Jeremiah 48

Prophecy against Moab

1Concerning #The Moabites were descendants of Lot through his elder daughter. Chemosh was the primary god of the territory of Moab. The territory of Moab was located east of the Dead Sea.Moab.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,

“Woe (judgment is coming) to [the city of] #The towns of Nebo and Kiriathaim were located in the rich pasturelands allotted to the tribe of Reuben. Their exact location, as well as that of the other towns mentioned, is uncertain.Nebo, for it has been destroyed!

Kiriathaim has been shamed, it has been captured;

Misgab [the high fortress] has been shamed, broken down and crushed.

2The glory of Moab is no more;

In #A border town between territories of Reuben and Gad, east of the Jordan River.Heshbon they planned evil against her,

Saying, ‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’

You also, O [city of] Madmen, shall be silenced;

The sword will pursue you.

3The sound of an outcry from Horonaim,

‘Desolation and great destruction!’

4Moab is destroyed;

Her little ones have called out a cry of distress [to be heard as far as Zoar].

5For the Ascent of Luhith

Will be climbed by [successive groups of] fugitives with continual weeping;

For on the descent of Horonaim

They have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.

6Run! Save your lives,

That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.

7For because you have trusted in your works [your hand-made idols] and in your treasures [instead of in God],

Even you yourself will be captured;

And #Chemosh was the national god revered by the Moabites. Burning children as a sacrifice was part of the ritualistic worship. Solomon, in response to requests from his Moabite wives, established an altar to Chemosh on a hill east of Jerusalem (1 Kin 11:7). This repulsive idol remained in place for nearly three hundred years.Chemosh [your disgusting god cannot rescue you, but] will go away into exile [along with the fugitives]

Together with his priests and his princes.

8And the destroyer will come upon every city;

No city will escape.

The [Jordan] valley also will be ruined

And the plain will be devastated,

As the Lord has said.

9Give a gravestone to Moab,

For she will fall into ruins;

Her cities (pastures, farms) will be desolate,

Without anyone to live in them.

10Cursed is the one who does the work of the Lord negligently,

And cursed is the one who restrains his sword from blood [in executing the judgment of the Lord].

11“Moab has been at ease from his youth;

He has also been undisturbed, and settled like wine on his dregs,

And he has not been emptied from one vessel to another,

Nor has he gone into exile.

Therefore his flavor remains in him,

And his scent has not changed.

12Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will send to Moab those who will tip him over and who will empty his vessels and break his [earthenware] jars in pieces. 13And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh [his worthless, disgusting god], as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their [misplaced] confidence.

14How can you say, ‘We are great warriors

And valiant men in war?’

15Moab has been made desolate and his cities have gone up [in smoke and flame];

And his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,”

Says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

16“The destruction of Moab will come soon,

And his disaster hurries quickly.

17Show sympathy for him, all you [nations] who are around him,

And all you [distant nations] who know his name;

Say, ‘How has the mighty scepter [of national power] been broken,

And the splendid staff [of glory]!’

18Come down from your glory,

O Daughter living in #Dibon, known today as Dhiban, stands on two hills. The famous Moabite Stone, a stela of black basalt, was found among the ruins of Dibon in 1868, and had been inscribed in 850 b.c. to commemorate certain accomplishments of King Mesha of Moab, including a victory in his revolt against Israel. Also recorded on the Moabite Stone was the fact that King Mesha built (or restored) the city of Aroer and made the road over the Arnon. The city of Aroer mentioned in this chapter (v 19) stood on the north side of the river Arnon (v 20), just south of Dibon. The inscriptions on the stone are written in a Phoenician dialect similar to an early form of the Hebrew language.Dibon,

And sit on the parched ground [among the thirsty]!

For the destroyer of Moab has advanced against you;

He has destroyed your strongholds.

19O inhabitant of Aroer,

Stand by the road and keep watch!

Ask [of] him who flees and [ask of] her who escapes,

Saying, ‘What has happened?’

20Moab is shamed, for she has been broken down and shattered.

Wail and cry out!

Tell by [the banks of] the Arnon

That Moab has been destroyed.

21“Judgment has come on [the land of] the plain—upon Holon, Jahzah, and against Mephaath, 22against Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24against Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25The horn (strength) of Moab has been cut off and his arm [of authority] is shattered,” says the Lord. 26“Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant and magnified himself against the Lord [by denying Reuben’s occupation of the land the Lord had assigned him]. Moab also will wallow in his vomit, and he too shall become a laughingstock. 27For was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Was he caught among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head in scorn.

28You inhabitants of Moab,

Leave the cities and live among the rocks,

And be like the dove that makes her nest

In the walls of the yawning ravine.

29We have heard of the [giddy] pride of Moab, the extremely proud one—

His haughtiness, his arrogance, his conceit, and his self-exaltation.

30I know his [insolent] wrath,” says the Lord,

“But it is futile;

His idle boasts [in his deeds] have accomplished nothing.

31Therefore I will wail over Moab,

And I will cry out for all Moab.

I will sigh and mourn over the men of Kir-heres (Kir-hareseth).

32O vines of Sibmah, I will weep for you

More than the weeping of Jazer [over its ruins and wasted vineyards].

Your tendrils [of influence] stretched across the sea,

Reaching [even] to the sea of Jazer.

The destroyer has fallen

On your summer fruits and your [season’s] crop of grapes.

33So joy and gladness are taken away

From the fruitful field and from the land of Moab.

And I have made the wine cease from the wine presses;

No one treads the grapes with shouting.

Their shouting is not joyful shouting [but is instead, a battle cry].

34From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolations. 35Moreover, I will cause to cease in Moab,” says the Lord, “the one who ascends and offers sacrifice in the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.

36“Therefore My heart moans and sighs for Moab like flutes, and My heart moans and sighs like flutes for the men of Kir-heres (Kir-hareseth); therefore [the remnant of] the abundant riches they gained has perished. 37For every head is [shaven] bald and every beard cut off; there are cuts (slashes) on all the hands and sackcloth on the #The midsection of the body between the lower ribs and the hips.loins [all expressions of mourning]. 38On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation (expressions of grief for the dead) everywhere, for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which there is no pleasure,” says the Lord. 39“How it is broken down! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab will become a laughingstock and a [horrifying] terror to all who are around him.”

40For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, one (Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon) will fly swiftly like an eagle

And spread out his wings against Moab.

41Kerioth [and the cities] has been taken

And the strongholds seized;

And the hearts of the warriors of Moab in that day

Shall be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.

42Moab will be #Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 b.c.) subjugated the Moabites, but they continued to exist as a people into the first century a.d. (though the national existence of both Moab and Ammon seems to have ended long before the time of Christ). This in itself is a remarkable fulfillment of prophecy; but the fact that Moab’s fortunes are to be restored “in the latter days” (v 47) and have proceeded toward that end is even more amazing. Yet Moab is only one of the numerous nations whose fate was accurately written down in advance by the ancient prophets of God.destroyed from being a nation (people)

Because he has become arrogant and magnified himself against the Lord.

43Terror and pit and snare are before you,

O inhabitant of Moab,” says the Lord.

44“The one who flees from the terror

Will fall into the pit,

And the one who gets up out of the pit

Will be taken and caught in the trap;

For I shall bring upon it, even upon Moab,

The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.

45“In the shadow of Heshbon

The fugitives stand powerless [helpless and without strength],

For a fire has gone out from Heshbon,

A flame from the midst of Sihon;

It has destroyed the forehead of Moab

And the crowns of the heads of [the arrogant Moabites] the ones in tumult.

46Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Moab!

The people of [the pagan god called] Chemosh have perished;

For your sons have been taken away captive

And your daughters into captivity.

47Yet I will return the captives and restore the fortunes of Moab

In the latter days,” says the Lord.

Thus far is the judgment on Moab.

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Jeremiah 48

What the Lord Says about Moab

1 # Is 15.1—16.14; 25.10-12; Ez 25.8-11; Am 2.1-3; Zep 2.8-11. The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, told me to say to the nation of Moab:

The town of Nebo is doomed;

Kiriathaim will be captured

and disgraced,

and even its fortress

will be left in ruins.

2No one honors you, Moab.

In Heshbon, enemies make plans

to end your life.

My sword will leave only silence

in your town named “Quiet.”#48.2 silence … Quiet: In Hebrew the name of the town was “Madmen,” which sounds like the word for “silence.”

3The people of Horonaim

will cry for help,

as their town is attacked

and destroyed.

4Moab will be shattered!

Your children will sob

5and cry on their way up

to the town of Luhith;

on the road to Horonaim

they will tell of disasters.

6Run for your lives!

Head into the desert

like a wild donkey.#48.6 like a wild donkey: One ancient translation; Hebrew “like (the town of) Aroer” (see verse 19).

7You thought you could be saved

by your power and wealth,

but you will be captured

along with your god Chemosh,

his priests, and officials.

8Not one of your towns

will escape destruction.

I have told your enemies,

“Wipe out the valley

and the flatlands of Moab.

9Spread salt on the ground

to kill the crops.#48.9 Spread salt … crops: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

Leave its towns in ruins,

with no one living there.

10I want you to kill the Moabites,

and if you let them escape,

I will put a curse on you.”

11Moab, you are like wine

left to settle undisturbed,

never poured from jar to jar.

And so, your nation continues

to prosper and improve.#48.11 continues … improve: Or “remains as evil as ever.”

12But now, I will send enemies

to pour out the wine

and smash the jars!

13Then you will be ashamed,

because your god Chemosh

cannot save you,

just as Bethel#48.13 Bethel: It may refer to the Phoenician or Canaanite god of that name; or it may refer to the town where people of the northern kingdom worshiped at a local shrine (see 1 Kings 12.26-30). could not help

the Israelites.

14You claim that your soldiers

are strong and brave.

15But I am the Lord,

the all-powerful King,

and I promise that enemies

will overpower your towns.

Even your best warriors

will die in the battle.

16It won't be long now—

disaster will hit Moab!

17I will order the nearby nations

to mourn for you and say,

“Isn't it sad? Moab ruled others,

but now its glorious power

has been shattered.”

18People in the town of Dibon,#48.18 Dibon: The capital city of Moab.

you will be honored no more,

so have a seat in the dust.

Your walls will be torn down

when the enemies attack.

19You people of Aroer,#48.19 Aroer: A Moabite town located just north of the Arnon River.

go wait beside the road,

and when refugees run by,

ask them, “What happened?”

20They will answer,

“Moab has been defeated!

Weep with us in shame.

Tell everyone at the Arnon River

that Moab is destroyed.”

21I will punish every town

that belongs to Moab,

but especially Holon,

Jahzah, Mephaath,

22Dibon, Nebo,

Beth-Diblathaim, 23Kiriathaim,

Beth-Gamul, Beth-Meon,

24Kerioth, and Bozrah.#48.24 Bozrah: Not the same Bozrah as in 49.13.

25My decision is final—

your army will be crushed,

and your power broken.

26People of Moab, you claim

to be stronger than I am.

Now I will tell other nations

to make you drunk

and to laugh while you collapse

in your own vomit.

27You made fun of my people

and treated them like criminals

caught in the act.

28Now you must leave your towns

and live like doves

in the shelter of cliffs

and canyons.

29I know about your pride,

and how you strut and boast.

30But I also know bragging

will never save you.

31So I will cry and mourn

for Moab

and its town of Kir-Heres.

32People of Sibmah,

you were like a vineyard

heavy with grapes,

and with branches reaching

north to the town of Jazer

and west to the Dead Sea.#48.32 reaching north … Dead Sea: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

But you have been destroyed,

and so I will weep for you,

as the people of Jazer weep

for the vineyards.

33Harvest celebrations are gone

from the orchards and farms

of Moab.

I have silenced the shouts

of people making wine.

34Weeping from Heshbon

can be heard as far

as Elealeh and Jahaz;

cries from Zoar are heard

in Horonaim

and Eglath-Shelishiyah.

And Nimrim Creek has run dry.

35I will get rid of anyone

who burns incense

to the gods of Moab

or offers sacrifices

at their shrines.

I, the Lord, have spoken.

36In my heart I moan for Moab,

like a funeral song

played on a flute.

I mourn for the people

of the town of Kir-Heres,

because their wealth is gone.

* 37-38The people of Moab

mourn on the rooftops

and in the streets.

Men cut off their beards,

people shave their heads;

they make cuts on their hands

and wear sackcloth.#48.37,38 sackcloth: See the note at 4.8.

And it's all because I, the Lord,

have shattered Moab like a jar

that no one wants.

39Moab lies broken!

Listen to its people cry

as they turn away in shame.

Other nations are horrified

at what happened,

but still they mock her.

40Moab, an enemy swoops down

like an eagle spreading its wings

over your land.

41Your cities#48.41 Your cities: Or “Kerioth.” and fortresses

will be captured,

and your warriors as fearful

as women giving birth.#48.41 as fearful … birth: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

42You are finished as a nation,

because you dared oppose me,

the Lord.

43Terror, pits, and traps

are waiting for you.

44If you are terrified and run,

you will fall into a pit;

and if you crawl out of the pit,

you'll get caught in a trap.

The time has come

for you to be punished.

I, the Lord, have spoken.

45Near the city of Heshbon,

where Sihon once ruled,

tired refugees stand in shadows

cast by the flames

of their burning city.

Soon, the towns on other hilltops,

where those warlike people live,

will also go up in smoke.

46People of Moab, you worshiped

Chemosh, your god,

but now you are done for,

and your children are prisoners

in a foreign country.

47Yet someday, I will bring

your people back home.

I, the Lord, have spoken.

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