Jeremiah 48
48
1 #
Is 15—16; 25.10-12; Ezek 25.8-11; Amos 2.1-3; Zeph 2.8-11. Concerning Moab.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste!
Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame and broken down;
2the renown of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they planned evil against her:
‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’
You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence;
the sword shall pursue you.
3“Hark! a cry from Horonaim,
‘Desolation and great destruction!’
4Moab is destroyed;
a cry is heard as far as Zoar.#48.4 Gk: Heb her little ones
5For at the ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping;#48.5 Cn: Heb weeping goes up with weeping
for at the descent of Horonaim
they have heard the cry#48.5 Gk Compare Is 15.5: Heb the distress of the cry of destruction.
6Flee! Save yourselves!
Be like a wild ass#48.6 Gk Aquila: Heb like Aroer in the desert!
7For, because you trusted in your strongholds#48.7 Gk: Heb works and your treasures,
you also shall be taken;
and Chemosh shall go forth into exile,
with his priests and his princes.
8The destroyer shall come upon every city,
and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
and the plain shall be destroyed,
as the Lord has spoken.
9“Give wings to Moab,
for she would fly away;
her cities shall become a desolation,
with no inhabitant in them.
10“Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.
11“Moab has been at ease from his youth
and has settled on his lees;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
nor has he gone into exile;
so his taste remains in him,
and his scent is not changed.
12“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I shall send to him tilters who will tilt him, and empty his vessels, and break his#48.12 Gk Aquila: Heb their jars in pieces. 13Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
14“How do you say, ‘We are heroes
and mighty men of war’?
15The destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up,
and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter,
says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
16The calamity of Moab is near at hand
and his affliction hastens apace.
17Bemoan him, all you who are round about him,
and all who know his name;
say, ‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff.’
18“Come down from your glory,
and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitant of Dibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
19Stand by the way and watch,
O inhabitant of Aroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
say, ‘What has happened?’
20Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
wail and cry!
Tell it by the Arnon,
that Moab is laid waste.
21“Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mepha-ath, 22and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24and Keri-oth, and Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the Lord.
26“Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the Lord; so that Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he too shall be held in derision. 27Was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him you wagged your head?
28“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab!
Be like the dove that nests
in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
29We have heard of the pride of Moab—
he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
30I know his insolence, says the Lord;
his boasts are false,
his deeds are false.
31Therefore I wail for Moab;
I cry out for all Moab;
for the men of Kir-heres I mourn.
32More than for Jazer I weep for you,
O vine of Sibmah!
Your branches passed over the sea,
reached as far as Jazer;#48.32 Cn: Heb the sea of Jazer
upon your summer fruits and your vintage
the destroyer has fallen.
33Gladness and joy have been taken away
from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have made the wine cease from the wine presses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy;
the shouting is not the shout of joy.
34“Heshbon and Ele-aleh cry out;#48.34 Cn: Heb From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. 35And I will bring to an end in Moab, says the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in the high place and burns incense to his god. 36Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of Kir-heres; therefore the riches they gained have perished.
37“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off; upon all the hands are gashes, and on the loins is sackcloth. 38On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation; for I have broken Moab like a vessel for which no one cares, says the Lord. 39How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all that are round about him.”
40For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, one shall fly swiftly like an eagle,
and spread his wings against Moab;
41the cities shall be taken
and the strongholds seized.
The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day
like the heart of a woman in her pangs;
42Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people,
because he magnified himself against the Lord.
43Terror, pit, and snare
are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!
says the Lord.
44He who flees from the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the snare.
For I will bring these things#48.44 Gk Syr: Heb to her upon Moab
in the year of their punishment,
says the Lord.
45“In the shadow of Heshbon
fugitives stop without strength;
for a fire has gone forth from Heshbon,
a flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed the forehead of Moab,
the crown of the sons of tumult.
46Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh is undone;
for your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
47Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days, says the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 48: RSV-C
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
For more information and to purchase a hard copy of the Complete Jewish Bible,
Learn More About Complete Jewish Bible