Jeremiah 48
48
A Message About Moab
1This message is about the country of Moab. This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says:
“How terrible it will be for Nebo.
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.
They are 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 Luhith.
They cry loudly as they go.
On the road down to the town of 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 be taken into captivity.
And his priests and officers will be taken with him.
8The destroyer will come against every town.
Not one town will escape.
The valley will be ruined.
The high plain will be destroyed.
The Lord said this would happen.
9Spread salt# The salt would keep crops from growing there. over the fields in Moab.
The country will be an empty desert.
Moab’s towns will become empty.
No one will live in them.
10A curse will be on anyone who doesn’t do what the Lord says.
A curse will be on anyone who keeps 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 like wine 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.
“And I will soon send men to pour you from your jars.
Those men will empty Moab’s jars.
And they will smash their jugs.
13The people of Israel trusted that god in Bethel.
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 enemy will attack Moab and destroy their towns.
Their best young men will be killed!” says the King.
The King’s name is the Lord of heaven’s armies.
16“The end of Moab is near.
They will soon be destroyed.
17All you who live around Moab, cry for her.
All you who know about her, cry for her.
Say, ‘The ruler’s power is broken.
Moab’s power and glory are gone.’
18“You people living in Dibon, come down from your place of honor.
Sit on the dry ground.
This is because the destroyer of Moab is coming against you.
And he will destroy your strong, walled cities.
19You people living in Aroer,
stand next to the road and watch.
See the man running away and the woman escaping.
Ask them what happened.
20Moab will be ruined and filled with shame.
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.
Moab’s arm is broken!” says the Lord.
26“The people of Moab thought they were greater than the Lord.
So punish Moab until they act as if they are drunk.
Moab will fall and roll around in their own vomit.
People will make fun of them.
27Moab, you made fun of Israel.
Israel was caught in the middle of a gang of thieves.
You often spoke about Israel.
And you shook your head and acted as if you were better than Israel.
28People in Moab, leave your towns empty.
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
and very conceited.
They are proud and think they are important.
They were very proud in their hearts.”
30The Lord says,
“I know Moab’s quick anger, but it is useless.
Moab’s bragging accomplishes nothing.
31So I cry sadly for Moab.
I cry out for everyone in Moab.
I moan for the men from Kir Hareseth.
32I cry with the people of Jazer
for the grapevines of Sibmah.
In the past your vines spread all the way to the sea.
They reached as far as the sea of Jazer.
But the destroyer has taken
your fruit and grapes.
33Joy and happiness are gone
from the large 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 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.
I will stop them from burning incense to their gods,” says the Lord.
36“My heart cries for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song.
It cries for the people from Kir Hareseth.
Their money and riches have all been taken away.
37Everyone has a shaved head.
Everyone’s beard is cut off.
Everyone’s hands are cut.
Everyone wears rough cloth around his waist.# The people did these things to show their sadness for those who had died.
38People are crying on every roof# In Bible times houses were built with flat roofs. The roof was used for drying things such as flax and fruit. And it was used as an extra room, as a place for worship and as a place to sleep in the summer. 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 fear.”
40This is what the Lord says:
“Look! An eagle is diving down from the sky.
It spreads its wings over Moab.
41The towns of Moab will be captured.
The strong, walled cities will be defeated.
At that time Moab’s warriors will be frightened.
They will feel pain like a woman who is having a baby.
42The nation of Moab will be destroyed.
This is 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.
They ran to Heshbon for safety.
But fire started in Heshbon.
A blaze broke out in Sihon’s town.
And it burns the leaders of Moab.
It destroys those proud people.
46How terrible it will be for you, Moab!
Chemosh’s people are being destroyed.
Your sons and daughters are being taken away as captives.
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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Jeremiah 48: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 48
48
1 Of Moab. The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:
“Woe to Nebo!
For it is laid waste.
Kiriathaim is disappointed.
It is taken.
Misgab # 48:1 or, The stronghold is put to shame
and broken down.
2 The praise of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they have devised evil against her:
‘Come! Let’s cut her off from being a nation.’
You also, Madmen, will be brought to silence.
The sword will pursue you.
3 The sound of a cry from Horonaim,
desolation and great destruction!
4 Moab is destroyed.
Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5 For they will go up by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping.
For at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.
6 Flee! Save your lives!
Be like the juniper bush in the wilderness.
7 For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures,
you also will be taken.
Chemosh will go out into captivity,
his priests and his princes together.
8 The destroyer will come on every city,
and no city will escape;
the valley also will perish,
and the plain will be destroyed, as the LORD has spoken.
9 Give wings to Moab,
that she may fly and get herself away:
and her cities will become a desolation,
without anyone to dwell in them.
10“Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD negligently;
and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.
11“Moab has been at ease from his youth,
and he has settled on his dregs,
and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
neither has he gone into captivity;
therefore his taste remains in him,
and his scent is not changed.
12 Therefore behold, the days come,” says the LORD,
“that I will send to him those who pour off,
and they will pour him off;
and they will empty his vessels,
and break their containers in pieces.
13 Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
14“How do you say, ‘We are mighty men,
and valiant men for the war’?
15 Moab is laid waste,
and they have gone up into his cities,
and his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,”
says the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
16“The calamity of Moab is near to come,
and his affliction hurries fast.
17 All you who are around him, bemoan him;
and all you who know his name, say,
‘How the strong staff is broken,
the beautiful rod!’
18“You daughter who dwells in Dibon,
come down from your glory,
and sit in thirst;
for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you.
He has destroyed your strongholds.
19 Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch.
Ask him who flees, and her who escapes;
say, ‘What has been done?’
20 Moab is disappointed;
for it is broken down.
Wail and cry!
Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.
21 Judgment has come on the plain country—
on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mephaath,
22 on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim,
23 on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon,
24 on Kerioth, on Bozrah,
and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25 The horn of Moab is cut off,
and his arm is broken,” says the LORD.
26“Make him drunk,
for he magnified himself against the LORD.
Moab will wallow in his vomit,
and he also will be in derision.
27 For wasn’t Israel a derision to you?
Was he found among thieves?
For as often as you speak of him,
you shake your head.
28 You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock.
Be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss.
29“We have heard of the pride of Moab.
He is very proud in his loftiness, his pride,
his arrogance, and the arrogance of his heart.
30 I know his wrath,” says the LORD, “that it is nothing;
his boastings have done nothing.
31 Therefore I will wail for Moab.
Yes, I will cry out for all Moab.
They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.
32 With more than the weeping of Jazer
I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah.
Your branches passed over the sea.
They reached even to the sea of Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruits
and on your vintage.
33 Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field
and from the land of Moab.
I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses.
No one will tread with shouting.
The shouting will be no shouting.
34 From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh,
even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice,
from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah;
for the waters of Nimrim will also become desolate.
35Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,” says the LORD,
“him who offers in the high place,
and him who burns incense to his gods.
36 Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like flutes,
and my heart sounds like flutes for the men of Kir Heres.
Therefore the abundance that he has gotten has perished.
37 For every head is bald,
and every beard clipped.
There are cuttings on all the hands,
and sackcloth on the waist.
38 On all the housetops of Moab,
and in its streets, there is lamentation everywhere;
for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no one delights,” says the LORD.
39“How it is broken down!
How they wail!
How Moab has turned the back with shame!
So will Moab become a derision
and a terror to all who are around him.”
40 For the LORD says: “Behold, he will fly as an eagle,
and will spread out his wings against Moab.
41 Kerioth is taken,
and the strongholds are seized.
The heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day
will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42 Moab will be destroyed from being a people,
because he has magnified himself against the LORD.
43 Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you,
inhabitant of Moab,” says the LORD.
44“He who flees from the terror will fall into the pit;
and he who gets up out of the pit will be taken in the snare,
for I will bring on him, even on Moab,
the year of their visitation,” says the LORD.
45“Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon;
for a fire has gone out of Heshbon,
and a flame from the middle of Sihon,
and has devoured the corner of Moab,
and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh are undone;
for your sons are taken away captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
47“Yet I will reverse the captivity of Moab in the latter days,”
says the LORD.
Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
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