Major Prophets · Chapter 15 of 66
Isaiah 15
Isaiah lifts a lament over Moab, Judah's neighbor across the Dead Sea. In a single night Moab's cities are laid waste and silenced. The people go up to their high places to weep, shave their heads, and wrap themselves in sackcloth; wailing fills the streets and roads as refugees flee. The waters run dry or turn to blood. Even the prophet's own heart cries out over Moab's devastation.
What happens in Isaiah 15
This is the burden of Moab. In the night the cities of Ar and Kir are laid waste and silenced, and the shock is total. The people go up to their temples and high places to weep; Moab howls over its towns, every head shaved bald and every beard cut off in grief. In the streets they gird themselves with sackcloth, and on the rooftops everyone wails, weeping abundantly. The border towns cry out, their voices carrying across the land, and even the soldiers of Moab cry out in anguish.
Refugees flee toward Zoar and go up the ascent of Luhith weeping, raising cries of destruction along the road to Horonaim. The waters of Nimrim dry up, grass and green things fail, and the people carry off their possessions across the brook of the willows. The wailing rings around Moab's borders, and the waters of Dimon run full of blood, with still more disaster, lions, coming on the survivors.
Isaiah 15 in context
Part of the oracles against the nations, this lament concerns Moab, descended from Lot and long a neighbor and sometime enemy of Israel east of the Dead Sea. The many place names, Ar, Kir, Nebo, Heshbon, root the poem in real Moabite geography.
Strikingly, the oracle is cast not as gloating but as genuine mourning, a dirge over a doomed people, likely facing Assyrian invasion. It continues into chapter 16.
Main themes of Isaiah 15
Isaiah 15 (KJV)
1The 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. 5My 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. 8For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beerelim. 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.
Verses to carry from Isaiah 15
“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 silence;”Isaiah 15:1
“My 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.”Isaiah 15:5
“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.”Isaiah 15:9
Thematic connection
How Isaiah 15 points to Jesus
The most striking note in this oracle is that the prophet's heart cries out for Moab, a foreign people under judgment. That divine compassion, grieving even over those being judged, anticipates the heart of Jesus, who wept over Jerusalem as He foretold its coming ruin, longing to gather its people. The connection is thematic rather than a direct prophecy: Isaiah 15 reveals a God whose judgments are not gleeful but sorrowful, and this same sorrowing love takes flesh in Christ, who mourned over the very city He warned.
It also foreshadows the reach of the Gospel beyond Israel, for the God who laments over Moab is the God who in Christ opens salvation to every nation, so that the mourning of the peoples might turn to hope.
Questions about Isaiah 15
Why would Isaiah mourn over Israel's neighbor Moab?
Although Moab was often hostile to Israel, Isaiah 15:5 says the prophet's heart cries out for Moab. The oracle is cast as a genuine lament, not a taunt. It reveals that God takes no delight in the ruin of peoples; there is real grief over their suffering. This compassion hints at a divine mercy that reaches beyond Israel to the nations.
What was Moab and where was it?
Moab was a nation east of the Dead Sea, descended from Lot, and a longtime neighbor and rival of Israel. The oracle names real Moabite towns such as Ar, Kir, Nebo, and Heshbon, grounding it in actual geography. Isaiah 15 laments the sudden devastation of this people, likely under the pressure of Assyrian expansion in the region.
Reflection
It is easy to feel quiet satisfaction when trouble strikes those we count as rivals. Isaiah models the opposite: a heart that cries out even for Moab. If God grieves over the ruin of His enemies, our hearts should soften too. Ask God to give you tears rather than triumph over the suffering of others.
A prayer from Isaiah 15
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