Bible Strands
Isaiah 15:5
My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath-shelishiyah. With weeping they ascend the slope of Luhith; they lament their destruction on the road to Horonaim.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet delivers a declaration of mourning over Moab, positioned between the report of its cities crying out and the description of its dried-up water sources.
The words — The Hebrew phrase לִבִּי יִזְעַק (libbi yiz'aq) literally renders as "my heart cries out," denoting an intense, involuntary expression of grief.
The thread — The specific geography of weeping at Luhith and Horonaim reappears in Jeremiah 48:5, the command to wail for Moab extends to Jeremiah 48:31, and the cascading judgment mirrors the pattern of disaster in Jeremiah 4:20.
Why it lands — The text records the flight and lament of Moab's refugees without offering consolation, demanding recognition of the concrete reality of divine judgment on a specific nation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 48:5 For on the ascent to Luhith they weep bitterly as they go, and on the descent to Horonaim cries of distress resound over the destruction:
- Jeremiah 4:20 Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.
- Jeremiah 48:31 Therefore I will wail for Moab; I will cry out for all of Moab; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
- Luke 19:41 As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
- Genesis 13:10 And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
- Genesis 14:2 went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
- Genesis 19:22 Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.
- 2 Samuel 15:23 Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness.
- 2 Samuel 15:30 But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.
- Isaiah 16:9 So I weep with Jazer for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest.