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Isaiah 16 · a question people ask

Why will Moab's prayer not prevail (16:12)?

In the text

The verse says what happens without giving a reason: "It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail" (16:12). It doesn't say to whom he prays. The next verse says only, "This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in time past" (16:13). These notes don't supply a reason the chapter doesn't give. In Hebrew wearies himself is la'ah (tap wearies): Moab wears himself out at the high place, and still he will not prevail. These notes apply the verse to no people's worship today.

The verses

“It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail. This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in time past.”
Isaiah 16:12-13 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Isaiah 16

Isaiah 16: A harp for Moab

In 16:9-10 the battle shout that falls on Moab's harvest and the shouting that stops in its wine presses are one Hebrew word, heidad. And when the one who speaks says, "my heart sounds like a harp for Moab" (16:11), heart is me'eh, the inward parts, not lev, the usual word, which Jeremiah 48:36 has in nearly the same line.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions