Jeremiah 48
1 Against Moab, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe upon Nebo! For it has been devastated and confounded. Kiriathaim has been seized; the strong one has been confounded and has trembled.
To Moab, Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, “Woe to Nebo, for it has been devastated. Kiriathaim has been humiliated and captured. Her fortress has been disgraced and crushed.
2 There is no longer any rejoicing in Moab over Heshbon. They have devised evil. ‘Come and let us destroy it as a nation.’ Then you will be utterly silenced, and the sword will pursue you.
The honor of Moab is no more. Their enemies in Heshbon plotted disaster against her. They said, 'Come and let us destroy her as a nation. Madmen will also perish—a sword will go after you.'
3 A voice of clamor from Horonaim: devastation and great destruction!
Listen! A sound of screaming is coming from Horonaim, where there is ruin and great destruction.
4 Moab has been crushed. Announce an outcry for her little ones.
Moab has been destroyed. Her children have made their cries heard.
5 For, along the ascent of Luhith, the mourner will ascend with weeping. For, on the descent of Horonaim, the enemies have heard the wailing of devastation.
They go up the hill of Luhith weeping, for on the way down to Horonaim, screams are heard because of the destruction.
6 Flee, save your lives! And you shall be like a saltcedar tree in the desert.
Flee! Save your lives and become like a juniper bush in the wilderness.
7 For because you have had faith in your fortifications and in your storehouses, you too will be seized. And Chemosh will go into captivity: his priests and his leaders together.
For because of your trust in your practices and your wealth, you also will be captured. Then Chemosh will go away into captivity, together with his priests and leaders.
8 And the despoiler will overwhelm every city, and not a single city will be saved. And the valleys will perish, and the fields will be destroyed. For the Lord has spoken.
For the destroyer will come to every city; no city will escape. So the valley will perish and the plain will be devastated, as Yahweh has said.
9 Give a blossom to Moab. For it will depart when it is blossoming. And its cities will become desolate and uninhabited.
Give wings to Moab, for she must certainly fly away. Her cities will become a wasteland, where there is no one to live in them.
10 Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully. And cursed is he who prohibits his sword from blood.
May anyone who is lazy in doing Yahweh's work be cursed! May anyone who keeps his sword back from shedding blood be cursed!
11 Moab has been fertile from his youth, and he has rested amid his brood. And he has not been transferred from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into the transmigration. Therefore, his taste has remained with him, and his scent has not changed.
Moab has felt secure since he was young. He is like his wine that has never been poured from pot to pot. He has never gone into captivity. Therefore he tastes as good as ever; his flavor remains unchanged.
12 Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will send to him those who will line up and knock down his bottles, and they will knock him down and empty his vessels, and they will break their bottles against one another.
So see, the days are coming—this is Yahweh's declaration—when I will send him those who will tip him over and pour out all his pots and shatter his jars.
13 And Moab will be confounded by Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was shamed by Bethel, in which they had faith.
Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh just as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their object of trust.
14 How can you say: ‘We are strong and robust men of battle?’
How can you say, 'We are soldiers, powerful fighting men'?
15 Moab has been devastated, and they have cut down her cities. And her elect young men have descended to slaughter. So says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
Moab will be devastated and its cities attacked. For its finest young men have gone down to the place of slaughter. This is the king's declaration! Yahweh of hosts is his name.
16 The passing away of Moab draws near and arrives. Its evil will rush forward with great speed.
Moab's disaster is soon to happen; calamity is hurrying quickly.
17 Console him, all you who surround him and all you who know his name. Say: ‘How has the strong staff become broken, the glorious staff?’
All you who are around Moab, wail; and all you who know its fame, shout this, 'Woe, the strong staff, the honored rod, has been broken.'
18 Descend from your glory, and sit in thirst, O habitation of the daughter of Dibon! For the destroyer of Moab has ascended to you; he has dissipated your fortifications.
Come down from your honored place and sit on the dry ground, you daughter living in Dibon. For the one who will destroy Moab is attacking you, the one who will destroy your strongholds.
19 Stand in the way, and gaze out, O habitation of Aroer! Question him who is fleeing, and say to him who has escaped: ‘What has happened?’
Stand on the road and watch, you people who live in Aroer. Ask the ones who are fleeing and escaping. Say, 'What has happened?'
20 Moab has been confounded, because he has been conquered. Wail and cry out! Announce it in Arnon: Moab has been devastated,
Moab has been shamed, for it has been shattered. Howl and lament; shout for help. Tell it to people by the Arnon River that Moab has been devastated.
21 and judgment has arrived upon the land of the plains: upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath,
Now punishment has come to the hill country, to Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
22 and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon the house of Deblathaim,
to Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim,
23 and upon Kiriathaim, and upon the house of Gamul, and upon the house of Meon,
to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon,
24 and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, those far away and those nearby.
To Kerioth and Bozrah, and to all the cities in the land of Moab— the farthest and the closest cities.
25 The horn of Moab has been cut away, and his arm has been crushed, says the Lord.
The horn of Moab has been hacked off; its arm has been broken—this is Yahweh's declaration.
26 Inebriate him, for he has lifted himself up against the Lord. And Moab will thrust his hand into his own vomit, and also now he himself will become a derision.
Make him drunk, because he acted proudly against Yahweh. Let Moab wallow in his vomit, and let him be an object of ridicule.
27 For Israel had been a derision to them. It was as if you had discovered him among thieves. Because of your own words, then, which you have spoken against him, you will be led away captive.
For did not Israel become an object for laughter to you? Was he found among thieves, so that you shook your head at him as often as you spoke about him?
28 Relinquish the cities, and live upon a rock, O inhabitants of Moab, and be like a dove nesting at the mouth of an opening at the summit.
Abandon the cities and camp on the cliffs, inhabitants of Moab. Become like a dove that is nesting over the mouth of a hole in the rocks.
29 We have listened to the arrogance of Moab; he is very proud: his exaltation, and arrogance, and pride, and the loftiness of his heart.
We have heard of Moab's pride—his arrogance, his haughtiness, his pride, his self-glory and the conceit in his heart.
30 I myself know, says the Lord, his boasting, and that his ability is not in accord with it, nor is it in accord with what he has been striving to do.
This is Yahweh's declaration—I myself know his defiant speech, which amounts to nothing, like his deeds.
31 For this reason, I will wail over Moab, and I will cry out to all of Moab, to the men on the brick wall who are lamenting.
So I will howl a lament for Moab, and I will shout in sorrow for all of Moab. I will lament for the people of Kir Hareseth.
32 O vineyard of Sibmah, I will weep for you, with the mourning of Jazer. Your offshoots have crossed over the sea. They have reached even to the sea of Jazer. The despoiler has rushed over your harvest and your vintage.
I will weep for you more than I did for Jazer, vine of Sibmah! Your branches passed across the Salt Sea and reached as far as Jazer. The destroyers have attacked your summer fruit and your wine.
33 Rejoicing and exultation has been taken away from Carmel and from the land of Moab. And I have taken the wine from the winepresses. The treader of grapes will no longer sing the usual rhythmic chant.
So celebration and rejoicing have been taken away from the fruit trees and the land of Moab. I have put an end to the wine from their winepresses. They will not tread with joyful shouts. Any shouts will not be shouts of joy.
34 From the outcry of Heshbon, even to Elealeh and Jahzah, they have uttered their voice; from Zoar, even to Horonaim, like a three year old calf. So too, the waters of Nimrim will be very bad.
From the shouts at Heshbon as far as Elealeh, their sound is heard at Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, since even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.
35 And I will take away from Moab, says the Lord, the one who makes offerings in exalted places, and the one who sacrifices to his gods.
For I will put an end to anyone in Moab who makes sacrifices on the high places and burns incense to his gods—this is Yahweh's declaration.
36 Because of this, my heart will resound for Moab, like the pipes, and my heart will make a sound like the pipes for the men on the brick wall. For he has done more than he was able, yet still they have perished.
So my heart is lamenting for Moab like a flute. My heart is lamenting like flutes for the people of Kir Hareseth. The riches they gained are gone.
37 For every head will be bald, and every beard will be shaved. All the hands will be bound together, and there will be haircloth on every back.
For every head is bald and every beard shaved. Incisions are on every hand, and sackcloth is around their waists.
38 Over all the rooftops of Moab, and in its streets, everyone will mourn. For I have crushed Moab like a useless vessel, says the Lord.
There is mourning everywhere, on every flat roof of Moab and in Moab's plazas. For I have destroyed Moab like pots that no one wants—this is Yahweh's declaration.
39 How was it conquered, so that they would wail? How is it that Moab has cast down his neck and been confounded? And Moab will be a derision and an example to everyone around him.”
How it has been shattered! How they howl in their lamenting! Moab turns its back in shame! So Moab will become an object of derision and a terror to all those who are around him.”
40 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, he will fly like the eagle, and he will extend his wings to Moab.
For Yahweh says this, “See, the enemy will come flying like an eagle, spreading out his wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth has been captured, and the fortifications have been taken. And in that day, the heart of the strong ones of Moab will be like the heart of a woman giving birth.
Kerioth has been captured, and its strongholds have been seized. For in that day the hearts of Moab's soldiers will be like the hearts of women in birth labor.
42 And Moab will cease to be a people. For he has been glorified against the Lord.
So Moab will be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he made himself to be great against Yahweh.
43 Terror and the pit and the snare will overwhelm you, O inhabitant of Moab, says the Lord.
Terror and the pit, and a trap are coming on you, inhabitant of Moab—this is Yahweh's declaration.
44 Whoever flees from the terror will fall into the pit. And whoever climbs out of the pit will be seized by the snare. For I will lead over Moab the year of their visitation, says the Lord.
Anyone who flees because of terror will fall into the pit, and anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap, for I will bring this on them in the year of my vengeance against them—this is Yahweh's declaration.
45 Those fleeing from the snare stood in the shadow of Heshbon. For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and it will devour the portion of Moab, and the top of the head of the sons of tumult.
The ones who flee will stand in the shadow of Heshbon without any strength, for fire will go out from Heshbon, flame from the middle of Sihon. It will devour the forehead of Moab and the top of the heads of the boastful people.
46 Woe to you, O Moab! You have been ruined, O people of Chemosh! For your sons and your daughters have been taken into captivity.
Woe to you, Moab! Chemosh's people are destroyed, For your sons are taken as captives and your daughters into captivity.
47 But I will convert the captivity of Moab in the last days, says the Lord.” Such are the judgments of Moab thus far.
But I will restore the fortunes of Moab in later days—this is Yahweh's declaration.” The judgment on Moab ends here.
