Isaiah 16:3
1 Send the tribute lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mount of Daughter Zion.
2 Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:
“Give us counsel; render a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees.
4 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,
5 in loving devotion a throne will be established in the tent of David. A judge seeking justice and hastening righteousness will sit on it in faithfulness.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- “Give us counsel; render a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees.
- KJV
- Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.
- WEB
- Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive!
- ASV
- Give counsel, execute justice; make thy shade as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not the fugitive.
- DARBY
- Bring in counsel, execute justice; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of noonday; hide the outcasts, discover not the fugitive.
- BLB
- “Bring in counsel; make judgment; set like the night your shadow in the middle of noontime. Hide those driven away, do not uncover the one fleeing.
- ÅB
- Gi råd, finn utvei for oss! La din skygge midt på dagen være som natten! Skjul de fordrevne, forråd ikke dem som flykter!
- OTB
- "Gi råd, ta en beslutning. Kast din skygge som natt ved middagstid. Skjul de flyktende, forråd ikke flyktningene.
- B1930
- Gi råd, finn utvei for oss! La din skygge midt på dagen være som natten! Skjul de fordrevne, forråd ikke dem som flykter!
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
1 Kings 18:4
for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
Read in contextIsaiah 32:2
Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.
Read in contextObadiah 1:12–14
But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress.
Read in contextEzekiel 45:9–12
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Enough, O princes of Israel! Cease your violence and oppression, and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing My people, declares the Lord GOD.’
Read in contextIsaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Read in contextIsaiah 1:17
Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
Read in contextIsaiah 25:4
For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like rain against a wall,
Read in contextIsaiah 56:8
Thus declares the Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will gather to them still others besides those already gathered.”
Read in context