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Isaiah 15

Isaiah announces Moab’s devastation through a spreading lament, holding national judgment and grief over its human cost together.

Moab’s cities fall in a single night, and cries of grief spread across the land. Isaiah’s oracle follows mourners to high places, streets, and housetops, then follows fugitives carrying their stored goods toward a brook. Soldiers tremble; water and green growth fail. Amid the devastation, a voice cries out for Moab, though the speaker is not identified at that point. The closing threat declares further destruction even for those who escape.

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1The burden of Moab. For in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing. For in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing.
2They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their heads. Every beard is cut off.
3In their streets, they clothe themselves in sackcloth. In their streets and on their housetops, everyone wails, weeping abundantly.
4Heshbon cries out with Elealeh. Their voice is heard even to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud. Their souls tremble within them.
5My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for on the way to Horonaim, they raise up a cry of destruction.
6For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate; for the grass has withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing.
7Therefore they will carry away the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have stored up, over the brook of the willows.
8For the cry has gone around the borders of Moab, its wailing to Eglaim, and its wailing to Beer Elim.
9For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I will bring yet more on Dimon, a lion on those of Moab who escape, and on the remnant of the land.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Isaiah 15:1The repeated fall of cities in a night establishes the speed and severity of Moab’s ruin.
Isaiah 15:2Mourning reaches Moab’s high places, with shaved heads and cut beards making the people’s grief visible.
Isaiah 15:5The cry for Moab brings personal grief into the oracle as its people flee along roads filled with weeping.
Where this chapter reaches

Jeremiah shares Isaiah’s oracle against Moab, including named towns, shaved heads, cut beards, and lament over destruction. Numbers names several of the same places, including Dibon, Nebo, and Heshbon, linking this devastated landscape with the territory described in Israel’s earlier history.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

Which detail of Moab’s mourning most shapes your response to the judgment described here?

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How does the cry for Moab in verse 5 affect your reading of the closing threat?

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Questions people ask about Isaiah 15

What happens to Moab in Isaiah 15?

The oracle describes Moab’s cities devastated in a night, widespread mourning, frightened soldiers, and people fleeing with their possessions. Water sources and vegetation fail, while blood fills the waters of Dimon. The chapter ends with a threat against survivors. It does not name the invading army or date these events.

Who says “My heart cries out for Moab!” in Isaiah 15:5?

The speaker is often understood to be the prophet expressing grief for Moab. The verse itself does not identify the voice, so certainty is limited. Within the oracle, this personal cry stands beside the descriptions of fleeing people and ruined land, showing sorrow within the announcement of judgment.

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Isaiah · 66 chapters
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What the Bible says about grief →What the Bible says about fear →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).