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;
Parallel translations
- WEB The burden of Moab: for in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing; for in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing.
- BSB This is the burden against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night!
- NKJV The burden against Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste And destroyed, Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste And destroyed,
- NASB The pronouncement concerning Moab: Certainly in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined; Certainly in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.
- NLT This message came to me concerning Moab: In one night the town of Ar will be leveled, and the city of Kir will be destroyed.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
This oracle announces Moab's sudden devastation, its chief cities laid waste in a single night. The proud neighbor of Israel faces swift and total ruin.
Overview
Isaiah opens the burden against Moab with the shocking overthrow of Ar and Kir, key Moabite cities, destroyed overnight. The suddenness underscores how quickly human security can collapse under God's judgment. Though directed at a hostile neighbor, the oracle also moves Isaiah to genuine grief, reflecting God's own sorrow over the lost.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Amos 2:1–3Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
- Jer 48:1–47Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
- Isa 11:14But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
- Num 21:28For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon.
- Ezek 25:8–11Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;
- Isa 25:10For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.
- Isa 14:28In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
- Zeph 2:8–11I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
- Isa 16:11Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh.
- 1 Th 5:1–3But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
- Isa 16:7Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.
- Jer 9:26Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
- Exod 12:29–30And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
- 2 Kgs 3:25And 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.
- Isa 13:1The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
- Deut 2:9And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.
- Deut 2:18Thou art to pass over through Ar, the coast of Moab, this day:
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 15:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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