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Isaiah 15:1-4

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.

They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their heads. Every beard is cut off. In their streets, they clothe themselves in sackcloth. In their streets and on their housetops, everyone wails, weeping abundantly. Heshbon cries out with Elealeh. Their voice is heard even to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud. Their souls tremble within them.

World English Bible · Public Domain
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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.

They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their heads. Every beard is cut off. In their streets, they clothe themselves in sackcloth. In their streets and on their housetops, everyone wails, weeping abundantly. Heshbon cries out with Elealeh. Their voice is heard even to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud. Their souls tremble within them. My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for on the way to Horonaim, they raise up a cry of destruction. For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate; for the grass has withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing. Therefore they will carry away the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have stored up, over the brook of the willows. For the cry has gone around the borders of Moab, its wailing to Eglaim, and its wailing to Beer Elim. For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I will bring yet more on Dimon, a lion on those of Moab who escape, and on the remnant of the land.

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    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.

    They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their heads. Every beard is cut off.

    In their streets, they clothe themselves in sackcloth. In their streets and on their housetops, everyone wails, weeping abundantly.

    Heshbon cries out with Elealeh. Their voice is heard even to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud. Their souls tremble within them.

  • KJV King James Version

    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;

    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.

    In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly.

    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.

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  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    The burden of Moab. For in the night that Ar of Moab is laid waste, he is brought to ruin; for in the night that Kir of Moab is laid waste, he is brought to ruin.

    He is gone up to Baith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep; upon Nebo, and upon Medeba, Moab howleth; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is shaven.

    In their streets they gird themselves with sackcloth; on their housetops, and in their broad places, every one howleth, weeping profusely.

    And Heshbon crieth out, and Elealeh; their voice is heard even unto Jahaz; therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul is faint within him.

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Cross-references (67)

  • Amos 2:1-3 (v1) Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned the bones of the king…
  • Jeremiah 48:1-47 (v1) Of Moab. Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo! For it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is disappointed. It is taken. Misgab is…
  • Leviticus 21:5 (v2) “ ‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh.
  • Numbers 21:28 (v1) for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon.
  • Isaiah 11:14 (v1) They will fly down on the shoulders of the Philistines on the west. Together they will plunder the children of the east. They will extend…
Show all 66 cross-references
  • Jeremiah 48:1 (v2) Of Moab. Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo! For it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is disappointed. It is taken. Misgab is…
  • Jeremiah 48:34 (v4) From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah;…
  • Ezekiel 25:8-11 (v1) “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations;’ therefore, behold, I will open…
  • Jonah 3:6-8 (v3) The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in…
  • Isaiah 16:7 (vv1–2) Therefore Moab will wail for Moab. Everyone will wail. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth, utterly stricken.
  • Numbers 21:30 (v2) We have shot at them. Heshbon has perished even to Dibon. We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.”
  • Deuteronomy 34:1 (v2) Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is opposite Jericho. Yahweh showed him all the land of…
  • Isaiah 3:24 (v2) It shall happen that instead of sweet spices, there shall be rottenness; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well set hair, baldness;…
  • Isaiah 14:28 (v1) This burden was in the year that king Ahaz died.
  • Isaiah 16:11 (v1) Therefore my heart sounds like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir Heres.
  • Isaiah 25:10 (v1) For Yahweh’s hand will rest in this mountain. Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the…
  • Jeremiah 48:18 (v2) “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…
  • Zephaniah 2:8-11 (v1) I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached my people, and magnified…
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 (v1) But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. For you yourselves know well that the…
  • Genesis 27:46 (v4) Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as…
  • Exodus 12:29-30 (v1) At midnight, Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of…
  • Leviticus 19:27-28 (v2) “ ‘You shall not cut the hair on the sides of your head or clip off the edge of your beard. “ ‘You shall not make any cuttings in your…
  • Numbers 11:15 (v4) If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”
  • Numbers 21:23 (v4) Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the…
  • Numbers 32:3 (v2) “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
  • Numbers 32:3-4 (v4) “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land which Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is…
  • Numbers 32:38 (v2) Nebo, and Baal Meon, (their names being changed), and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities which they built.
  • Deuteronomy 2:9 (v1) Yahweh said to me, “Don’t bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give you any of his land for a possession,…
  • Deuteronomy 2:18 (v1) “You are to pass over Ar, the border of Moab, today.
  • Deuteronomy 2:32 (v4) Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz.
  • Deuteronomy 14:1 (v2) You are the children of Yahweh your God. You shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
  • Deuteronomy 22:8 (v3) When you build a new house, then you shall make a railing around your roof, so that you don’t bring blood on your house if anyone falls…
  • Joshua 13:16-17 (v2) Their border was from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the…
  • Joshua 13:18 (v4) Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
  • Judges 11:20 (v4) But Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and encamped in Jahaz, and fought…
  • 2 Samuel 3:31 (v3) David said to Joab, and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes, and clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn in front…
  • 1 Kings 19:4 (v4) But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. Then he requested for himself that he…
  • 2 Kings 3:25 (v1) They beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land each man cast his stone, and filled it. They also stopped all the springs of…
  • 2 Kings 6:30 (v3) When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. Now he was passing by on the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he…
  • Job 1:20 (v2) Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshiped.
  • Job 3:20-22 (v4) “Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul, Who long for death, but it doesn’t come; and dig for it more than…
  • Job 7:15-16 (v4) so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones. I loathe my life. I don’t want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days…
  • Isaiah 13:1 (v1) The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
  • Isaiah 14:31 (v2) Howl, gate! Cry, city! You are melted away, Philistia, all of you; for smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
  • Isaiah 15:2 (v3) They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their…
  • Isaiah 15:3 (v2) In their streets, they clothe themselves in sackcloth. In their streets and on their housetops, everyone wails, weeping abundantly.
  • Isaiah 16:8-9 (v4) For the fields of Heshbon languish with the vine of Sibmah. The lords of the nations have broken down its choice branches, which reached…
  • Isaiah 16:12 (v2) It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will…
  • Isaiah 22:1 (v3) The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
  • Isaiah 22:4 (v3) Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
  • Isaiah 22:12 (v2) In that day, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth;
  • Jeremiah 7:29 (v2) Cut off your hair, and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of…
  • Jeremiah 8:3 (v4) Death will be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven…
  • Jeremiah 9:26 (v1) Egypt, Judah, Edom, the children of Ammon, Moab, and all who have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness, for all…
  • Jeremiah 19:13 (v3) The houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, will be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on…
  • Jeremiah 20:18 (v4) Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
  • Jeremiah 47:5 (v2) Baldness has come on Gaza; Ashkelon is brought to nothing, the remnant of their valley: how long will you cut yourself?
  • Jeremiah 48:22-23 (v2) on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim, on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon,
  • Jeremiah 48:31 (v2) Therefore I will wail for Moab. Yes, I will cry out for all Moab. They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.
  • Jeremiah 48:38-39 (v3) On all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets, there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no one…
  • Ezekiel 7:18 (v2) They will also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror will cover them. Shame will be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.
  • Jonah 4:3 (v4) Therefore now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”
  • Jonah 4:8 (v4) When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that…
  • Matthew 11:21 (v3) “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would…
  • Revelation 9:6 (v4) In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
  • Jeremiah 48:37-39 (v2) For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. There are cuttings on all the hands, and sackcloth on the waist. On all the housetops of…

66 distinct cross-references across this passage (67 total citations).

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (23 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1–2 Read Isa. 13:1.

Read Isa. 13:1.

The chief city, whereby the whole country was meant.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Isa 15:1 The burden of Moab. Because in the…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–4 The burden of Moab; a prophecy of the destruction…
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v1 The country of Moab was of small extent, but…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–4 The burden of Moab,.... A heavy, grievous prophecy, concerning…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–4 The Destruction of Moab, ver. 1-9.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Prediction of very heavy calamities about to fall upon…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4 Isa 15:1. The burden of Moab — A prophecy…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–4 The burden of Moab - (see the note at…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4 Moab. Which would be visited in three years’ time…
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Isaiah 15, 16
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3–4 tops of . . . houses--flat; places of resort…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4 1. The burden of Moab — “Burden,” here, may…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–4 1. The verse stands somewhat apart from the sequel…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–4 (1) The burden of Moab.—The oracle which fills the…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–4 Vers. 1-9. THE BURDEN OF MOAB. The present chapter…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1–2 The harden of Moab
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Moab's Calamity and the Way of Escape
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 This "burden" had a precursive fulfilment in Sennacherib’s invasion,…
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 The Burden of Moab
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Prophecy against Moab.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3 General Information:
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 4 15:1–16:14 This message of judgment and lament concerned Moab’s…
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