God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 16:3
3Give us advice. Make a decision. At high noon make your shadow as dark as night. Hide the fugitives. Don’t betray the refugees.
Isaiah 16:3 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (NIV)“Make up your mind,” Moab says. “Render a decision. Make your shadow like night— at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Give counsel; grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; shelter the outcasts; do not reveal the fugitive;
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Take counsel, execute judgment; Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day; Hide the outcasts, Do not betray him who escapes.
Context of Isaiah 16:3
1Send lambs to the ruler of the land. Send lambs from Sela through the desert to my people at Mount Zion. 2Moab’s daughters are like fluttering birds, like scattered nestlings, at the shallow crossings of the Arnon River. Give us advice. Make a decision. At high noon make your shadow as dark as night. Hide the fugitives. Don’t betray the refugees. 4Let the fugitives from Moab stay with you a while. Be their refuge from the destroyer. Ruthless people will come to an end. The destruction will end. The one who tramples others will be gone. 5Then the Lord will set up a trusted king. He will rule faithfully. He is from the tent of David. He judges and searches for justice. He is quick to do what is right.
Read all of Isaiah 16Isaiah 16:3 word by word
הָבִ֤יאִי עֵצָה֙ עֲשׂ֣וּ פְלִילָ֔ה שִׁ֧יתִי כַלַּ֛יִל צִלֵּ֖ךְ בְּת֣וֹךְ צָהֳרָ֑יִם סַתְּרִי֙ נִדָּחִ֔ים נֹדֵ֖ד אַל־תְּגַלִּֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Takeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): bringH935
- counselעֵצָה‛êtsâh · counselH6098
- executeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: offerH6213
- judgmentפְּלִילָהpelîylâh · judgeH6415
- makeשִׁיתshîyth · to set: makeH7896
- thy shadowצֵלtsêl · shadowH6738
- as the nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
- in the midstתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432
- of the noondayצֹ֫הַרtsôhar · middayH6672
- hideסָתַרsâthar · to hideH5641
- the outcastsנָדַחnâdach · to banishH5080
- bewrayגָּלָהgâlâh · to reveal: revealH1540
- not him that wanderethנָדַדnâdad · to wanderH5074
Cross-references for Isaiah 16:3
- Isaiah 1:17Learn to do good. Seek justice. Arrest oppressors. Defend orphans. Plead the case of widows.”
- Psalms 82:3Defend weak people and orphans. Protect the rights of the oppressed and the poor.
- Jeremiah 21:12descendants of David. This is what the Lord says: Judge fairly every morning. Rescue those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Otherwise, my fury will break out and burn like fire. No one will be able to put it out because of the evil things you have done.
- Jeremiah 22:3“This is what the Lord says: Judge fairly, and do what is right. Rescue those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Don’t mistreat foreigners, orphans, or widows, and don’t oppress them. Don’t kill innocent people in this place.
- Ezekiel 45:9“ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: I’ve had enough of you, you princes of Israel. Stop your violence and looting, and do what is fair and right. Stop evicting my people, declares the Almighty Lord.
- Daniel 4:27“That is why, Your Majesty, my best advice is that you stop sinning, and do what is right. Stop committing the same errors, and have pity on the poor. Maybe you can prolong your prosperity.”
- Zechariah 7:9“This is what the Lord of Armies says: Administer real justice, and be compassionate and kind to each other.
- Isaiah 9:6A child will be born for us. A son will be given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. He will be named: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Isaiah 25:4You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rain, and shade from the heat. (A tyrant’s breath is like a rainstorm against a wall,
- Isaiah 32:2Then each ruler will be like a shelter from the wind and a hiding place from the rain. They will be like streams on parched ground and the shade of a large rock in a weary land.
- Judges 9:15But the thornbush responded to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me to be your king, then come and take shelter in my shade. But if not, fire will come out of the thornbush and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.’
- Jonah 4:5Jonah left the city and sat down east of it. He made himself a shelter there. He sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city.
- Isaiah 56:8The Almighty Lord, who gathers the scattered people of Israel, declares, “I will gather still others besides those I have already gathered.”
- Obadiah 1:12Don’t gloat over your relative’s misfortune or be happy when the people of Judah are destroyed. Don’t brag so much when they’re in distress.
- Matthew 25:35I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me into your home.
- Hebrews 13:2Don’t forget to show hospitality to believers you don’t know. By doing this some believers have shown hospitality to angels without being aware of it.
Commentaries on Isaiah 16:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Take counsel "Impart counsel" - The Vulgate renders the verbs in the beginning of this verse in the singular number, So the Keri; and so likewise sixty-one MSS. of Kennicott's and De Rossi's have it, and nineteen editions, and the Syriac. The verbs throughout the verse are also in the feminine gender; agreeing with Zion, which I suppose to be understood.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Take counsel - Hebrew, Bring counsel;‘ or cause it to come (הבאו hâbı̂'ı̂û or as it is in the keri הביאי ). The Vulgate, renders this in the singular number, and so is the keri, and so many manuscripts J. D. Michaelis, Lowth, Etchhorn, Gesenius, and Noyes, regard Isaiah 16:3-5 as a supplicatory address of the fugitive Moabites to the Jews to take them under their protection, and as imploring a blessing on the Jewish people if they would do it; and…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4do not betray … be a refuge: Moab's situation would become so desperate that they would ask for refuge in other countries.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-53-5. Gesenius, Maurer, &c., regard these verses as an address of the fugitive Moabites to the Jews for protection; they translate Is 16:4, "Let mine outcasts of Moab dwell with thee, Judah"; the protection will be refused by the Jews, for the pride of Moab (Is 16:6). Vitringa makes it an additional advice to Moab, besides paying tribute. Give shelter to the Jewish outcasts who take refuge in thy land (Is 16:3, 4); so "mercy" will be shown thee in turn by…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 16:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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