Limitless Word
Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab; Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler. For the extortioner is at an end, Devastation ceases, The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
Isaiah 16:4 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Let my outcasts dwell with you! As for Moab, be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. For the extortionist is brought to nothing. Destruction ceases. The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
  • KJV 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.
  • BSB Let my fugitives stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the destroyer.” When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased, and the oppressors have vanished from the land,
  • NASB “Let the outcasts of Moab stay with you; Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer.” For the oppressor has come to an end, destruction has ceased, Oppressors have been removed from the land.
  • NLT Let our refugees stay among you. Hide them from our enemies until the terror is past.” When oppression and destruction have ended and enemy raiders have disappeared,

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

Moab asks that its outcasts be allowed to dwell safely in Judah, hidden from the destroyer, for oppression will soon end. The plea looks toward a coming day when tyranny ceases.

Overview

The fugitives seek asylum until the oppressor passes, and the prophecy assures that extortion and destruction will indeed come to an end. God's purpose is to bring down the oppressor and establish security for the afflicted. This hope of the destroyer's defeat leads directly to the promise of the righteous throne in the next verse.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 17

  • Isa 14:4that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!”
  • Isa 9:4For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as in the day of Midian.
  • Mal 4:3You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make,” says Yahweh of Armies.
  • Isa 51:13Have you forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? Do you live in fear continually all day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he prepares to destroy? Where is the fury of the oppressor?
  • Jer 21:12House of David, Yahweh says, ‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
  • Isa 25:10For in this mountain Yahweh’s hand will rest. Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.
  • Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
  • Deut 23:15–16You shall not deliver to his master a servant who has escaped from his master to you.
  • Rev 11:2Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don’t measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months.
  • Isa 33:1Woe to you who destroy, but you weren’t destroyed; and who betray, but nobody betrayed you! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betrayal, you will be betrayed.
  • Deut 24:14You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers, or one of the foreigners who are in your land within your gates.
  • Jer 48:8The destroyer will come on every city, and no city will escape; the valley also will perish, and the plain will be destroyed; as Yahweh has spoken.
  • Isa 15:6For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate; for the grass has withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing.
  • Zech 10:5They shall be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them; and the riders on horses will be confounded.
  • Jer 48:18“You daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, he has destroyed your strongholds.
  • Rom 16:20And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
  • Zech 9:8I will encamp around my house against the army, that no one pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 16:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 16:4 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.