New Living Translation
Isaiah 16:3
3“Help us,” they cry. “Defend us against our enemies. Protect us from their relentless attack. Do not betray us now that we have escaped.
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 from Sela as tribute to the ruler of the land. Send them through the desert to the mountain of beautiful Zion. 2The women of Moab are left like homeless birds at the shallow crossings of the Arnon River. “Help us,” they cry. “Defend us against our enemies. Protect us from their relentless attack. Do not betray us now that we have escaped. 4Let our refugees stay among you. Hide them from our enemies until the terror is past.” When oppression and destruction have ended and enemy raiders have disappeared, 5then God will establish one of David’s descendants as king. He will rule with mercy and truth. He will always do what is just and be eager 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. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.
- Psalms 82:3“Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
- Jeremiah 21:12This is what the Lord says to the dynasty of David: “‘Give justice each morning to the people you judge! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Otherwise, my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins.
- Jeremiah 22:3This is what the Lord says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!
- Ezekiel 45:9“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Quit robbing and cheating my people out of their land. Stop expelling them from their homes, says the Sovereign Lord.
- Daniel 4:27“‘King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.’
- Zechariah 7:9“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another.
- Isaiah 9:6For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Isaiah 25:4But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat. For the oppressive acts of ruthless people are like a storm beating against a wall,
- Isaiah 32:2Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a parched land.
- Judges 9:15And the thornbush replied to the trees, ‘If you truly want to make me your king, come and take shelter in my shade. If not, let fire come out from me and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’”
- Jonah 4:5Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city.
- Isaiah 56:8For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.”
- Obadiah 1:12“You should not have gloated when they exiled your relatives to distant lands. You should not have rejoiced when the people of Judah suffered such misfortune. You should not have spoken arrogantly in that terrible time of trouble.
- Matthew 25:35For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.
- Hebrews 13:2Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing 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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