Isaiah 15:1-9
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 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.
3 In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weepinga abundantly.
4 And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him.
5 My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
6 For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate:b for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.
7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brookc of the willows.
8 For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beerelim.
9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring mored upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.
In this section we have three prophecies: concerning Assyria Isaiah 14:24), concerning Philistia Isaiah 14:28), and the commencement of one concerning Moab (15). This fragment concerning Assyria consists of the reaffirmation of Jehovah's intention to break its power. The oath of Jehovah is declared, and its irrevocable certainty affirmed.
The fragment concerning Philistia is of the nature of a warning spoken to her. Although she oppresses the people of God, she is herself in peril. She is not to rejoice because the rod that smote her is broken, for there are other forces at the disposal of Jehovah, and they threaten Philistia.
The prophecy concerning Moab commences by describing her desolation. A catastrophe will overtake her in a night, the result of which will be the mourning of her people, and their scattering far and wide. In this chapter, moreover, we have an incidental record of the death of Ahaz.