Jeremiah
Chapter 48
1
1 Concerning Moab, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Woe to Nebo, it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is disgraced and captured, Disgraced and overthrown is the stronghold:
2
Moab's glory is no more. Evil they plan against Heshbon: "Come, let us put an end to her as a people." You, too, Madmen, shall be reduced to silence; behind you stalks the sword.
3
Listen! a cry from Horonaim of ruin and great destruction!
4
Moab is crushed, their outcry is heard in Zoar.
5
The ascent of Luhith they climb weeping; On the descent to Horonaim the cry of destruction is heard.
6
"Flee, save your lives, to survive like the wild ass in the desert!"
7
2 Because you trusted in your works and your treasures, you also shall be captured. Chemosh shall go into exile, his priests and princes with him.
8
The destroyer comes upon every city, not a city escapes; Ruined is the valley, wasted the plain, as the LORD has said.
9
Set up a memorial for Moab, for it is an utter wasteland; Its cities are turned into ruins where no one dwells.
10
(Cursed be he who does the LORD'S work remissly, cursed he who holds back his sword from blood.)
11
Moab has been tranquil from his youth, has rested upon his lees; He was not poured from one flask to another, he went not into exile. Thus he kept his taste, and his scent was not lost.
12
Hence, the days shall come, says the LORD, when I will send him coopers to turn him over; they shall empty his flasks and break his jars.
13
Chemosh shall disappoint Moab, as Israel was disappointed by Bethel in which they trusted.
14
How can you say, "We are heroes, men valiant in war"?
15
The ravager of Moab and his cities advances, the flower of his youth goes down to be slaughtered, says the King, the LORD of hosts by name.
16
Near at hand is Moab's ruin, his disaster hastens apace.
17
Mourn for him, all you his neighbors, all you who knew him well! Say: How the strong staff is broken, the glorious rod!
18
Come down from glory, sit on the ground, you that dwell in Dibon; Moab's ravager has come up against you, he has ruined your strongholds.
19
Stand by the wayside, watch closely, you that dwell in Aroer; Ask the man who flees, the woman who tries to escape: say to them, "What has happened?"
20
Moab is disgraced, yes, destroyed, howl and cry out; Publish it at the Arnon, Moab is ruined!
21
For judgment has come on the land of the plateau: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
22
on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
23
on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
24
on Kerioth and on Bozrah: on all the cities of Moab, far and near.
25
Moab's strength is broken, his might is shattered, says the LORD.
26
Because he boasted against the LORD, make Moab drunk so that he retches and vomits, and he too becomes a laughingstock.
27
Is Israel a laughingstock to you? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head whenever you speak of her?
28
Leave the cities, dwell in the crags, you that dwell in Moab. Be like a dove that nests out of reach on the edge of a chasm.
29
We have heard of the pride of Moab, pride beyond bounds: His loftiness, his pride, his scorn, his insolence of heart.
30
I know, says the LORD, his arrogance; liar in boast, liar in deed.
31
And so I wail over Moab, over all Moab I cry, over the men of Kir-heres I moan.
32
More than for Jazer I weep over you, vineyard of Sibmah. Your tendrils trailed down to the sea, as far as Jazer they stretched. Upon your harvest, upon your vintage, the ravager has fallen.
33
Joy and jubilation are at an end in the fruit gardens of the land of Moab. I drain the wine from the wine vats, the treader treads no more, the vintage shout is stilled.
34
The cry of Heshbon and Elealeh is heard as far as Jahaz; they call from Zoar to Horonaim, and to Eglath-shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim turn into a desert.
35
I will leave no one in Moab, says the LORD, to offer a holocaust on the high place, or to burn incense to his gods.
36
Hence the wail of flutes for Moab is in my heart; for the men of Kir-heres the wail of flutes is in my heart: the wealth they acquired has perished.
37
Every head has been made bald, every beard shaved; every hand is gashed, and the loins of all are clothed in sackcloth.
38
On every roof of Moab and in all his squares there is mourning; I have shattered Moab like a pot that no one wants, says the LORD.
39
How terror seizes Moab, and wailing! How he turns his back in shame! Moab has become a laughingstock and a horror to all his neighbors!
40
For thus says the LORD: Behold, like an eagle he soars, spreads his wings over Moab.
41
Cities are taken, strongholds seized: On that day the hearts of Moab's heroes are like the heart of a woman in travail.
42
Moab shall be destroyed, no more a people, because he boasted against the LORD.
43
Terror, pit, and trap be upon you, people of Moab, says the LORD.
44
He who flees from the terror falls into the pit; He who climbs from the pit is caught in the trap; For I will bring these things upon Moab in the year of their punishment, says the LORD.
45
In Heshbon's shadow stop short the exhausted refugees; For fire breaks forth from Heshbon, and a blaze from the house of Sihon: It consumes the brow of Moab, the skull of the noisemakers.
46
Woe to you, O Moab, you are ruined, O people of Chemosh! Your sons are taken into exile, your daughters into captivity.
47
But I will change the lot of Moab in the days to come, says the LORD. Thus far the judgment on Moab.
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Footnotes

1 [1-47] Moab was one of the Israelites' bitterest enemies. According to Flavius Josephus, Moab and Ammon were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in his twenty-third year, 582 B.C., five years after the destruction of Jerusalem.

2 [7] Chemosh: chief god of the Moabites.


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