Jeremiah 48
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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Jeremiah 48: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 48
48
Jeremiah 48
1¶ Against Moab thus hath the Lord of the hosts, the God of Israel said; Woe unto Nebo! for it is destroyed; it is confounded; Kiriathaim is taken; Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
2Moab shall no longer be praised; they have devised evil against Heshbon, saying, Come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
3A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.
4Moab is destroyed; they have caused the cry of her little ones to be heard.
5For in the ascending road of Luhith he that weeps shall go up weeping; for in the descending road of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.
6Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
7For because thou hast trusted in thy works; in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken; and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.
8And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed as the Lord has spoken.
9Give wings {Heb. open flowers} unto Moab that he may flee and get away, for his cities shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
10Cursed be he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keeps back his sword from blood.
11Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity; therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
12Therefore, behold, the days come, said the Lord, that I will send unto him captors that shall take him captive and shall empty his vessels and break his wineskins.
13And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
14¶ How do ye say, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
15Moab is spoiled, and his cities destroyed, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, said the King whose name is the Lord of the hosts.
16The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hastens fast.
17All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken: the beautiful rod!
18Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab has come against thee and has dissipated thy strong holds.
19O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch; ask her that flees and her that escapes and say, What has happened?
20Moab is confounded, for it is broken down; howl and cry; tell it in Arnon that Moab is spoiled,
21and judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
22and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim,
23and upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon,
24and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, those that are far and those that are near.
25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, said the Lord.
26Make him drunken, for he magnified himself against the Lord; Moab shall also wallow in his vomit, and be in derision.
27For was not Israel a derision unto thee, as if he were found among thieves? for since thou hast spoken of him, thou hast slipped.
28O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the rock and be like the dove that makes her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth.
29We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness and his arrogancy and his pride and the haughtiness of his heart.
30I know his wrath, saith the Lord, but it shall have no effect; his lies shall not be to his advantage.
31Therefore I will weep over Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; my heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.
32O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer; thy shoots are gone over the sea; they reach even to the sea of Jazer; the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.
33And joy and gladness shall be taken from the plentiful field and from the land of Moab; and I shall cause wine to cease from the winepresses; no one shall tread with song; their song shall be no song.
34The cry, from Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, they have uttered their voice; from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as a heifer of three years old; for the waters of Nimrim shall also be destroyed.
35Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the Lord, him that offers upon an altar and him that burns incense to his gods.
36Therefore my heart shall sound like flutes for Moab, and my heart shall sound like flutes for the men of Kirheres because the riches that he has gotten are perished.
37For every head shall be bald, and every beard shaved: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon all the loins sackcloth.
38 There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab and in the streets thereof; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which there is no pleasure, said the Lord.
39They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how has Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all those about him.
40For thus hath the Lord said: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle and shall spread his wings over Moab.
41The cities are taken, and the strong holds are taken, and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people because he has magnified himself against the Lord.
43Fear and the pit and the snare shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, said the Lord.
44He that flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for I will bring upon him, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, said the Lord.
45Those that fled from the force stood under the shadow of Heshbon; because fire came forth out of Heshbon and a flame from the midst of Sihon and burned the corner of Moab and the crown of the head of the rebellious sons.
46Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh have perished; for thy sons are taken prisoners into captivity, and thy daughters are captives.
47Yet I will turn again the captivity of Moab in the last of the times, said the Lord. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International