6 We have heard of the pride of Moab, proud ekceedingly; his proudness, and his pride, and his wrath; not so are his boastings.

7 Therefore Moab shall howl for Moab, altogether shall he howl; for the raisin cakes of Kir-haresheth shall ye mourn, utterly smltten.

8 For the ﬁelds of Heshbon languish; the vine of Sibmah, the lords of nations struck down her choice plants; they reached unto Jazer, they strayed into the wilderness; her offshoots spread abroad, they went over the Sea.

9 Therefore I will weep with theweeping of Jazer (for) the vine of Sibmah; I will water thee with my tears, OHeshbon and Elealeh; for on thy summer fruit and on thy harvest shouting is fallen.

4. So, altering vowel-points. Heb. text, ‘Let my outcasts, Moab, dwell with ’6. ‘not so,’ i.e. unreal,7. Less probably, ‘foundations of Kir-haresheth.8. Some render: ‘her choice plants struck down the lords,’ c. of drunkenness).

10 And taken away is joy, and gladness, from the garden land; and iri the vineyards there is no singing, no calling; the treader treadeth no wine in the presses; I have made shouting to cease.

11 Therefore my bowels shall sound like the harp for Moab, and mine inward. parts for Kir-hares.

12 And it shall be, when Moab hath appeared, when he hath wearied himself upon the high place, and entereth his sanctuary to pray, (then) he shall not prevail.

13 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab hitherto:

14 And now the LORD hath spoken, saying: Within three years, as the years of a hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all the great multitude; and the. remnant shall be small, little, not strong.

XVII. 1 The burden of Damascus.

Behold, Damascus is removed from (being) a city, and be- cometh a heap, a ruin.

2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for ﬂocks, and they shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

3 And the fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Aram: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of Hosts.

4 And it shall be in that day, the glory of ’Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his ﬂesh shall wax lean.

12. Uncertain.

5 And it shall be as when the harvestman graspeth the standing Corn, and his arm reapeth the ears 3 and it shall be as one that gleaneth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

6 And there shall be left therein gleanings, as at the beating of an olive tree, two or three berries at the top of a crest, four or ﬁve in the fruit ’s branches, saith the LORD God of Israel.

7 In that day shall (a) man look toward -his Maker, and his eyes shall gaze upon the Holy One of Israel.

8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall gaze upon what his ﬁngers made, either the Asherim or the sun-images.

9 In that day shall his strong cities be as the forsaken tract of -the woodland and the mountain crest, which men forsook from before the children of Israel 5 and there shall be a desolation.

10 For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength; therefore thou plantest plants of pleasantness, and settest them with slips of a stranger;

11 In the day of thy planting dost thou make a hedge, and in the morning thou makest thy seed to bud; a harvest heap in the day; of pain and deadly sorrow.