Common English Bible CEB
English Standard Version ESV
1 Concerning Moab: The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: How awful for Nebo; it lies in ruins. Kirathaim is captured and shamed; the fortress is disgraced, reduced to rubble.
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Concerning Moab. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste! Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; the fortress is put to shame and broken down;
2 No one sings Moab's praise any longer! In Heshbon they are hatching a plot against her: "Come, let's bring down the nation!" You too, madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.
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the renown of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they planned disaster against her: 'Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!' You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence; the sword shall pursue you.
3 Listen to the cries for help from Horonaim: "Destruction and massive devastation!"
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"A voice! A cry from Horonaim, 'Desolation and great destruction!'
4 Moab is shattered; its young cry for help.
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Moab is destroyed; her little ones have made a cry.
5 On the way up to Luhith, there is uncontrollable weeping. On the way down to Horonaim, they hear sobs of anguish.
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For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distressed cry of destruction.
6 Run for your lives! Be like Aroer in the desert.
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Flee! Save yourselves! You will be like a juniper in the desert!
7 Because you have relied on your own strength and treasures, you also will be captured. Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.
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For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures, you also shall be taken; and Chemosh shall go into exile with his priests and his officials.
8 The destroyer will sweep through every town; no town will escape. The valleys will be ravaged; the plateaus will be destroyed, because the LORD has declared it so.
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The destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD has spoken.
9 Give wings to Moab, and it would fly away because its towns lie in ruins, with no one left in them.
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"Give wings to Moab, for she would fly away; her cities shall become a desolation, with no inhabitant in them.
10 Cursed is the one who is halfhearted in doing the LORD's work. Cursed is the one who restrains the sword from bloodshed.
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"Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.
11 From early on Moab has been at ease, like wine left to settle on its sediment. It hasn't been poured into jars; nor has Moab been taken into exile. Therefore, its taste is still pleasant, and its aroma is the same.
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"Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile; so his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.
12 But the time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will send to him someone to spill it—to pour out his wine and to smash his jars.
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"Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his jars in pieces.
13 And Moab will be put to shame on account of Chemosh, just as the people of Israel were put to shame on account of Bethel, in which they trusted.
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Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
14 How can you claim, "We're soldiers; we're war heroes"?
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"How do you say, 'We are heroes and mighty men of war'?
15 Moab is doomed; its towns will surrender; its elite forces will go down in defeat, declares the king whose name is the LORD of heavenly forces.
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The destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up, and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
16 Moab's destruction is near; its downfall approaches rapidly.
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The calamity of Moab is near at hand, and his affliction hastens swiftly.
17 Grieve for this nation, you neighbors of Moab, all you who know his name. Proclaim how its mighty scepter and magnificent staff are shattered!
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Grieve for him, all you who are around him, and all who know his name; say, 'How the mighty scepter is broken, the glorious staff.'
18 Come down from your lofty place and sit in the dust, you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon; because Moab's destroyer has arrived to level your fortresses.
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"Come down from your glory, and sit on the parched ground, O inhabitant of Dibon! For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you; he has destroyed your strongholds.
19 Stand by the roads and watch, you inhabitants of Aroer. Ask the men who flee and the women who run off, "What's happened?"
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Stand by the way and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer! Ask him who flees and her who escapes; say, 'What has happened?'
20 Moab is shamed and shocked; weep and wail! Tell it by the Arnon River: Moab's been destroyed!
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Moab is put to shame, for it is broken; wail and cry! Tell it beside the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.
21 Judgment has come to the towns of the plateau— to Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
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"Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath,
22 to Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
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and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
23 to Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
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and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
24 to Kerioth and Bozrah, to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
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and Kerioth, and Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
25 Moab's horn is cut off; its arm is broken, declares the LORD.
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The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, declares the LORD.
26 Get Moab drunk, because it has exalted itself above the LORD. Moab will collapse in its vomit and become the butt of every joke.
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"Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the LORD, so that Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he too shall be held in derision.
27 Wasn't Israel the butt of your jokes? Didn't you shake your head as if they were thieves caught in the act?
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Was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him you wagged your head?
28 Leave your towns, head for the cliffs, you people of Moab. Hide like a dove that nests in the mouth of a cave.
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"Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab! Be like the dove that nests in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
29 We have heard of Moab's pride: arrogant, puffed up, exalted, high and mighty, boastful!
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We have heard of the pride of Moab-- he is very proud-- of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I myself know about its arrogance, declares the LORD, the idle talk, the empty deeds.
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I know his insolence, declares the LORD; his boasts are false, his deeds are false.
31 But I'll still wail for Moab; I'll cry out for all Moab; I'll sob for the people of Kir-heres.
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Therefore I wail for Moab; I cry out for all Moab; for the men of Kir-hareseth I mourn.
32 I'll weep for you, vine of Sibmah, more than I would for Jazer. Though your branches extended to the sea and reached the coast of Jazer, now the destroyer has come to harvest your grapes and summer fruits.
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More than for Jazer I weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your branches passed over the sea, reached to the Sea of Jazer; on your summer fruits and your grapes the destroyer has fallen.
33 Joy and gladness have been taken from the orchards and farms of Moab. I have stopped making wine in the presses. No one shouts with joy while treading the grapes. Though there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy!
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Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made the wine cease from the winepresses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is not the shout of joy.
34 Screams are heard from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz; their cries resound from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
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"From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate.
35 I'll put an end to Moab, declares the LORD, for making offerings on the shrines, and worshipping their gods.
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And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the LORD, him who offers sacrifice in the high place and makes offerings to his god.
36 Therefore, my heart wails for Moab like a mournful flute that plays the dirge; my heart wails for the people of Kir-heres, like a mournful flute. Their abundance is now gone.
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Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of Kir-hareseth. Therefore the riches they gained have perished.
37 Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off, every hand is slashed, and everyone wears mourning clothes.
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"For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. On all the hands are gashes, and around the waist is sackcloth.
38 On every housetop of Moab and in all its streets, there's nothing but mourning. I have shattered Moab like a pottery vessel no one wants, declares the LORD.
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On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a vessel for which no one cares, declares the LORD.
39 How it's shattered! Go wail! How Moab turns away! What shame! Moab has become the butt of every joke, horrific to all its neighbors.
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How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him."
40 The LORD proclaims: Look! One who soars like an eagle and spreads its wings over Moab.
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For thus says the LORD: "Behold, one shall fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab;
41 The towns will be captured; the strongholds will be seized. On that day, the heart of every soldier from Moab will be like that of a woman in the throes of labor.
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the cities shall be taken and the strongholds seized. The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains;
42 Moab will be destroyed once and for all because it has exalted itself above the LORD.
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Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he magnified himself against the LORD.
43 Terror, traps, and trackers are upon you, people of Moab, declares the LORD.
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Terror, pit, and snare are before you, O inhabitant of Moab! declares the LORD.
44 Those who flee from terror will fall into a pit; those who escape the pit will be captured by the trap. I will bring upon Moab the year of its punishment, declares the LORD.
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He who flees from the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For I will bring these things upon Moab, the year of their punishment, declares the LORD.
45 In Heshbon tired refugees seek shelter. But fire is raging in Heshbon, flames from the house of Sihon. It has burned up part of Moab, including the leader of this rebellious nation.
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"In the shadow of Heshbon fugitives stop without strength, for fire came out from Heshbon, flame from the house of Sihon; it has destroyed the forehead of Moab, the crown of the sons of tumult.
46 How terrible for you, Moab; the people of Chemosh have perished. Your sons have been carried off; your daughters have been taken captive.
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Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are undone, for your sons have been taken captive, and your daughters into captivity.
47 But in the days to come I'll bring back Moab from captivity, declares the LORD. Such is the judgment on Moab.
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Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, declares the LORD." Thus far is the judgment on Moab.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.