Yirmeyahu (Jer) 48
48
1Concerning Mo’av, this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says:
“Woe to N’vo, for it is ravaged;
Kiryatayim disgraced and captured.
Misgav is put to shame, distressed.
2“In Mo’av, nothing is left to praise.
At Heshbon they plotted her downfall:
‘Come, we’ll cut her off as a nation.’
You too, Madmein, will be silenced;
the sword pursues behind you.
3An agonized cry from Horonayim,
ruin, terrible devastation!
4Mo’av has been shattered;
the cries of her young ones are heard,
5as they ascend the slopes of Luchit,
weeping bitterly as they climb.
On the road down to Horonayim
shrieks of destruction ring out.”
6Flee! Save your lives!
Be strong, like a tamarisk in the desert.
7Because you trust in your deeds and your wealth,
you too will be captured.
Together with his priests and princes,
K’mosh will go into exile.
8A destroyer will descend on every city,
no city will escape.
The valley too will perish,
the plain will be laid waste,
as Adonai as said.
9Give Mo’av wings,
so it can fly and get away.
Its cities will become ruins,
with no one to live in them.
10A curse on him who does the work
of Adonai carelessly!
A curse on him who withholds his sword
from blood!
11Mo’av has lived at ease from his youth;
he is [wine] settled on its dregs,
not decanted from jar to jar —
he has not gone into exile.
Therefore it retains its own [bad] taste,
its aroma remains unchanged.
12“So the days are coming,” says Adonai, “when I will send people to tilt him; they will tilt his jars, emptying them and shattering the wine-flasks to pieces. 13Mo’av will be disappointed by K’mosh then, just as the house of Isra’el was disappointed by Beit-El, a god in whom they had put their trust.
14“How can you say, ‘We are heroes,
warriors valiant in battle’?
15They are ravaging Mo’av, attacking its cities;
its best young men go down to be slaughtered,”
says the king, whose name is Adonai-Tzva’ot.
16Mo’av’s ruin is coming soon,
its disaster speeds on swiftly.
17Pity him, all of you who are near him,
all of you who know his name;
say, “How the mighty scepter is shattered,
that splendid staff!”
18Descend from your glory, and sit in thirst,
daughter living in Divon;
for Mo’av’s destroyer advances on you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
19Stand by the road and watch,
inhabitant of ‘Aro‘er;
ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,
“What is going on?”
20Mo’av is disgraced, indeed, destroyed.
Wail aloud! Shriek!
Proclaim it by the Arnon
that Mo’av has been laid waste.
21Judgment has come on the Plain — on Holon, Yachtzah, Mefa‘at, 22Divon, N’vo, Beit-Diblatayim, 23Kiryatayim, Beit-Gamul, Beit-M‘on, 24K’riot, Botzrah and all the cities in the land of Mo’av, far and near.
25“Mo’av’s strength is cut down,
his arm is broken,” says Adonai.
26Because Mo’av boasted against Adonai, make him so drunk that he wallows in his own vomit and becomes a laughingstock. 27After all, Isra’el was a laughingstock for you. He didn’t associate with thieves; nevertheless, whenever you spoke of him, you shook your head.
28You who live in Mo’av,
leave the cities, and live on the rocks;
be like the dove who makes her nest
in a hole in the rock at the mouth of a cave.
29We have heard of the pride of Mo’av:
so very proud he is! —
presumptuous, proud, conceited;
so haughty his heart!
30“I know what meager ground he has
for his arrogance,” says Adonai.
“His boasting has nothing behind it,
and it hasn’t accomplished a thing.”
31Therefore I wail for Mo’av;
for all Mo’av I cry;
for the people of Kir-Heres I lament.
32I will weep for you, vineyard of Sivmah,
more than I wept for Ya‘zer.
Your branches spread to the sea,
reaching as far as the sea of Ya‘zer.
On your summer fruits and on your vintage
the destroyer has fallen.
33Gladness and joy have been removed
from productive fields and the land of Mo’av.
“I have stopped the flow of wine from the vats
and the shouts of those who tread the grapes —
those shouts of joy are stilled.”
34The cries from Heshbon to El‘aleh
are heard as far away as Yachatz;
those from Tzo‘ar to Horonayim
are heard in ‘Eglat-Shlishiyah;
for even the waters of Nimrim
have become a desolate waste.
35“Moreover,” says Adonai,
“in Mo’av I will put an end
to anyone sacrificing on a high place
or offering incense to his gods.”
36This is why my heart is moaning
for Mo’av like funeral flutes,
why my heart moans for the men
of Kir-Heres like funeral flutes;
for the wealth they produced has vanished.
37Every head has been shaved bald,
every beard has been clipped short,
gashes are on every hand,
sackcloth around every waist.
38On all the housetops of Mo’av
and in its open places —
lamentation everywhere!
“For I have broken Mo’av like a pot
that nobody wants,” says Adonai.
39Wail, “How shattered is Mo’av!
How shamefully in retreat!”
Thus will Mo’av become an object
of ridicule and distress to all its neighbors.
40For here is what Adonai says:
“Look! Down he swoops like a vulture,
spreading his wings against Mo’av —
41the cities are captured, the strongholds are seized.
On that day the hearts of Mo’av’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42Mo’av will be destroyed as a people,
because he boasted against Adonai.
43Terror, pit and trap are upon you,
people of Mo’av,” says Adonai.
44“Whoever flees from the terror
will fall into the pit;
and he who climbs up out of the pit
will be caught in the trap.
For I will bring on her, on Mo’av,
the year for her punishment,” says Adonai.
45“In the shadow of Heshbon
the fugitives stop, exhausted.
For fire breaks out from Heshbon,
a flame from inside Sichon,
consuming the sides and tops of the heads
of Mo’av’s noisy boasters.
46Woe to you, Mo’av!
K’mosh’s people are doomed!
For your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters led into captivity.
47Yet I will end Mo’av’s exile
in the acharit-hayamim,” says Adonai.
This is the judgment on Mo’av.
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Yirmeyahu (Jer) 48: CJB
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Learn More About Complete Jewish BibleJeremiah 48
48
A Message to Moab
1This message is to the country of Moab.
This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says:
“How terrible it will be for the city of Nebo,
because it will be ruined.
The town of Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured;
the strong city will be disgraced and shattered.
2Moab will not be praised again.
Men in the town of Heshbon plan Moab’s defeat.
They say, ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation!’
Town of Madmen, you will also be silenced.
The sword will chase you.
3Listen to the cries from the town of Horonaim,
cries of much confusion and destruction.
4Moab will be broken up.
Her little children will cry for help.
5Moab’s people go up the path to the town of Luhith,
crying loudly as they go.
On the road down to Horonaim,
cries of pain and suffering can be heard.
6Run! Run for your lives!
Go like a bush being blown through the desert.
7You trust in the things you do and in your wealth,
so you also will be captured.
The god Chemosh will go into captivity
and his priests and officers with him.
8The destroyer will come against every town;
not one town will escape.
The valley will be ruined,
and the high plain will be destroyed,
as the Lord has said.
9Give wings to Moab,
because she will surely leave her land.
Moab’s towns will become empty,
with no one to live in them.
10A curse will be on anyone who doesn’t do what the Lord says,
and a curse will be on anyone who holds back his sword from killing.
11“The people of Moab have never known trouble.
They are like wine left to settle;
they have never been poured from one jar to another.
They have not been taken into captivity.
So they taste as they did before,
and their smell has not changed.
12A time is coming,” says the Lord,
“When I will send people to pour you from your jars.
They will empty Moab’s jars
and smash her jugs.
13The people of Israel trusted that god in the town of Bethel,
and they were ashamed when there was no help.
In the same way Moab will be ashamed of their god Chemosh.
14“You cannot say, ‘We are warriors!
We are brave men in battle!’
15The destroyer of Moab and her towns has arrived.
Her best young men will be killed!” says the King,
whose name is the Lord All-Powerful.
16“The end of Moab is near,
and she will soon be destroyed.
17All you who live around Moab,
all you who know her, cry for her.
Say, ‘The ruler’s power is broken;
Moab’s power and glory are gone.’
18“You people living in the town of Dibon, come down from your place of honor
and sit on the dry ground,
because the destroyer of Moab has come against you.
And he has destroyed your strong, walled cities.
19You people living in the town of Aroer,
stand next to the road and watch.
See the man running away and the woman escaping.
Ask them, ‘What happened?’
20Moab is filled with shame, because she is ruined.
Cry, Moab, cry out!
Announce at the Arnon River
that Moab is destroyed.
21People on the high plain have been punished.
Judgment has come to these towns:
Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath;
22Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim;
23Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon;
24Kerioth and Bozrah.
Judgment has come to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
25Moab’s strength has been cut off,
and its arm broken!” says the Lord.
26“The people of Moab thought they were greater than the Lord,
so punish them until they act as if they are drunk.
Moab will fall and roll around in its own vomit,
and people will even make fun of it.
27Moab, you made fun of Israel.
Israel was caught in the middle of a gang of thieves.
When you spoke about Israel,
you shook your head and acted as if you were better than it.
28People in Moab, leave your towns empty
and go live among the rocks.
Be like a dove that makes its nest
at the entrance of a cave.
29“We have heard that the people of Moab are proud,
very proud.
They are proud, very proud,
and in their hearts they think they are important.”
30The Lord says,
“I know Moab’s great pride, but it is useless.
Moab’s bragging accomplishes nothing.
31So I cry sadly for Moab,
for everyone in Moab.
I moan for the people from the town of Kir Hareseth.
32I cry with the people of the town of Jazer
for you, the grapevines of the town of Sibmah.
In the past your vines spread all the way to the sea,
as far as the sea of Jazer.
But the destroyer has taken over
your fruit and grapes.
33Joy and happiness are gone
from the large, rich fields of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses.
No one walks on the grapes with shouts of joy.
There are shouts,
but not shouts of joy.
34“Their crying can be heard from Moabite towns,
from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz.
It can be heard from Zoar as far away as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah.
Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
35I will stop Moab
from making burnt offerings at the places of worship
and from burning incense to their gods,” says the Lord.
36“My heart cries sadly for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song.
It cries like a flute for the people from Kir Hareseth.
The money they made has all been taken away.
37Every head has been shaved
and every beard cut off.
Everyone’s hands are cut,
and everyone wears rough cloth around his waist.
38People are crying on every roof in Moab
and in every public square.
There is nothing but sadness,
because I have broken Moab
like a jar no one wants,” says the Lord.
39“Moab is shattered! The people are crying!
Moab turns away in shame!
People all around her make fun of her.
The things that happened fill them with great fear.”
40This is what the Lord says:
“Look! Someone is coming, like an eagle diving down from the sky
and spreading its wings over Moab.
41The towns of Moab will be captured,
and the strong, walled cities will be defeated.
At that time Moab’s warriors will be frightened,
like a woman who is having a baby.
42The nation of Moab will be destroyed,
because they thought they were greater than the Lord.
43Fear, deep pits, and traps wait for you,
people of Moab,” says the Lord.
44“People will run from fear,
but they will fall into the pits.
Anyone who climbs out of the pits
will be caught in the traps.
I will bring the year of punishment to Moab,” says the Lord.
45“People have run from the powerful enemy
and have gone to Heshbon for safety.
But fire started in Heshbon;
a blaze has spread from the hometown of Sihon king of Moab.
It burned up the leaders of Moab
and destroyed those proud people.
46How terrible it is for you, Moab!
The people who worship Chemosh have been destroyed.
Your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters have been taken away.
47“But in days to come,
I will make good things happen again to Moab,” says the Lord.
This ends the judgment on Moab.
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