Jeremiah 48 (New American Standard)

Prophecy against Moab

1 Concerning ¹Moab. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Woe to ²Nebo, for it has been destroyed ; ³Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured ; The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and ^ashattered. 2 "There is praise for Moab no longer ; In ⁴Heshbon they have devised calamity against her: 'Come and let us cut her off from being a nation !' You too, ^bMadmen, will be silenced ; The sword will follow after you. 3 "The sound of an outcry from ⁵Horonaim, 'Devastation and great destruction !' 4 "Moab is broken, Her little ones have sounded out a cry of distress. 5 "For by the ascent of ⁶Luhith They will ascend with continual weeping ; For at the descent of Horonaim They have heard the ^canguished cry of destruction. 6 "⁷Flee, save your lives, That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness. 7 "For because of your ⁸trust in your own achievements and treasures, Even you yourself will be captured ; And ⁹Chemosh will go off into exile Together with his priests and his princes. 8 "A destroyer will come to every city, So that no city will escape ; The valley also will be ruined And the ¹⁰plateau will be destroyed, As the LORD has said. 9 "Give ^d11wings to Moab, For she will ^eflee away ; And her cities will become a ¹²desolation, Without inhabitants in them. 10 "¹³Cursed be the one who does the LORD'S work ¹⁴negligently, And cursed be the one who restrains his ¹⁵sword from blood. 11 "Moab has been ¹⁶at ease since his youth ; He has also been ¹⁷undisturbed, like wine on ^fits dregs, And he has not been ¹⁸emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into exile. Therefore ^ghe retains his flavor, And his aroma has not changed. 12 "Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter ^hhis jars. 13 "And Moab will be ¹⁹ashamed of ²⁰Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of ²¹Bethel, their confidence. 14 "How can you say, 'We are ²²mighty warriors, And men valiant for battle '? 15 "Moab has been destroyed and ⁱmen have gone up to ^jhis cities ; His choicest ^k23young men have also gone down to the slaughter," Declares the ²⁴King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 16 "The disaster of Moab will ²⁵soon come, And his calamity has swiftly hastened. 17 "Mourn for him, all you who live around him, Even all of you who know his name ; Say, 'How has the mighty ^l26scepter been broken, A staff of splendor !' 18 "²⁷Come down from your glory And sit ^mon the parched ground, O ²⁸daughter dwelling in ²⁹Dibon, For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, He has ruined your strongholds. 19 "Stand by the road and keep watch, O inhabitant of ³⁰Aroer ; ³¹Ask him who flees and her who escapes And say, 'What has happened ?' 20 "Moab has been put to shame, for it has been ⁿshattered. Wail and cry out; Declare by the ³²Arnon That Moab has been destroyed. 21 "Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, ³³Jahzah and against ³⁴Mephaath, 22 against Dibon, Nebo and Beth-diblathaim, 23 against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul and ³⁵Beth-meon, 24 against ³⁶Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 "The ³⁷horn of Moab has been cut off and his ³⁸arm broken," declares the LORD. 26 "³⁹Make him drunk, for he has ^obecome ⁴⁰arrogant toward the LORD ; so Moab will ^pwallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock. 27 "Now was not Israel a ⁴¹laughingstock to you? Or was he ^q42caught among thieves ? For each time you speak about him you ⁴³shake your head in scorn. 28 "Leave the cities and dwell among the ⁴⁴crags, O inhabitants of Moab, And be like a ⁴⁵dove that nests Beyond the mouth of the chasm. 29 "⁴⁶We have heard of the pride of Moab -he is very proud - Of his haughtiness, his ⁴⁷pride, his arrogance and ^rhis self-exaltation . 30 "I know his ⁴⁸fury," declares the LORD, "But it is futile ; His idle boasts have accomplished nothing. 31 "Therefore I will ⁴⁹wail for Moab, Even for all Moab will I cry out; ^sI will moan for the men of ⁵⁰Kir-heres. 32 "More than the ⁵¹weeping for ⁵²Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah ! Your tendrils stretched across the sea, They reached to the sea of Jazer ; Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest The destroyer has fallen. 33 "So ⁵³gladness and joy are taken away From the fruitful field, even from the land of Moab. And I have made the wine to ⁵⁴cease from the wine presses ; No one will tread them with shouting, The shouting will not be shouts of joy. 34 "⁵⁵From the outcry at Heshbon even to ⁵⁶Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have ^traised their voice, from ⁵⁷Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah ; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate. 35 "I will make an end of Moab," declares the LORD, "the one who offers sacrifice on the ⁵⁸high place and the one who ^u59burns incense to his gods. 36 "Therefore My ⁶⁰heart ^vwails for Moab like flutes ; My heart also ^wwails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have ⁶¹lost the abundance it produced. 37 "For ⁶²every head is bald and every beard cut short ; there are gashes on all the hands and ⁶³sackcloth on the loins. 38 "On all the ⁶⁴housetops of Moab and in its streets ^xthere is lamentation everywhere ; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable ⁶⁵vessel," declares the LORD. 39 "How ^yshattered it is! How they have wailed ! How Moab has turned his back -he is ashamed ! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an ⁶⁶object of terror to all around him." 40 For thus says the LORD : "Behold, one will ⁶⁷fly swiftly like an eagle And ⁶⁸spread out his wings against Moab. 41 "Kerioth has been captured And the strongholds have been seized, So the ⁶⁹hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day Will be like the heart of a ⁷⁰woman in labor. 42 "Moab will be ⁷¹destroyed from being a people Because he has ^zbecome ⁷²arrogant toward the LORD. 43 "⁷³Terror, pit and snare are coming upon you, O inhabitant of Moab," declares the LORD. 44 "The one who ⁷⁴flees from the terror Will fall into the pit, And the one who climbs up out of the pit Will be caught in the snare ; For I shall bring upon her, even upon Moab, The year of their ⁷⁵punishment," declares the LORD. 45 "In the shadow of Heshbon The fugitives stand without strength ; For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon And a ⁷⁶flame from the midst of ⁷⁷Sihon, And it has devoured the ⁷⁸forehead of Moab And the scalps of the ^aariotous revelers . 46 "⁷⁹Woe to you, Moab ! The people of ⁸⁰Chemosh have perished ; For your sons have been taken away captive And your daughters into captivity. 47 "Yet I will ⁸¹restore the ^bbfortunes of Moab In the ^cclatter days," declares the LORD. Thus far the judgment on Moab.