Jeremiah 48
48
Against Moab.#Moab, located east of the Dead Sea, was one of Israel’s bitter enemies (cf., e.g., Is 15–16; Am 2:1–3). According to Flavius Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Moab and Ammon in his twenty-third year (582 B.C.), five years after the destruction of Jerusalem. This chapter is full of local place names in Moab. 1Concerning Moab. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Ah, Nebo! it is ravaged;
Kiriathaim is disgraced, captured;
Disgraced and overthrown is the stronghold:
2Moab’s glory is no more.
In Heshbon they plot evil against her:
“Come! We will put an end to her as a nation.”
You, too, Madmen,#Madmen: a place name, not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. shall be silenced;
you the sword stalks!
3Listen! an outcry from Horonaim,#Is 15:5.
“Ruin and great destruction!”
4“Moab is crushed!”
their outcry is heard in Zoar.
5Up the ascent of Luhith
they go weeping;
At the descent to Horonaim
they hear cries of anguish:
6“Flee, save your lives!
Be like a wild donkey in the wilderness!”
7Because you trusted in your works and your treasures,
you also shall be captured.
Chemosh#Chemosh: chief god of Moab (cf. Nm 21:29). shall go into exile,
his priests and princes with him.#Nm 21:29.
8The destroyer comes upon every city,
not a city escapes;
Ruined is the valley,
wasted the plateau—oracle of the Lord.
9Set up a tombstone for Moab;
it will soon become a complete wasteland,
Its cities turned into ruins
where no one dwells.
10Cursed are they who do the Lord’s work carelessly,
cursed those who keep their sword from shedding blood.
11#Moabite wine was known for its high quality. Here the wine is a metaphor for Moab’s complacency. Moab has been resting from its youth,
suspended above its dregs,
Never poured from flask to flask,
never driven into exile.
Thus it retained its flavor,
its bouquet is not lost.#Zep 1:12.
12Be assured! The days are coming—oracle of the Lord—when I will send him wine-makers to decant the wine; they shall empty its flasks and smash its jars. 13Chemosh shall disappoint Moab, just as the house of Israel was disappointed by Bethel, in which they trusted.#Is 16:12.
14How can you say, “We are heroes,
mighty warriors”?
15The one who ravages Moab and its cities comes up,
the best of its youth go down to slaughter—
oracle of the King, whose name is Lord of hosts.
16Moab’s ruin is near at hand,
its disaster approaches swiftly.
17Mourn, all you neighbors,
all you who know its name!
Say: How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff!
18Come down from glory, sit on the parched ground,
enthroned daughter Dibon;#Dibon, the capital of Moab at that time, is situated on a height. The prophet here offers a personification of the city, pictured as a confident ruler.
Moab’s destroyer has fallen upon you,
has shattered your strongholds.#Nm 21:30.
19Stand along the road, keep watch,
enthroned Aroer;
Ask the fleeing man, the escaping woman:
ask them what has happened.#Dt 2:36.
20“Moab is put to shame, destroyed.”
Wail and cry out,
Proclaim it at the Arnon:
“Moab is destroyed!”#Is 16:7.
21Judgment has come upon the plateau: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,#Is 15:4. 22on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24on Kerioth and on Bozrah: on all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
25The horn of Moab is cut off,
its arm is broken—oracle of the Lord.
26Make him drunk because he set himself over against the Lord; let Moab swim in his vomit and become a laughingstock. 27Has Israel not been a laughingstock to you? Was he caught among thieves that you wag your heads whenever you speak of him?#Zep 2:8–10.
28Abandon the cities, take shelter in the crags,
inhabitants of Moab.
Be like the dove that nests
in the walls of a gorge.
29We have heard of the pride of Moab,#Is 16:6.
pride beyond bounds:
His loftiness, his pride, his scorn,
his insolent heart.
30I myself know his arrogance—oracle of the Lord—
liar in word, liar in deed.
31And so I wail over Moab,
over all Moab I cry,
over the people of Kir-heres I moan.#Is 16:7.
32More than for Jazer I weep for you,
vine of Sibmah.
Your tendrils trailed down to the sea,
as far as Jazer they stretched.
Upon your summer harvest and your vintage,
the destroyer has fallen.#Is 16:8–9.
33Joy and gladness are taken away
from the garden land, the land of Moab.
I dry up the wine from the wine vats,
the treader treads no more,
the vintage shout is stilled.
34The cry of Heshbon and Elealeh is heard as far as Jahaz; they call from Zoar to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; even the waters of Nimrim turn into a wasteland.#Is 15:4–5. 35I will leave no one in Moab—oracle of the Lord—to offer burnt offerings on the high place or to make sacrifices to their gods. 36Hence my heart wails like a flute for Moab; my heart wails like a flute for the people of Kir-heres: the wealth they accumulated has perished.#Is 16:11. 37Every head has been shaved bald, every beard cut off; every hand gashed, and all their loins are draped in sackcloth.#Jer 47:5; Is 15:2–3; Ez 7:18. 38On all the rooftops of Moab and in all its squares there is mourning. I have shattered Moab like a pot that no one wants—oracle of the Lord. 39How terrified they are, how they wail! How Moab turns its back in shame! Moab has become a laughingstock and a horror to all its neighbors!
40For thus says the Lord:
Look there! Like an eagle he swoops,
spreading his wings over Moab.#Jer 49:22.
41Cities are captured,
strongholds seized:
On that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors
become like the heart of a woman in labor.#Jer 6:24; 30:6.
42Moab shall be wiped out, a people no more,
because it set itself over against the Lord.#Zep 2:9–10.
43Terror, pit, and trap be upon you,
enthroned Moab—oracle of the Lord.#Is 24:17–18.
44Those fleeing the terror
fall into the pit;
Those climbing out of the pit
are caught in the trap;
Ah, yes! I will bring these things upon Moab
in the year of their punishment—oracle of the Lord.
45In Heshbon’s shadow the fugitives
stop short, exhausted;
For fire blazes up from Heshbon,
and flames up from the house of Sihon:
It consumes the forehead of Moab,
the scalp of the noisemakers.#Nm 21:28–29.
46Woe to you, Moab!
You are finished, people of Chemosh!
Your sons are taken into exile,
your daughters into captivity.
47Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the days to come—oracle of the Lord.#Jer 49:39.
Thus far the judgment on Moab.
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Jeremiah 48: NABRE
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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