Isaiah 16:12

When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places, ¹  and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective! ² 

When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.

So it will come about when Moab presents himself, When he wearies himself upon his high place And comes to his sanctuary to pray, That he will not prevail.

On the hilltops the people of Moab will pray in anguish to their idols, but it will do them no good. They will cry to the gods in their temples, but no one will come to save them.

When Moab trudges to the shrine to pray, he wastes both time and energy. Going to the sanctuary and praying for relief is useless. Nothing ever happens.

And when Moab goes up to the high place, and makes prayer in the house of his god, it will have no effect.

When Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself upon the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.

And it shall come to pass, When it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, That he will come to his sanctuary to pray; But he will not prevail.

When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places, ¹  and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective! ² 

¹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

² tn Heb “when he appears, when he grows tired, Moab on the high places, and enters his temple to pray, he will not prevail.” It is possible that “when he grows tired” is an explanatory gloss for the preceding “when he appears.”