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.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 48: GW
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
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
A message about Moab
1Concerning Moab:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
‘Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined.
Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured;
the stronghold#48:1 Or captured; / Misgab will be disgraced and shattered.
2Moab will be praised no more;
in Heshbon#48:2 The Hebrew for Heshbon sounds like the Hebrew for plot. people will plot her downfall:
“Come, let us put an end to that nation.”
You, the people of Madmen,#48:2 The name of the Moabite town Madmen sounds like the Hebrew for be silenced. will also be silenced;
the sword will pursue you.
3Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim,
cries of great havoc and destruction.
4Moab will be broken;
her little ones will cry out.#48:4 Hebrew; Septuagint / proclaim it to Zoar
5They go up the hill to Luhith,
weeping bitterly as they go;
on the road down to Horonaim
anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
6Flee! Run for your lives;
become like a bush#48:6 Or like Aroer in the desert.
7Since you trust in your deeds and riches,
you too will be taken captive,
and Chemosh will go into exile,
together with his priests and officials.
8The destroyer will come against every town,
and not a town will escape.
The valley will be ruined
and the plateau destroyed,
because the Lord has spoken.
9Put salt on Moab,
for she will be laid waste#48:9 Or Give wings to Moab, / for she will fly away;
her towns will become desolate,
with no-one to live in them.
10‘A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!
A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed!
11‘Moab has been at rest from youth,
like wine left on its dregs,
not poured from one jar to another –
she has not gone into exile.
So she tastes as she did,
and her aroma is unchanged.
12But days are coming,’ declares the Lord,
‘when I will send men who pour from pitchers,
and they will pour her out;
they will empty her pitchers
and smash her jars.
13Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
as Israel was ashamed
when they trusted in Bethel.
14‘How can you say, “We are warriors,
men valiant in battle”?
15Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded;
her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,’
declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
16‘The fall of Moab is at hand;
her calamity will come quickly.
17Mourn for her, all who live around her,
all who know her fame;
say, “How broken is the mighty sceptre,
how broken the glorious staff!”
18‘Come down from your glory
and sit on the parched ground,
you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon,
for the one who destroys Moab
will come up against you
and ruin your fortified cities.
19Stand by the road and watch,
you who live in Aroer.
Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,
ask them, “What has happened?”
20Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.
Wail and cry out!
Announce by the Arnon
that Moab is destroyed.
21Judgment has come to the plateau –
to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,
22to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
23to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,
24to Kerioth and Bozrah –
to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
25Moab’s horn#48:25 Horn here symbolises strength. is cut off;
her arm is broken,’
declares the Lord.
26‘Make her drunk,
for she has defied the Lord.
Let Moab wallow in her vomit;
let her be an object of ridicule.
27Was not Israel the object of your ridicule?
Was she caught among thieves,
that you shake your head in scorn
whenever you speak of her?
28Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks,
you who live in Moab.
Be like a dove that makes its nest
at the mouth of a cave.
29‘We have heard of Moab’s pride –
how great is her arrogance! –
of her insolence, her pride, her conceit
and the haughtiness of her heart.
30I know her insolence but it is futile,’ declares the Lord,
‘and her boasts accomplish nothing.
31Therefore I wail over Moab,
for all Moab I cry out,
I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.
32I weep for you, as Jazer weeps,
you vines of Sibmah.
Your branches spread as far as the sea#48:32 Probably the Dead Sea;
they reached as far as#48:32 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts as far as the Sea of Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen
on your ripened fruit and grapes.
33Joy and gladness are gone
from the orchards and fields of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses;
no-one treads them with shouts of joy.
Although there are shouts,
they are not shouts of joy.
34‘The sound of their cry rises
from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz,
from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah,
for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
35In Moab I will put an end
to those who make offerings on the high places
and burn incense to their gods,’ declares the Lord.
36‘So my heart laments for Moab like the music of a pipe;
it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth.
The wealth they acquired is gone.
37Every head is shaved
and every beard cut off;
every hand is slashed
and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
38On all the roofs in Moab
and in the public squares
there is nothing but mourning,
for I have broken Moab
like a jar that no-one wants,’ declares the Lord.
39‘How shattered she is! How they wail!
How Moab turns her back in shame!
Moab has become an object of ridicule,
an object of horror to all those around her.’
40This is what the Lord says:
‘Look! An eagle is swooping down,
spreading its wings over Moab.
41Kerioth#48:41 Or The cities will be captured
and the strongholds taken.
In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labour.
42Moab will be destroyed as a nation
because she defied the Lord.
43Terror and pit and snare await you,
you people of Moab,’
declares the Lord.
44‘Whoever flees from the terror
will fall into a pit,
whoever climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a snare;
for I will bring on Moab
the year of her punishment,’
declares the Lord.
45‘In the shadow of Heshbon
the fugitives stand helpless,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
a blaze from the midst of Sihon;
it burns the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls of the noisy boasters.
46Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh are destroyed;
your sons are taken into exile
and your daughters into captivity.
47‘Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in days to come,’
declares the Lord.
Here ends the judgment on Moab.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.