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Jeremiah 48

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Prophecies against Moab

1 About Moab, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Woe to Nebo, because it is about to be destroyed; Kiriathaim will be put to shame; it will be taken captive. The fortress will be put to shame and dismayed!
2 There is no longer praise for Moab; they plan harm against her in Heshbon: Come, let's cut her off from nationhood. You madmen will also be silenced; the sword will pursue you.
3 A voice cries out from Horonaim: devastation and great disaster!
4 Moab will be shattered; her little ones will cry out.
5 For on the ascent to Luhith they will be weeping continually,[a] and on the descent to Horonaim will be heard cries of distress over the destruction:[b]
6 Flee! Save your lives! Be like a juniper bush[c][d]in the wilderness.
7 Because you trust in your works[e] and treasures, you will be captured also. Chemosh[f] will go into exile with his priests and officials.
8 The destroyer will move against every town; not one town will escape. The valley will perish, and the plain will be annihilated, as the Lord has said.
9 Make Moab a salt marsh,[g][h] for she will run away;[i] her towns will become a desolation, without inhabitant.
10 Cursed is the one who does the Lord's business deceitfully,[j] and cursed is the one who withholds his sword from bloodshed.
11 Moab has been left quiet since his youth, settled [like wine] on its dregs.[k] He hasn't been poured from one container to another or gone into exile. So his taste has remained the same, and his aroma hasn't changed.
12 Therefore look, the days are coming- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration- when I will send those to him, who will pour him out. They will empty his containers and smash his jars.
13 Moab will be put to shame because of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was put to shame because of Bethel[l] that they trusted in.
14 How can you say, We are warriors- mighty men [ready] for battle?
15 The destroyer of Moab and its towns has come up,[m] and the best of its young men have gone down to slaughter. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the King's declaration; the Lord of Hosts is His name.[n]
16 Moab's calamity is near at hand; his disaster is rushing swiftly.
17 Mourn for him, all you surrounding [nations], everyone who knows his name. Say: How the mighty scepter[o] is shattered, the glorious staff!
18 Come down from glory; sit on parched ground, resident of the daughter of Dibon,[p] for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.
19 Stand by the highway and look, resident of Aroer! Ask him who is fleeing or her who is escaping, What happened?
20 Moab is put to shame, indeed dismayed. Wail and cry out! Declare by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
21 "Judgment has come to the land of the plateau[q]-to Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath,
22 Dibon, Nebo, Beth-diblathaim,
23 Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, Beth-meon,
24 Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, those far and near.
25 Moab's horn is chopped off; his arm is shattered." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.
26 "Make him drunk, because he has exalted himself against the Lord. Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock.
27 Wasn't Israel a laughingstock to you? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake [your head]."
28 Abandon the towns! Live in the cliffs, residents of Moab! Be like a dove that nests inside the mouth of a cave.[r]
29 We have heard of Moab's pride, great pride, indeed- his insolence, arrogance, pride, and haughty heart.
30 I know his outburst. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. It is empty. His boast is empty.
31 Therefore, I will wail over Moab. I will cry out for Moab, all of it; he will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
32 I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah, with more than the weeping for Jazer. Your tendrils have extended to the sea; they have reached to the sea [and to] Jazer.[s] The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and grape harvest.
33 Joy and celebration are taken from the fertile field and from the land of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses; no one will tread with shouts of joy. The shouting is not a shout of joy.[t]
34 "There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices as far as Jahaz-from Zoar to Horonaim [and] Eglath-shelishiyah-because even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate.
35 In Moab, I will stop"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"the one who offers sacrifices on the high place and burns incense to his gods.[u]
36 Therefore, My heart moans like flutes for Moab, and My heart moans like flutes for the people of Kir-heres. And therefore, the wealth he has gained has perished.[v]
37 Indeed, every head is bald and every beard clipped; on every hand is a gash and sackcloth around the waist.
38 On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants."[w] [This is] the Lord's declaration.
39 "How broken it is! They wail! How Moab has turned his back! He is ashamed. Moab will become a laughingstock and a shock to all those around him."[x]
40 For this is what the Lord says: He will swoop down like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab.[y]
41 The towns have[z] been captured, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab's warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.
42 Moab will be destroyed as a people because he has exalted himself against the Lord.[aa]
43 Panic, pit, and trap await you, resident of Moab. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.
44 He who flees from the panic will fall in the pit, and he who climbs from the pit will be captured in the trap, for I will bring against Moab the year of their punishment. [This is] the Lord's declaration.[ab]
45 Those who flee will stand exhausted in Heshbon's shadow because fire has come out from Heshbon and a flame from within Sihon. It will devour Moab's forehead and the skull of the noisemakers.
46 Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished because your sons have been taken captive and your daughters have gone into captivity.[ac]
47 Yet, I will restore the fortunes[ad] of Moab in the last days. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. The judgment on Moab ends here.
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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.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Footnotes 30

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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Jeremiah 48 Commentaries

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