for Moab" suggests a unity in their suffering and a shared recognition of their fate. This collective mourning can be seen as a call to repentance, a theme prevalent throughout the prophetic books. The unity in lamentation also highlights the communal aspect of ancient Near Eastern societies, where the fate of the individual was closely tied to the fate of the nation.

Lament and grieve over the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth
The term "lament" is another expression of deep sorrow, while "grieve" adds an element of personal loss and emotional pain. The "raisin cakes" are significant as they were likely a delicacy or a staple product of Kir-hareseth, a major city in Moab. These cakes could also have been used in pagan worship, which would add a layer of spiritual significance to their loss. Kir-hareseth, known today as Kerak, was a fortified city, and its mention here underscores the totality of Moab's devastation. The loss of such a product symbolizes the broader economic and cultural collapse that accompanies divine judgment. This serves as a reminder of the futility of relying on material goods and cultural achievements in the face of God's sovereign will.

(7) Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab.--Either the whole nation wailing for its downfall, or the survivors wailing for the fallen.

The foundations of Kir-hareseth.--The name has been commonly explained as the "brick fortress," (city of pottery). Others, with a different derivation, make it "city of the sun." Others, again (E. H. Palmer, in the Athenaeum of August 19, 1871), connect it with hareith, the modern Moabite name for the hillocks on which the rock fortresses were built. The word for foundations occurs in Hosea 3:1, for raisin-cakes ("flagons of wine" in the Authorised version (comp. 2Samuel 6:19, Song Song of Solomon 2:5), and has been supposed to refer to this as the main product of Kir-hareseth, the traffic in which she lost through the destruction of the vineyards, mentioned in the next verse. Ruins would, in any case, be better than "foundations."

Verse 7. - Every one shall howl; rather, the whole of it shall howl; i.e. the entire nation collectively (comp. Herod., 8:99; 9:24). For the foundations of Kir-Hareseth shall ye mourn. The word here translated "foundations" is elsewhere always rendered "flagons" or "flagons of wine" (2 Samuel 6:19; Song of Solomon 2:5; Hosea 3:1). And this rendering is more agreeable to the context than "foundations," since it is the loss of the products of the soil which is threatened in the next three verses. "Kir-Hareseth" is probably the same place as the "Kir-Moab" of Isaiah 15:1. It was one of the principal cities of Moab (see 2 Kings 2:25).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Therefore
לָכֵ֗ן (lā·ḵên)
Adverb
Strong's 3651: So -- thus

let Moab
מוֹאָ֛ב (mō·w·’āḇ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 4124: Moab -- a son of Lot,also his descendants and the territory where they settled

wail;
יְיֵלִ֥יל (yə·yê·lîl)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3213: To howl, make a howling

let them wail
יְיֵלִ֑יל (yə·yê·lîl)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3213: To howl, make a howling

together
כֻּלֹּ֣ה (kul·lōh)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

for Moab.
לְמוֹאָ֖ב (lə·mō·w·’āḇ)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 4124: Moab -- a son of Lot,also his descendants and the territory where they settled

Mourn
תֶּהְגּ֖וּ (teh·gū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 1897: To moan, growl, utter, speak, muse

for the raisin cakes
לַאֲשִׁישֵׁ֧י (la·’ă·šî·šê)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 808: A, foundation

of Kir-hareseth,
חֲרֶ֛שֶׂת (ḥă·re·śeṯ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 7025: Kir-hareseth -- 'wall of earthenware', a fortified city in Moab

you who are utterly
אַךְ־ (’aḵ-)
Adverb
Strong's 389: A particle of affirmation, surely

stricken.
נְכָאִֽים׃ (nə·ḵā·’îm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5218: Smitten, afflicted


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 16:7 Therefore Moab will wail for Moab (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 16:6
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