Yirmeyah 48
48
1Against Moav thus saith Hashem Tzva'os Elohei Yisroel: Hoy (woe, doom) unto Nevo! For it is made havoc; Kiryatayim is shamed and captured; Misgav is shamed and dismayed.
2There shall be no more tehillah (praise) of Moav; in Cheshbon they have plotted ra'ah against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be silenced, O Madmein; the cherev shall pursue thee.
3A voice of crying shall be from Choronayim, havoc and shever gadol (great destruction).
4Moav is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5For in the Ascent of Luchit continual weeping shall go up; for in the descent of Choronayim the anguished ones have heard a cry of shever (destruction).
6Flee, save your nefesh, and be like Aro'er in the midbar.
7For because thou hast trusted in thy ma'asim (works) and in thy otzarot, thou shalt also be captured; and Kemosh shall go forth into Golus with his kohanim and his sarim together.
8And the destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the emek (valley) also shall perish, and the plain shall be shmad (destroyed), as Hashem hath spoken.
9Give wings unto Moav, that it may flee and get away; for the towns thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
10Cursed be he that doeth the work of Hashem remiyyah (deceitfully), and cursed be he that keepeth back his cherev from bloodshed.
11Moav hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his wine dregs, and hath not been emptied from keli (vessel) to keli, neither hath he gone into Golus: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
12But, hinei, the days come, saith Hashem, that I will send unto him wine pourers, that shall pour him out, and shall empty his kelim (vessels), and smash their jars.
13And Moav shall be ashamed of Kemosh, just as Bais Yisroel was ashamed of Beit-El, their confidence.
14How say ye, We are gibborim and anshei chayil for the milchamah?
15Moav is destroyed, and gone up out of her towns, and his chosen bochurim are gone down to the slaughter, saith HaMelech Hashem Tzva'os Shmo.
16The calamity of Moav is near at hand, and his affliction hasteth fast.
17All ye that are around him, bemoan him; and all ye that know shmo, say, How is the matteh oz (strong staff) broken, and the beautiful rod!
18Thou Bat that dost inhabit Divon, come down from thy kavod, and sit on parched ground; for the plunderer of Moav shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds.
19O inhabitant of Aro'er, stand by the derech, and watch; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What has happened?
20Moav is shamed; for it is broken down: wail and cry out; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moav is destroyed,
21And mishpat is come upon the plain; upon Cholon, and upon Yahtzah, and upon Mepha'at,
22And upon Divon, and upon Nevo, and upon Beit-Divlatayim,
23And upon Kiryatayim, and upon Beit-Gamul, and upon Beit-Me'on,
24And upon Keriyot, and upon Botzrah, and upon all the towns of Eretz Moav, far or near.
25The keren of Moav is cut off, and his zero'a is broken, saith Hashem.
26Make ye him drunken; for he magnified himself against Hashem; Moav also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
27For was not Yisroel a derision unto thee? Was he found among ganavim (thieves)? For since thou spoke of him, thou dost scornful head wagging.
28O ye that dwell in Moav, leave the towns, and dwell in the rock, and be like the yonah that maketh her nest in the sides of the caveʼs mouth.
29We have heard the ga'on Moav, (he is exceeding proud), his highmindedness, and his conceit, and his ga'avah, and the haughtiness of his lev.
30I know his insolence, saith Hashem; but it shall not be so; his boasts have made nothing right.
31Therefore will I wail for Moav, and I will cry out for all Moav; I shall moan for the anashim of Kir-Charesh.
32O gefen (vine) of Sivmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Yazer; thy branches are spread over the yam, they reach even to the yam Yazer; the plunderer is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.
33And simchah and gladness is taken from the carmel, and from Eretz Moav, and I have caused yayin to fail from the winepresses; none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall not be [joyful] shouting.
34From the cry of Cheshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Yahatz, have they uttered their voice, from Tzoar even unto Choronayim, as Eglat-Shelishiyah; for the mayim also of Nimrim shall be dried up.
35Moreover I will cause to cease in Moav, saith Hashem, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth ketoret to his elohim.
36Therefore Mine lev shall wail for Moav like flutes, and Mine lev shall wail like flutes for the anashim of Kir-Charesh; because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.
37For every rosh shall be shaved, and every zakan (beard) cut: upon all the hands shall be slashes, and upon the loins sackcloth.
38There shall be lamentation generally upon all the gagot (roofs) of Moav, and in the streets thereof; for I have broken Moav like a keli (vessel) wherein is no chefets (pleasure) saith Hashem.
39They shall wail, saying, How is it shattered! How hath Moav turned the back with shame! So shall Moav be a laughingstock and a horror to all them about him.
40For thus saith Hashem; Hinei, one shall fly like the nesher, and shall spread his wings over Moav.
41Keriyot is captured, and the strongholds are taken, and the lev gibborim in Moav at that day shall be as the lev isha in her birth pangs.
42And Moav shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against Hashem.
43Pachad (fear), and the pakhat (pit), and the pach (snare), shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moav, saith Hashem.
44He that fleeth from the pachad (terror) shall fall into the pakhat (pit); and he that getteth up out of the pakhat shall be caught in the pach (snare); for I will bring upon it, even upon Moav, the shnat (year of) their pekuddah (visitation), saith Hashem.
45They that fled stood under the tzel (shadow) of Cheshbon without ko'ach; for an eish shall come forth out of Cheshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sichon, and shall devour the forehead of Moav, and the crown of the head of the bnei sha'on (sons of tumult).
46Oy be unto thee, O Moav! The people of Kemosh perisheth; for thy banim are taken captives, and thy banot into captivity.
47Yet will I bring again the captives of Moav in the acharit hayamim, saith Hashem. Hinei, the mishpat Moav (judgment of Moab).
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Yirmeyah 48: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Jeremiah 48
48
Get Out While You Can!
1-10The Message on Moab from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel:
“Doom to Nebo! Leveled to the ground!
Kiriathaim demeaned and defeated,
The mighty fortress reduced to a molehill,
Moab’s glory—dust and ashes.
Conspirators plot Heshbon’s doom:
‘Come, let’s wipe Moab off the map.’
The city of Madmen will be struck mute,
as killing follows killing.
Listen! A cry out of Horonaim:
‘Disaster—doom and more doom!’
Moab will be shattered.
Her cries will be heard clear down in Zoar.
Up the ascent of Luhith
climbers weep,
And down the descent from Horonaim,
cries of loss and devastation.
Oh, run for your lives! Get out while you can!
Survive by your wits in the wild!
You trusted in thick walls and big money, yes?
But it won’t help you now.
Your big god Chemosh will be hauled off,
his priests and managers with him.
A wrecker will wreck every city.
Not a city will survive.
The valley fields will be ruined,
the plateau pastures destroyed, just as I told you.
Cover the land of Moab with salt.
Make sure nothing ever grows here again.
Her towns will all be ghost towns.
Nobody will ever live here again.
Sloppy work in God’s name is cursed,
and cursed all halfhearted use of the sword.
11-17“Moab has always taken it easy—
lazy as a dog in the sun,
Never had to work for a living,
never faced any trouble,
Never had to grow up,
never once worked up a sweat.
But those days are a thing of the past.
I’ll put him to work at hard labor.
That will wake him up to the world of hard knocks.
That will smash his illusions.
Moab will be as ashamed of god Chemosh
as Israel was ashamed of her Bethel calf-gods,
the calf-gods she thought were so great.
For how long do you think you’ll be saying, ‘We’re tough.
We can beat anyone anywhere’?
The destruction of Moab has already begun.
Her choice young soldiers are lying dead right now.”
The King’s Decree—
his full name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
“Yes. Moab’s doom is on countdown,
disaster targeted and launched.
Weep for Moab, friends and neighbors,
all who know how famous he’s been.
Lament, ‘His mighty scepter snapped in two like a toothpick,
that magnificent royal staff!’
18-20“Come down from your high horse, pampered beauty of Dibon.
Sit in dog dung.
The destroyer of Moab will come against you.
He’ll wreck your safe, secure houses.
Stand on the roadside,
pampered women of Aroer.
Interview the refugees who are running away.
Ask them, ‘What’s happened? And why?’
Moab will be an embarrassing memory, nothing left of the place.
Wail and weep your eyes out!
Tell the bad news along the Arnon river.
Tell the world that Moab is no more.
21-24“My judgment will come to the plateau cities: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath; on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim; on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon; on Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of Moab, far and near.
25“Moab’s link to power is severed.
Moab’s arm is broken.” God’s Decree.
The Sheer Nothingness of Moab
26-27“Turn Moab into a drunken lush, drunk on the wine of my wrath, a dung-faced drunk, filling the country with vomit—Moab a falling-down drunk, a joke in bad taste. Wasn’t it you, Moab, who made crude jokes over Israel? And when they were caught in bad company, didn’t you cluck and gossip and snicker?
28“Leave town! Leave! Look for a home in the cliffs,
you who grew up in Moab.
Try living like a dove
who nests high in the river gorge.
29-33“We’ve all heard of Moab’s pride,
that legendary pride,
The strutting, bullying, puffed-up pride,
the insufferable arrogance.
I know”—God’s Decree—“his rooster-crowing pride,
the inflated claims, the sheer nothingness of Moab.
But I will weep for Moab,
yes, I will mourn for the people of Moab.
I will even mourn for the people of Kir-heres.
I’ll weep for the grapevines of Sibmah
and join Jazer in her weeping—
Grapevines that once reached the Dead Sea
with tendrils as far as Jazer.
Your summer fruit and your bursting grapes
will be looted by brutal plunderers,
Lush Moab stripped
of song and laughter.
And yes, I’ll shut down the winepresses,
stop all the shouts and hurrahs of harvest.
34“Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out, and the people in Jahaz will hear the cries. They will hear them all the way from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up.
35“I will put a stop in Moab”—God’s Decree—“to all hiking to the high places to offer burnt sacrifices to the gods.
36“My heart moans for Moab, for the men of Kir-heres, like soft flute sounds carried by the wind. They’ve lost it all. They’ve got nothing.
37“Everywhere you look are signs of mourning:
heads shaved, beards cut,
Hands scratched and bleeding,
clothes ripped and torn.
38“In every house in Moab there’ll be loud lamentation, on every street in Moab, loud lamentation. As with a pottery jug that no one wants, I’ll smash Moab to bits.” God’s Decree.
39“Moab ruined!
Moab shamed and ashamed to be seen!
Moab a cruel joke!
The stark horror of Moab!”
* * *
40-42 God’s verdict on Moab. Indeed!
“Look! An eagle is about to swoop down
and spread its wings over Moab.
The towns will be captured,
the fortresses taken.
Brave warriors will double up in pain, helpless to fight,
like a woman giving birth to a baby.
There’ll be nothing left of Moab, nothing at all,
because of his defiant arrogance against me.
43-44“Terror and pit and trap
are what you have facing you, Moab.” God’s Decree.
“A man running in terror
will fall into a trap.
A man climbing out of a pit
will be caught in a trap.
This is my agenda for Moab
on doomsday.” God’s Decree.
45-47“On the outskirts of Heshbon,
refugees will pull up short, worn out.
Fire will flame high from Heshbon,
a firestorm raging from the capital of Sihon’s kingdom.
It will burn off Moab’s eyebrows,
will scorch the skull of the braggarts.
That’s all for you, Moab!
You worshipers of Chemosh will be finished off!
Your sons will be trucked off to prison camps;
your daughters will be herded into exile.
But yet there’s a day that’s coming
when I’ll put things right in Moab.
“For now, that’s the judgment on Moab.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.