The big picture
Moab, a nation east of the Dead Sea, faces sudden devastation. Isaiah, God's prophet, names its towns as cries spread through streets and places of worship. Soldiers weep along with other residents. Refugees climb roads carrying what they can, while water and grass fail behind them. The prophet's own heart cries out for the suffering people. The warning does not end with flight to safety. Blood fills the waters, and further danger waits for those still left in the land.
In this chapter
- Towns and Soldiers Cry Out Together Isaiah 15:1-4
Ar and Kir, towns of Moab, are devastated in a night.
- Refugees Carry Possessions Past Withered Ground Isaiah 15:5-7
The prophet's heart cries out for Moab as its fugitives flee towards Zoar, a town of refuge on their route.
- The Borders Hear Grief and More Danger Isaiah 15:8-9
Moab's cry reaches around its borders.
Central truth
Sudden ruin drives Moab into public mourning and desperate flight, while the prophet grieves and warns that danger still remains.
Scripture beside the summary
Isaiah · King James Version · 9Isaiah 15:1-4
Towns and Soldiers Cry Out Together
Ar and Kir, towns of Moab, are devastated in a night. People go to Bajith and Dibon, places associated here with worship and mourning. Cries rise over Nebo and Medeba, other affected towns. Heads and beards are shorn, signs of grief in that setting. Rough mourning cloth fills streets and rooftops. Heshbon and Elealeh, towns farther north, cry so loudly that Jahaz hears them. Even armed soldiers lose composure and weep. The list carries sorrow from place to place until public life seems filled with it.
In everyday life
A regional ambulance coordinator listens as one town after another reports the same sudden disaster. Experienced crew members who usually speak steadily struggle to finish their calls. She writes each place on the board and leaves space for more. Isaiah announces Moab's devastation under judgement, not an emergency whose cause remains unnamed.
Notice
Isaiah 15:4 Armed soldiers join the crying rather than standing outside it. Their grief shows that military readiness offers no emotional shelter from the disaster overtaking the towns.
Isaiah 15:1-4
King James Version1The 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;
2He 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.
3In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly.
4And 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.
Isaiah 15:5-7
Refugees Carry Possessions Past Withered Ground
The prophet's heart cries out for Moab as its fugitives flee towards Zoar, a town of refuge on their route. Weeping accompanies the climb at Luhith and the road through Horonaim, named places on the escape path. The waters of Nimrim, a local water source, lie desolate. Hay and green growth have withered away. People gather the wealth and supplies they have saved and carry them towards the brook of the willows. The moving possessions show a life being packed for escape rather than enjoyed at home.
In everyday life
A displaced beekeeper carries two small boxes and a bag of records along the road away from her dried fields. She pauses above the valley and looks back at the empty water channel. Most of her working life must stay behind. Isaiah speaks of Moab's flight amid invasion and judgement, not drought displacement alone.
Notice
Isaiah 15:5 The speaker's own heart joins the grief before the escape route is described. Announcing judgement does not remove sorrow for the people who bear its devastation.
Isaiah 15:5-7
King James Version5My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
6For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.
7Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.
Isaiah 15:8-9
The Borders Hear Grief and More Danger
Moab's cry reaches around its borders. Eglaim and Beer-elim, places marking the spread of mourning, hear the same distress. The waters at Dimon, another affected place, are filled with blood. God says more will come upon it. Lions threaten those who escape and the people remaining in the land. Whether the lion image names literal beasts or another destroying force is unclear. Its effect is plain: surviving the first disaster does not mean that safety has been reached. The closing words leave the refugees' danger unresolved.
In everyday life
A rescue volunteer receives word that the last open shelter route has become unsafe. She crosses it off the map while families wait with packed bags beside the door. Escape from the first threat has not given them a secure destination. God declares further judgement on Moab; the volunteer knows only that a road is unsafe.
Notice
Isaiah 15:9 More danger is announced after blood already fills the waters. The warning refuses a quick ending in which the people who escaped are automatically safe.
Isaiah 15:8-9
King James Version8For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beer-elim.
9For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Isaiah 15:1 begins with “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…”
Where the chapter turns
Isaiah 15:7 forms a natural hinge: “Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.”
The final note
Isaiah 15:9 leaves the reader with “For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Moab, laid, Dimon, gone, howl, howling help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- sackcloth
- Coarse clothing worn as a visible sign of mourning.
- fugitives
- People fleeing danger and trying to find safety elsewhere.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
