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
48
Prophecy Against Moab
1Concerning Moab, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Oy to Nebo! For it will be ravaged. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured. The fortress will be shamed, shattered.
2There is no more praise for Moab. In Heshbon they plotted evil against her: ‘Come, let’s cut her off as a nation.’ You too, Madmen, will be silenced— the sword will chase you.
3The sound of outcry from Horonaim, devastation and great destruction!
4Moab is shattered—her little ones have raised a cry to be heard.
5For at the ascent of Luhith they go up with continual weeping. For on the descent to Horonaim they heard the foe’s shattering cry.
6Flee! Escape with your lives! Be like a tamarisk in the wilderness.
7For because of your trust in your works and your treasures, you will be captured, too. Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and princes.
8The destroyer will come to every town. No town will escape. The valley will perish and the plain will be destroyed, as Adonai has said.
9Give wings to Moab, for she must fly and get away. Her cities will become a wasteland, with no one living in them.
10Cursed is the one who does the work of Adonai with slackness, and cursed is the one who withholds his sword from blood.
11Moab has been at ease since his youth. He has settled like wine on its dregs. He has not been emptied from jar to jar, nor gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, and his aroma has not changed.
12Therefore behold, days are coming” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “when I will send to him those who will tip him up and over, and they will empty his vessels, and smash his jars in pieces.
13So Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh just as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
14How can you say: ‘We are warriors and men valiant for battle’?
15Moab is ravaged, its towns entered, its choice young men gone down to slaughter” —It is a declaration of the King, whose Name is Adonai-Tzva’ot.
16“Moab’s calamity will come soon, and his downfall hastens swiftly.
17Mourn for him, all who are around him, all who know his name. Say: ‘How the mighty scepter, the splendid rod, is broken!’
18O daughter dwelling in Dibon come down from your glory and sit in thirst! For Moab’s destroyer has come to you. He has devastated your strongholds.
19O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the road and watch— ask him fleeing and her escaping, ‘What has happened?’
20Moab is disgraced, indeed shattered. Wail and shriek! Declare by the Arnon, Moab is ruined!
21Judgment has come on the tableland —on Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath,
22on Dibon, Nebo, Beth-diblathaim,
23on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, Beth-meon,
24on Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, far and near.
25The horn of Moab is cut off and his arm is broken!” It is a declaration of Adonai.
26“Make him drunk, for he exalted himself against Adonai. So Moab will wallow in his vomit and also become a laughingstock.
27After all, Israel is a laughingstock to you. Was he ever found among thieves, that whenever you speak of him, you should wag the head?
28Inhabitants of Moab, leave the towns and dwell in crags— like a dove nesting in a cave’s mouth.
29We have heard of the pride of Moab —very proud he is—his haughtiness, his arrogance, his insolence, and his self-exalted heart.
30I know his arrogance,” says Adonai, “but it is dishonest— his boasts really accomplish nothing.
31Therefore I wail for Moab! Yes, I cry out for all Moab, for the men of Kir-heres I moan.
32More than weeping of Jazer will I weep for you, vine of Sibmah! Your branches spread to the sea, reached as far as the sea of Jazer. On your summer fruits and your vintage the destroyer has fallen.
33So joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab. I stopped wine from the winepresses. No one will tread with shouting— any shouting is not a shout of joy.”
34“From the outcry of Heshbon to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they will raise their voice—from Zoar to Horonaim and a 3-year old heifer—for the Waters of Nimrim also will be waste.
35Moreover I will make an end in Moab”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“of the one offering on the high place and the one burning incense to his gods.”
36“That is why my heart is moaning like funeral flutes for Moab, and my heart moans like flutes for the people of Kir-heres. Thus the wealth he made is lost.
37For every head is bald, every beard clipped, on all the hands are gashes, and around the waist sackcloth.
38On all the housetops of Moab and in its squares— lamentation everywhere! For I have broken Moab like a jar In which no one delights” —it is a declaration of Adonai—
39“‘How shattered it is!’ they wailed! ‘How Moab turned his back in shame!’ So Moab will become a laughingstock and a horror to all around him.”
40For thus says Adonai: “Behold, he will swoop down like a vulture and spread out his wings against Moab.
41The towns are captured, the strongholds seized. The hearts of Moab’s warriors in that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42Moab will be destroyed as a people, because he boasted against Adonai.
43Panic, pit and trap, are upon you, inhabitant of Moab,” declares Adonai.
44“The one who flees from panic will fall into the pit, and one who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap. For I will bring on Moab the year of their visitation.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
45“In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stop, exhausted, for fire breaks out of Heshbon flame from within Sihon, and it singes the foreheads and the scalps of Moab’s noisy sons.
46Oy to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished! For your sons are taken away captive and your daughters into exile.
47Yet I will restore Moab from exile in the end of days.” It is a declaration of Adonai. “Until then this is the judgment of Moab.”
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