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: GNBDK
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. 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.
Jeremiah 48
48
Prophecies against Moab
1About Moab, # Gn 19:37; Nm 22:1; 24:17; 25:1; Dt 23:3; 34:5-6; Jdg 3:30; Rt 1:2; 2Sm 8:2; 1Kg 11:7; 2Kg 1:1; Is 15:1; Ezk 25:8-11; Am 2:1-2; Zph 2:8-9 this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:
Woe to Nebo, # Nm 32:3; Jr 48:22 because it is about to be destroyed;
Kiriathaim will be put to shame; # Nm 32:37; Jr 48:23; Ezk 25:9 it will be taken captive.
The fortress will be put to shame and dismayed!
2There is no longer praise for Moab;
they plan harm against her in Heshbon: # Jr 48:34,45; 49:3
Come, let’s cut her off from nationhood.
Also, Madmen, # A city in Moab you will be silenced;
the sword will pursue # Jr 29:18; Am 1:11 you.
3A voice cries out from Horonaim, # Is 15:5; Jr 48:34
“devastation and great disaster!” # Jr 51:54
4Moab will be shattered;
her little ones will cry out.
5For on the Ascent to Luhith
they will be weeping continually, # Lit Luhith, weeping goes up with weeping
and on the descent to Horonaim
will be heard cries of distress over the destruction: # Is 15:5
6Flee! Save your lives! # Jr 51:6,45
Be like a juniper bush # Or like Aroer ; Is 17:2; Jr 48:19 # Is 41:19; Jr 17:6 in the wilderness.
7Because you trust in your works # LXX reads strongholds and treasures,
you will be captured also.
Chemosh # Nm 1:29; Jdg 11:24; 1Kg 11:7,33; 2Kg 23:13; Jr 48:13,45-47 will go into exile
with his priests and officials. # Jr 49:3
8The destroyer # Jr 6:26; 48:15,18,32 will move against every town;
not one town will escape.
The valley will perish,
and the plain will be annihilated, # Jos 13:9,17,21
as the Lord has said.
9Make Moab a salt marsh, # LXX reads a sign ; Vg reads a flower ; Syr, Tg read a crown # Jdg 9:45; Jr 17:6; Ezk 47:11; Zph 2:9
for she will run away; # Hb obscure
her towns will become a desolation,
without inhabitant. # Jos 8:26; Is 5:9; 6:11; Jr 2:15; 4:29; 6:8; 33:10; 34:22; 44:2,22; 51:37; Zph 3:6
10The one who does
the Lord’s business deceitfully # Or negligently is cursed, # 1Kg 20:42
and the one who withholds
his sword from bloodshed is cursed.
11Moab has been left quiet since his youth,
settled like wine on its dregs. # Ps 75:8; Zph 1:12
He hasn’t been poured from one container to another
or gone into exile.
So his taste has remained the same,
and his aroma hasn’t changed.
12Therefore look, the days are coming # Jr 7:32; 16:14; 19:6; 23:7; 49:2; 51:47,52 —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
when I will send those to him, who will pour him out.
They will empty his containers
and smash his jars.
13Moab will be put to shame because of Chemosh,
just as the house of Israel was put to shame
because of Bethel # 1Kg 12:28-33; 13:1-5; 2Kg 10:29; 23:15; Hs 410:15; Am 3:14; 4:4; 5:5-6 that they trusted in.
14How can you say, “We are warriors —
mighty men ready for battle”?
15The destroyer of Moab and its towns
has come up, # Or Moab is destroyed; he has come up against its city
and the best of its young men
have gone down to slaughter.
This is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name. # Jr 46:18; 51:57
16Moab’s calamity is near at hand;
his disaster is rushing swiftly.
17Mourn for him, all you surrounding nations,
everyone who knows his name.
Say: How the mighty scepter # Ps 110:2; Ezk 19:11-12,14 is shattered,
the glorious staff!
18Come down from glory; sit on parched ground,
resident of the daughter of Dibon, # Jos 13:8-9; Jr 46:19
for the destroyer of Moab has come against you;
he has destroyed your fortresses.
19Stand by the highway and look,
resident of Aroer! # Dt 2:36
Ask him who is fleeing or her who is escaping: # 1Sm 4:13,16
What happened?
20Moab is put to shame, indeed dismayed.
Wail and cry out! # Is 14:31; Jr 25:34; 47:2; Ezk 21:12
Declare by the Arnon
that Moab is destroyed.
21“Judgment has come to the land of the plateau # Jos 13:17-19 — to Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, 22Dibon, Nebo, Beth-diblathaim, 23Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, Beth-meon, # Jos 13:17 24Kerioth, # Jr 48:41; Am 2:2 Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, those far and near. 25Moab’s horn is chopped off; # Ps 75:10; Lm 2:3; Am 3:14 his arm is shattered.” # Ps 10:15; 37:17; Jb 38:15; Ezk 30:21-24
This is the Lord’s declaration.
26“Make him drunk, because he has exalted himself against the Lord. # Jr 48:42 Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock. 27Wasn’t Israel a laughingstock to you? # Gn 38: 23; Jb 12:4; Ps 44:14; Jr 20:7; 48:39; Lm 2:15-17; 3:14 Was he ever found among thieves? # Jr 2:26 For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.” # 2Kg 19:21; Jb 2:11; 16:4; 42:11; Ps 22:7; 64:8; 69:20; 109:25; Is 37:22; 51:19; Jr 15:5; 18:16; Lm 2:15; Nah 3:7
28Abandon the towns! Live in the cliffs,
residents of Moab!
Be like a dove
that nests inside the mouth of a cave. # Is 2:19-21
29We have heard of Moab’s pride,
great pride, indeed —
his insolence, arrogance, pride,
and haughty heart.
30I know his outburst.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is empty.
His boast is empty.
31Therefore, I will wail over Moab.
I will cry out for Moab, all of it;
he will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
32I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah,
with more than the weeping for Jazer.
Your tendrils have extended to the sea;
they have reached to the sea and to Jazer. # Some Hb mss read reached as far as Jazer
The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and grape harvest.
33Joy and celebration are taken from the fertile field
and from the land of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses;
no one will tread with shouts of joy.
The shouting is not a shout of joy. # Is 16:7-10
34“There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices as far as Jahaz # Is 15:4-6 — from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah — because even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate. 35In Moab, I will stop” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “the one who offers sacrifices on the high place and burns incense to his gods. # Jr 11:12-13; 18:15 36Therefore, My heart moans like flutes for Moab, # Is 15:5 and My heart moans like flutes for the people of Kir-heres. And therefore, the wealth he has gained has perished. 37Indeed, every head is bald and every beard clipped; # Is 15:2-3; Jr 47:5 on every hand is a gash # Lv 19:28; 21:5; Jr 5:7; 41:5; 47:5 and sackcloth # Jr 4:8; 6:26; 49:3 around the waist. 38On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants.” # Jr 22:28 This is the Lord’s declaration. 39“How broken it is! They wail! How Moab has turned his back! He is ashamed. Moab will become a laughingstock and a shock to all those around him.” # Is 16:6-11; Zph 2:9-10
40For this is what the Lord says:
He will swoop down like an eagle
and spread his wings against Moab. # Dt 28:49; Jr 49:22
41The towns have # Or Kerioth has been captured,
and the strongholds seized.
In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman with contractions. # Is 13:8; Jr 49:22
42Moab will be destroyed as a people
because he has exalted himself against the Lord. # Jr 48:26
43Panic, # Jr 30:5; 49:5 pit, and trap
await you, resident of Moab.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
44He who flees from the panic will fall in the pit,
and he who climbs from the pit
will be captured in the trap,
for I will bring against Moab
the year of their punishment. # Jr 23:12
This is the Lord’s declaration. # Is 24:17-18
45Those who flee will stand exhausted in Heshbon’s shadow
because fire has come out from Heshbon
and a flame from within Sihon.
It will devour Moab’s forehead
and the skull of the noisemakers.
46Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished
because your sons have been taken captive
and your daughters have gone into captivity. # Nm 21:28-29
47Yet, I will restore the fortunes # Or will end the captivity of Moab in the last days. # Jr 49:6,39
This is the Lord’s declaration.
The judgment on Moab ends here.
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