Isaiah 16:3

“Bring a plan, make a decision! ¹  Provide some shade in the middle of the day! ²  Hide the fugitives! Do not betray ³  the one who tries to escape!

"Give us counsel, render a decision. Make your shadow like night—at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.

"Give us advice, make a decision; Cast your shadow like night at high noon; Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive.

"Help us," they cry. "Defend us against our enemies. Protect us from their relentless attack. Do not betray us.

'Tell us what to do, help us out! Protect us, hide us!

Give wise directions, make a decision; let your shade be as night in full day: keep safe those who are in flight; do not give up the wandering ones.

"Give counsel, grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive;

"Take counsel, execute judgment; Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day; Hide the outcasts, Do not betray him who escapes.

“Bring a plan, make a decision! ¹  Provide some shade in the middle of the day! ²  Hide the fugitives! Do not betray ³  the one who tries to escape!

¹ sn It is unclear who is being addressed in this verse. Perhaps the prophet, playing the role of a panic stricken Moabite refugee, requests the leaders of Judah (the imperatives are plural) to take pity on the fugitives.

² tn Heb “Make your shade like night in the midst of noonday.” “Shade” here symbolizes shelter, while the heat of noonday represents the intense suffering of the Moabites. By comparing the desired shade to night, the speaker visualizes a huge dark shadow cast by a large tree that would provide relief from the sun’s heat.

³ tn Heb “disclose, uncover.”