Jeremiah 48
48
The Destruction of Moab
1 #
Is 15.1—16.14; 25.10–12; Ezek 25.8–11; Amos 2.1–3; Zeph 2.8–11 This is what the LORD Almighty said about Moab:
“Pity the people of Nebo —
their town is destroyed!
Kiriathaim is captured,
its mighty fortress torn down,
and its people put to shame;
2the splendour of Moab is gone.
The enemy have captured Heshbon
and plot to destroy the nation of Moab.
The town of Madmen will be silenced;
armies will march against it.
3The people of Horonaim cry out,
‘Violence! Destruction!’
4“Moab has been destroyed;
listen to the children crying.
5Hear the sound of their sobs
along the road up to Luhith,
the cries of distress
on the way down to Horonaim.
6‘Quick, run for your lives!’ they say.
‘Run like a wild desert donkey!’
7“Moab, you trusted in your strength and your wealth,
but now even you will be conquered;
your god Chemosh will go into exile,
along with his princes and priests.
8Not a town will escape the destruction;
both valley and plain will be ruined.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
9Set up a tombstone for Moab;
it will soon be destroyed.
Its towns will be left in ruins,
and no one will live there again.”
10(Curse those who do not do the LORD's work with all their heart! Curse those who do not slash and kill!)
The Cities of Moab are Destroyed
11The LORD said, “Moab has always lived secure and has never been taken into exile. Moab is like wine left to settle undisturbed and never poured from jar to jar. Its flavour has never been ruined, and it tastes as good as ever.
12“So now, the time is coming when I will send people to pour Moab out like wine. They will empty its wine jars and break them in pieces. 13Then the Moabites will be disillusioned with their god Chemosh, just as the Israelites were disillusioned with Bethel, a god in whom they trusted.
14“Men of Moab, why do you claim to be heroes,
brave soldiers tested in war?
15Moab and its cities are destroyed;
its finest young men have been slaughtered.
I am the king, the LORD Almighty,
and I have spoken.
16Moab's doom approaches;
its ruin is coming soon.
17“Mourn for that nation, you that live near by,
all of you that know its fame.
Say, ‘Its powerful rule has been broken;
its glory and might are no more.’
18You that live in Dibon,
come down from your place of honour
and sit on the ground in the dust;
Moab's destroyer is here
and has left its forts in ruins.
19You that live in Aroer,
stand by the road and wait;
ask those who are running away,
find out from them what has happened.
20‘Moab has fallen,’ they will answer,
‘weep for it; it is disgraced.
Announce along the River Arnon
that Moab is destroyed!’
21“Judgement has come on the cities of the plateau: on Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, 22Dibon, Nebo, Beth Diblathaim, 23Kiriathaim, Bethgamul, Bethmeon, 24Kerioth, and Bozrah. Judgement has come on all the cities of Moab, far and near. 25Moab's might has been crushed; its power has been destroyed. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
Moab will be Humbled
26The LORD said, “Make Moab drunk, because it has rebelled against me. Moab will roll in its own vomit, and people will laugh. 27Moab, remember how you jeered at the people of Israel? You treated them as though they had been caught with a gang of robbers.
28“You people who live in Moab, leave your towns! Go and live on the cliffs! Be like the dove that makes its nest in the sides of a ravine. 29Moab is very proud! I have heard how proud, arrogant, and conceited the people are, how much they think of themselves. 30I, the LORD, know of their arrogance. Their boasts amount to nothing, and the things they do will not last. 31And so I will weep for everyone in Moab and for the people of Kir Heres. 32I will cry for the people of Sibmah, even more than for the people of Jazer. City of Sibmah, you are like a vine whose branches reach across the Dead Sea and go as far as Jazer. But now your summer fruits and your grapes have been destroyed. 33Happiness and joy have been taken away from the fertile land of Moab. I have made the wine stop flowing from the winepresses; there is no one to make the wine and shout for joy.
34“The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,#48.34 Probable text Heshbon… cry out; Hebrew unclear. and their cry can be heard as far as Jahaz; it can be heard by the people in Zoar, and it is heard as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. Even the brook of Nimrim has dried up. 35I will stop the people of Moab from making burnt offerings at their places of worship and from offering sacrifices to their gods. I, the LORD, have spoken.
36“So my heart mourns for Moab and for the people of Kir Heres, like someone playing a funeral song on a flute, because everything they owned is gone. 37All of them have shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth. 38On all the housetops of Moab and in all its public squares there is nothing but mourning, because I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants. 39Moab has been shattered! Cry out! Moab has been disgraced. It is in ruins, and all the surrounding nations jeer at it. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
No Escape for Moab
40The LORD has promised that a nation will swoop down on Moab like an eagle with its outspread wings, 41and the towns and fortresses will be captured. On that day Moab's soldiers will be as frightened as a woman in labour. 42Moab will be destroyed and will no longer be a nation, because it rebelled against me. 43Terror, pits, and traps are waiting for the people of Moab. The LORD has spoken. 44Whoever tries to escape the terror will fall into the pits, and whoever climbs out of the pits will be caught in the traps, because the LORD has set the time for Moab's destruction. 45Helpless refugees try to find protection in Heshbon, the city that King Sihon once ruled, but it is in flames.#48.45 Heshbon, the city… flames; or the city of Heshbon, but it is in flames and the palace of King Sihon is burning. Fire has burnt up the frontiers and the mountain heights of the war-loving people of Moab. 46Pity the people of Moab! The people who worshipped Chemosh have been destroyed, and their sons and daughters have been taken away as prisoners.
47But in days to come the LORD will make Moab prosperous again. All of this is what the LORD has said will happen to Moab.
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Jeremiah 48: GNBUK
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
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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