Jeremiah 48
48
A Prophecy against Moab
1This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says about Moab:
How horrible it will be for Nebo; it will be destroyed.
Kiriathaim will be put to shame; it will be captured.
Its stronghold will be put to shame and torn down.
2People will no longer praise Moab.
The people in Heshbon will plan Moab’s destruction.
“Let’s destroy that nation!”
You will be silenced, city of Madmen.
Death will come after you.
3People will cry out from Horonaim, “Looting and great destruction!”
4Moab will be broken.
Its little ones will cry out.
5People go up the pass of Luhith, crying bitterly as they go.
On the road down to Horonaim they have heard
the distressful cry of destruction.
6“Run away! Run for your lives!
Run like a wild donkey in the desert.”
7Since you trust the things you do and your treasures,
you will be captured.
Chemosh will go into captivity with all its priests and officials.
8The destroyer will come to every city, and no city will escape.
The valley will be destroyed, and the plain will be laid waste
as the Lord has threatened.
9Put salt on Moab.
It will be destroyed.
Its cities will become deserted ruins.
10Cursed are those who neglect doing the Lord’s work.
Cursed are those who keep their swords from killing.
11“Moab has lived securely ever since it was young.
Its people are like wine left to settle in a jar.
They aren’t poured from one jar to another.
They haven’t gone into captivity.
That is why its flavor has remained the same,
and its aroma hasn’t changed.
12That is why the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will send people to pour Moab out of its jars
and to smash its pitchers.
13Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh
as the nation of Israel was ashamed when it trusted Bethel.
14“How can you say, ‘We are soldiers and warriors’?
15The enemy will attack Moab and destroy its cities.
Its finest young men will be slaughtered,”
declares the king, whose name is the Lord of Armies.
16“Moab’s destruction is coming near; disaster is coming quickly.
17Mourn over it, all of its neighbors and everyone who knows its fame.
Say, ‘Look at the strong staff, the beautiful rod, that is broken!’
18“People of Dibon, come down from your place of honor
and sit on the dry ground.
The destroyers of Moab will attack you.
They will destroy your fortresses.
19Stand by the road in Aroer, and watch.
Ask those who are fleeing
and those who are escaping what is happening.
20They will answer, ‘Moab is disgraced; it is defeated.
Shout loudly, and cry.
Tell the news in Arnon that Moab is destroyed.’
21“Judgment has come to all the cities on the plain: to Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, 22Dibon, Nebo, Beth Diblathaim, 23Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, Beth Meon, 24Kerioth, Bozrah, and on all the cities of Moab, far and near.
25“Moab’s horn is cut off, and its arm is broken,”
declares the Lord.
26“Get the people of Moab drunk; they have spoken against the Lord.
They will wallow in their own vomit, and people will laugh at them.
27People of Moab, didn’t you laugh at the people of Israel?
Were they caught among thieves?
Whenever you talk about them you shake your heads in contempt.
28People of Moab, abandon your cities.
Live among the cliffs.
Be like doves that make their nests at the entrance of a cave.
29“We have heard about the arrogance of Moab’s people.
They are very arrogant.
They are very arrogant, conceited, and boastful.
30I know how arrogant they are,” declares the Lord,
“but it isn’t right.
They brag and don’t do what they say.
31That is why I will weep for Moab and cry for all of Moab.
I will moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.
32I will cry for you as Jazer cries.
I will cry for you, grapevines of Sibmah.
Your branches ⌞once⌟ spread as far as the sea,
and they reached as far as the sea of Jazer.
The destroyer will destroy your ripened fruits and your grapes.
33Joy and gladness have disappeared from the orchards and fields of Moab.
I will stop the wine flowing from the winepresses.
No one will stomp on grapes with shouts of joy.
There will be shouts, but not shouts of joy.
34“The cry will be heard from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz. It will be heard from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. Even the streams of Nimrim will dry up. 35I will stop those in Moab who come to worship sites, those who bring offerings to their gods,” declares the Lord. 36“That is why I moan for Moab like a flute. I sound like a flute for the people of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they gained has disappeared.
37“Every head is shaved, and every beard is cut off. There are gashes on every hand and sackcloth on every waist. 38People in Moab will mourn on every rooftop and in every street. There will be mourning everywhere, because I will break Moab like a jar that no one wants,” declares the Lord. 39“They will cry, ‘Look how Moab is defeated! Moab turns away in shame!’ Moab has become something ridiculed and something held in contempt by everyone around it.
40“This is what the Lord says:
The enemy will swoop down like eagles and spread their wings over Moab.
41The cities will be taken, and the fortified places will be captured.
On that day Moab’s soldiers will be like women in childbirth.
42Moab will be destroyed as a nation,
because it spoke against the Lord.
43Disasters, pits, and traps are in store for those who live in Moab,”
declares the Lord.
44“Whoever flees from a disaster will fall into a pit.
Whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a trap.
I will bring a year of punishment to Moab,” declares the Lord.
45“Those who flee will stand exhausted in the shadow of Heshbon.
A fire will come out of Heshbon and a flame from Sihon.
It will burn the foreheads of the people of Moab
and the skulls of those noisy people.
46How horrible it will be for you, Moab.
You people of Chemosh will die.
Your sons will be taken away into exile,
and your daughters will be taken away into captivity.
47But I will restore Moab in the last days,” declares the Lord.
The judgment against Moab ends here.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 48
48
1Concerning Moab. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God#GodHebrew: Elohim of Israel: Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled; Kirjathaim is put to shame, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and dismayed. 2Moab's praise is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. Thou also, O Madmen, shalt be cut down; the sword shall pursue thee. 3A voice of crying from Horonaim; wasting and great destruction! 4Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. 5For by the ascent of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the descent of Horonaim is heard the anguish of the cry of destruction. 6Flee, save your lives, and be like a shrub in the wilderness. 7For because thou hast confided in thy works and in thy treasures, thou also shalt be taken, and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together. 8And the waster shall come upon every city, that not a city shall escape; and the valley shall perish, and the plateau shall be destroyed: as Jehovah hath said. 9Give wings unto Moab, that she may flee and get away; and the cities thereof shall become a desolation, without inhabitant. 10Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood! 11Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and hath settled on his lees; he hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste hath remained in him, and his scent is not changed. 12Therefore behold, days come, saith Jehovah, that I will send unto him pourers that shall pour him off, and shall empty his vessels, and break in pieces his flagons. 13And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
14How do ye say, We are mighty, and men of valour for the war? 15Moab is laid waste, and his cities are gone up in smoke, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts. 16The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth 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! 18Come down from thy glory and sit in the drought, O inhabitress, daughter of Dibon; the spoiler of Moab is come up against thee, thy strongholds hath he destroyed. 19Stand by the way, and watch, inhabitress of Aroer; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth; say, What is done? 20Moab is put to shame; for he is broken down: howl and cry; tell it in Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. 21And judgment is come upon the country of the plateau; upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath; 22and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim; 23and upon Kirjathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon; 24and upon Kerijoth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith Jehovah. 26Make him drunken, for he magnified himself against Jehovah; and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. 27For was not Israel a derision unto thee? Was he found among thieves, that as oft as thou didst speak of him, thou didst shake the head? 28Leave the cities, and dwell in the rocks, ye inhabitants of Moab, and be like the dove, that maketh her nest in the sides of the cave's mouth. 29We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, — he is very proud; — his loftiness, and his arrogance, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. 30I know his wrath, saith Jehovah; his pratings are vain: they do not as they say. 31Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab: for the men of Kir-heres shall there be moaning. 32O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with more than the weeping of Jaazer: thy shoots passed over the sea, they reached to the sea of Jaazer. The spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. 33And joy and gladness is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: they shall no more tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting. 34Because of the cry from Heshbon, unto Elaleh, unto Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar unto Horonaim, unto Eglath-shelishijah: for even the waters of Nimrim shall become desolations. 35And I will cause to cease in Moab, saith Jehovah, him that offereth in the high place, and him that burneth incense to his gods. 36Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres; because the abundance that he hath gotten is perished. 37For every head is bald, and every beard clipped; upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. 38It is wholly lamentation upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the public places thereof; for I have broken Moab, like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith Jehovah. 39They howl, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! And Moab shall be a derision and a terror to all that are round about him. 40For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread forth his wings over Moab. 41Kerijoth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and at that day the heart of the mighty men of Moab shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. 42And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against Jehovah. 43Fear, and the pit, and the snare shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith Jehovah. 44He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon her, upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith Jehovah. 45They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon powerless; for a fire hath come forth from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and hath consumed the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult. 46Woe to thee, Moab! The people of Chemosh is undone; for thy sons are taken away in captivity, and thy daughters are captives. 47But I will turn the captivity of Moab at the end of the days, saith Jehovah. Thus far is the judgement of Moab.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.