Jeremiah 48

1 Concerning Mo'av, this is what ADONAI-Tzva'ot, the God of Isra'el, says: "Woe to N'vo, for it is ravaged; Kiryatayim disgraced and captured. Misgav is put to shame, distressed.

2 "In Mo'av, nothing is left to praise. At Heshbon they plotted her downfall: 'Come, we'll cut her off as a nation.' You too, Madmein, will be silenced; the sword pursues behind you.

3 An agonized cry from Horonayim, ruin, terrible devastation!

4 Mo'av has been shattered; the cries of her young ones are heard,

5 as they ascend the slopes of Luchit, weeping bitterly as they climb. On the road down to Horonayim shrieks of destruction ring out."

6 Flee! Save your lives! Be strong, like a tamarisk in the desert.

7 Because you trust in your deeds and your wealth, you too will be captured. Together with his priests and princes, K'mosh will go into exile.

8 A destroyer will descend on every city, no city will escape. The valley too will perish, the plain will be laid waste, as ADONAI as said.

9 Give Mo'av wings, so it can fly and get away. Its cities will become ruins, with no one to live in them.

10 A curse on him who does the work of ADONAI carelessly! A curse on him who withholds his sword from blood!

11 Mo'av has lived at ease from his youth; he is [wine] settled on its dregs, not decanted from jar to jar - he has not gone into exile. Therefore it retains its own [bad] taste, its aroma remains unchanged.

12 "So the days are coming," says ADONAI, "when I will send people to tilt him; they will tilt his jars, emptying them and shattering the wine-flasks to pieces.

13 Mo'av will be disappointed by K'mosh then, just as the house of Isra'el was disappointed by Beit-El, a god in whom they had put their trust.

14 "How can you say, 'We are heroes, warriors valiant in battle'?

15 They are ravaging Mo'av, attacking its cities; its best young men go down to be slaughtered," says the king, whose name is ADONAI-Tzva'ot.

16 Mo'av's ruin is coming soon, its disaster speeds on swiftly.

17 Pity him, all of you who are near him, all of you who know his name; say, "How the mighty scepter is shattered, that splendid staff!"

18 Descend from your glory, and sit in thirst, daughter living in Divon; for Mo'av's destroyer advances on you; he has destroyed your strongholds.

19 Stand by the road and watch, inhabitant of 'Aro'er; ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, "What is going on?"

20 Mo'av is disgraced, indeed, destroyed. Wail aloud! Shriek! Proclaim it by the Arnon that Mo'av has been laid waste.

21 Judgment has come on the Plain - on Holon, Yachtzah, Mefa'at,

22 Divon, N'vo, Beit-Diblatayim,

23 Kiryatayim, Beit-Gamul, Beit-M'on,

24 K'riot, Botzrah and all the cities in the land of Mo'av, far and near.

25 "Mo'av's strength is cut down, his arm is broken," says ADONAI.

26 Because Mo'av boasted against ADONAI, make him so drunk that he wallows in his own vomit and becomes a laughingstock.

27 After all, Isra'el was a laughingstock for you. He didn't associate with thieves; nevertheless, whenever you spoke of him, you shook your head.

28 You who live in Mo'av, leave the cities, and live on the rocks; be like the dove who makes her nest in a hole in the rock at the mouth of a cave.

29 We have heard of the pride of Mo'av: so very proud he is! - presumptuous, proud, conceited; so haughty his heart!

30 "I know what meager ground he has for his arrogance," says ADONAI. "His boasting has nothing behind it, and it hasn't accomplished a thing."

31 Therefore I wail for Mo'av; for all Mo'av I cry; for the people of Kir-Heres I lament.

32 I will weep for you, vineyard of Sivmah, more than I wept for Ya'zer. Your branches spread to the sea, reaching as far as the sea of Ya'zer. On your summer fruits and on your vintage the destroyer has fallen.

33 Gladness and joy have been removed from productive fields and the land of Mo'av. "I have stopped the flow of wine from the vats and the shouts of those who tread the grapes - those shouts of joy are stilled."

34 The cries from Heshbon to El'aleh are heard as far away as Yachatz; those from Tzo'ar to Horonayim are heard in 'Eglat-Shlishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim have become a desolate waste.

35 "Moreover," says ADONAI, "in Mo'av I will put an end to anyone sacrificing on a high place or offering incense to his gods."

36 This is why my heart is moaning for Mo'av like funeral flutes, why my heart moans for the men of Kir-Heres like funeral flutes; for the wealth they produced has vanished.

37 Every head has been shaved bald, every beard has been clipped short, gashes are on every hand, sackcloth around every waist.

38 On all the housetops of Mo'av and in its open places - lamentation everywhere! "For I have broken Mo'av like a pot that nobody wants," says ADONAI.

39 Wail, "How shattered is Mo'av! How shamefully in retreat!" Thus will Mo'av become an object of ridicule and distress to all its neighbors.

40 For here is what ADONAI says: "Look! Down he swoops like a vulture, spreading his wings against Mo'av

41 the cities are captured, the strongholds are seized. On that day the hearts of Mo'av's warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

42 Mo'av will be destroyed as a people, because he boasted against ADONAI.

43 Terror, pit and trap are upon you, people of Mo'av," says ADONAI.

44 "Whoever flees from the terror will fall into the pit; and he who climbs up out of the pit will be caught in the trap. For I will bring on her, on Mo'av, the year for her punishment," says ADONAI.

45 "In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stop, exhausted. For fire breaks out from Heshbon, a flame from inside Sichon, consuming the sides and tops of the heads of Mo'av's noisy boasters.

46 Woe to you, Mo'av! K'mosh's people are doomed! For your sons have been taken captive, and your daughters led into captivity.

47 Yet I will end Mo'av's exile in the acharit-hayamim," says ADONAI. This is the judgment on Mo'av.

Jeremiah 48 Commentary

Chapter 48

Prophecies against Moab for pride and security. (1-13) For carnal confidence and contempt of God. (14-47)

1-13. The Chaldeans are to destroy the Moabites. We should be thankful that we are required to seek the salvation of men's lives, and the salvation of their souls, not to shed their blood; but we shall be the more without excuse if we do this pleasant work deceitfully. The cities shall be laid in ruins, and the country shall be wasted. There will be great sorrow. There will be great hurry. If any could give wings to sinners, still they could not fly out of the reach of Divine indignation. There are many who persist in unrepented iniquity, yet long enjoy outward prosperity. They had been long corrupt and unreformed, secure and sensual in prosperity. They have no changes of their peace and prosperity, therefore their hearts and lives are unchanged, ( Psalms 55:19 ) .

14-47. The destruction of Moab is further prophesied, to awaken them by national repentance and reformation to prevent the trouble, or by a personal repentance and reformation to prepare for it. In reading this long roll of threatenings, and mediating on the terror, it will be of more use to us to keep in view the power of God's anger and the terror of his judgments, and to have our hearts possessed with a holy awe of God and of his wrath, than to search into all the figures and expressions here used. Yet it is not perpetual destruction. The chapter ends with a promise of their return out of captivity in the latter days. Even with Moabites God will not contend for ever, nor be always wroth. The Jews refer it to the days of the Messiah; then the captives of the Gentiles, under the yoke of sin and Satan, shall be brought back by Divine grace, which shall make them free indeed.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 48

This chapter contains a prophecy of the destruction of Moab, and of the mourning that should be for it; and not only its destruction in general is predicted, but particular places are mentioned, on which it should fall, Jer 48:1-5; the causes of which were their confidence in their works and riches, their carnal ease and security, and their idolatry, they should now be ashamed of, Jer 48:6-13; and this destruction is represented both as certain and as near, notwithstanding their mighty warriors and choice young men, Jer 48:14-17; and then other cities are particularly named, that should share in the calamity, Jer 48:18-25; and all this because of their insolence to the Lord; their contempt of his people; their pride, arrogance, and haughtiness; their wrath, and their lies, Jer 48:26-30; and this destruction is further exaggerated by the lamentation of the prophet over Moab in general, and over several particular cities; and by the lamentation of the inhabitants of them, because of the spoiling of their vines, their fruits, and their riches, Jer 48:31-39; and this is confirmed by the Lord, as to the swiftness of the enemy that should destroy them; the consternation and fear that should seize them; the flight they should be put to; and the consumption and captivity of them, Jer 48:40-46; and the chapter is concluded with a promise of the return of their captivity in the latter day, Jer 48:47.