Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 This is what the Lord Almighty said about Moab: "Pity the people of Nebo - their town is destroyed! Kiriathaim is captured, its mighty fortress torn down, and its people put to shame;
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Of Moab. Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Woe to Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and broken down.
2 the splendor of Moab is gone. The enemy have captured Heshbon and plot to destroy the nation of Moab. The town of Madmen will be silenced; armies will march against it.
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The praise of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. You also, Madmen, shall be brought to silence: the sword shall pursue you.
3 The people of Horonaim cry out, "Violence! Destruction!'
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The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction!
4 "Moab has been destroyed; listen to the children crying.
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Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5 Hear the sound of their sobs along the road up to Luhith, the cries of distress on the way down to Horonaim.
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For by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping shall they go up; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.
6 "Quick, run for your lives!' they say. "Run like a wild desert donkey!'
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Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
7 "Moab, you trusted in your strength and your wealth, but now even you will be conquered; your god Chemosh will go into exile, along with his princes and priests.
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For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also shall be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together.
8 Not a town will escape the destruction; both valley and plain will be ruined. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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The destroyer shall come on every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed; as Yahweh has spoken.
9 Set up a tombstone for Moab; it will soon be destroyed. Its towns will be left in ruins, and no one will live there again."
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Give wings to Moab, that she may fly and get her away: and her cities shall become a desolation, without any to dwell therein.
10 (Curse those who do not do the Lord's work with all their heart! Curse those who do not slash and kill!)
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Cursed be he who does the work of Yahweh negligently; and cursed be he who keeps back his sword from blood.
11 The Lord said, "Moab has always lived secure and has never been taken into exile. Moab is like wine left to settle undisturbed and never poured from jar to jar. Its flavor has never been ruined, and it tastes as good as ever.
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Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.
12 "So now, the time is coming when I will send people to pour Moab out like wine. They will empty its wine jars and break them in pieces.
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Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will send to him those who pour off, and they shall pour him off; and they shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces.
13 Then the Moabites will be disillusioned with their god Chemosh, just as the Israelites were disillusioned with Bethel, a god in whom they trusted.
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Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
14 "Men of Moab, why do you claim to be heroes, brave soldiers tested in war?
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How say you, We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?
15 Moab and its cities are destroyed; its finest young men have been slaughtered. I am the king, the Lord Almighty, and I have spoken.
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Moab is laid waste, and they are gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Hosts.
16 Moab's doom approaches; its ruin is coming soon.
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The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast.
17 "Mourn for that nation, you that live nearby, all of you that know its fame. Say, "Its powerful rule has been broken; its glory and might are no more.'
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All you who are round about him, bemoan him, and all you who know his name; say, How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod!
18 You that live in Dibon, come down from your place of honor and sit on the ground in the dust; Moab's destroyer is here and has left its forts in ruins.
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You daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab is come up against you, he has destroyed your strongholds.
19 You that live in Aroer, stand by the road and wait; ask those who are running away, find out from them what has happened.
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Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and watch: ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, What has been done?
20 "Moab has fallen,' they will answer, "weep for it; it is disgraced. Announce along the Arnon River that Moab is destroyed!'
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Moab is put to shame; for it is broken down: wail and cry; tell you it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.
21 "Judgment has come on the cities of the plateau: on Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath,
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Judgment is come on the plain country, on Holon, and on Jahzah, and on Mephaath,
22 Dibon, Nebo, Beth Diblathaim,
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and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-diblathaim,
23 Kiriathaim, Bethgamul, Bethmeon,
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and on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon,
24 Kerioth, and Bozrah. Judgment has come on all the cities of Moab, far and near.
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and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25 Moab's might has been crushed; its power has been destroyed. I, the Lord, have spoken."
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The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says Yahweh.
26 The Lord said, "Make Moab drunk, because it has rebelled against me. Moab will roll in its own vomit, and people will laugh.
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Make you him drunken; for he magnified himself against Yahweh: and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
27 Moab, remember how you made fun of the people of Israel? You treated them as though they had been caught with a gang of robbers.
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For wasn't Israel a derision to you? was he found among thieves? for as often as you speak of him, you wag the head.
28 "You people who live in Moab, leave your towns! Go and live on the cliffs! Be like the dove that makes its nest in the sides of a ravine.
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You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock; and be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss.
29 Moab is very proud! I have heard how proud, arrogant, and conceited the people are, how much they think of themselves.
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We have heard of the pride of Moab, [that] he is very proud; his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I, the Lord, know of their arrogance. Their boasts amount to nothing, and the things they do will not last.
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I know his wrath, says Yahweh, that it is nothing; his boastings have worked nothing.
31 And so I will weep for everyone in Moab and for the people of Kir Heres.
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Therefore will I wail for Moab; yes, I will cry out for all Moab: for the men of Kir-heres shall they mourn.
32 I will cry for the people of Sibmah, even more than for the people of Jazer. City of Sibmah, you are like a vine whose branches reach across the Dead Sea and go as far as Jazer. But now your summer fruits and your grapes have been destroyed.
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With more than the weeping of Jazer will I weep for you, vine of Sibmah: your branches passed over the sea, they reached even to the sea of Jazer: on your summer fruits and on your vintage the destroyer is fallen.
33 Happiness and joy have been taken away from the fertile land of Moab. I have made the wine stop flowing from the wine presses; there is no one to make the wine and shout for joy.
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Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses: none shall tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting.
34 "The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, and their cry can be heard as far as Jahaz; it can be heard by the people in Zoar, and it is heard as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. Even Nimrim Brook has dried up.
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From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath-shelishiyah: for the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolate.
35 I will stop the people of Moab from making burnt offerings at their places of worship and from offering sacrifices to their gods. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, says Yahweh, him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods.
36 "So my heart mourns for Moab and for the people of Kir Heres, like someone playing a funeral song on a flute, because everything they owned is gone.
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Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like pipes, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: therefore the abundance that he has gotten is perished.
37 All of them have shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth.
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For every head is bald, and every beard clipped: on all the hands are cuttings, and on the loins sackcloth.
38 On all the housetops of Moab and in all its public squares there is nothing but mourning, because I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants.
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On all the housetops of Moab and in the streets of it there is lamentation every where; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which none delights, says Yahweh.
39 Moab has been shattered! Cry out! Moab has been disgraced. It is in ruins, and all the surrounding nations make fun of it. I, the Lord, have spoken."
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How is it broken down! [how] do they wail! how has Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are round about him.
40 The Lord has promised that a nation will swoop down on Moab like an eagle with its outspread wings,
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For thus says Yahweh: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread out his wings against Moab.
41 and the towns and fortresses will be captured. On that day Moab's soldiers will be as frightened as a woman in labor.
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Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42 Moab will be destroyed and will no longer be a nation, because it rebelled against me.
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Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Yahweh.
43 Terror, pits, and traps are waiting for the people of Moab. The Lord has spoken.
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Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are on you, inhabitant of Moab, says Yahweh.
44 Whoever tries to escape the terror will fall into the pits, and whoever climbs out of the pits will be caught in the traps, because the Lord has set the time for Moab's destruction.
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He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring on him, even on Moab, the year of their visitation, says Yahweh.
45 Helpless refugees try to find protection in Heshbon, the city that King Sihon once ruled, but it is in flames. Fire has burned up the frontiers and the mountain heights of the war-loving people of Moab.
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Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; for a fire is gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46 Pity the people of Moab! The people who worshiped Chemosh have been destroyed, and their sons and daughters have been taken away as prisoners.
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Woe to you, O Moab! the people of Chemosh is undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity.
47 But in days to come the Lord will make Moab prosperous again. All of this is what the Lord has said will happen to Moab.
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Yet will I bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days, says Yahweh. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.