Jeremiah 48
1 Concerning Moab: “Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Woe to Nebo, for it is spoiled, Kiriathaim has been captured [and] put to shame, The high tower has been put to shame, Indeed, it has been broken down.
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 praise of Moab, In Heshbon they devised evil against her: Come, and we cut it off from [being] a nation, Also, O Madmen, you are cut off, A sword goes after 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 a cry [is] from Horonaim, Spoiling and great destruction.
Listen! A sound of screaming is coming from Horonaim, where there is ruin and great destruction.
4 Moab has been destroyed, Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
Moab has been destroyed. Her children have made their cries heard.
5 For the ascent of Luhith with weeping, Weeping goes up, For in the descent of Horonaim Adversaries have heard a cry of desolation.
They go up the hill of Luhith weeping, for on the way down to Horonaim, screams are heard because of the destruction.
6 Flee, deliver yourselves, You are as a naked thing in a wilderness.
Flee! Save your lives and become like a juniper bush in the wilderness.
7 For because of your trusting in your works, And in your treasures, even you are captured, And Chemosh has gone out in a removal, His priests and his heads 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 a spoiler comes to every city, And no city escapes, And the valley has perished, And the plain has been destroyed, as YHWH said.
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 wings to Moab, that she may go forth and flee away, And her cities are for a desolation, Without an inhabitant in them.
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 is doing the work of YHWH slothfully, And cursed [is] he Who is withholding 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 is secure from his youth, And he [is] at rest for his preserved things, And he has not been emptied out from vessel to vessel, And he has not gone into captivity, Therefore his taste has remained in him, And his fragrance has not been 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 Therefore, behold, days are coming, A declaration of YHWH, And I have sent wanderers to him, And they have caused him to wander, And they empty out his vessels, And they dash his bottles in pieces.
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 has been ashamed because of Chemosh, As the house of Israel has been ashamed Because of Beth-El, their confidence.
Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh just as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their object of trust.
14 How do you say, We [are] mighty, And men of strength for battle?
How can you say, 'We are soldiers, powerful fighting men'?
15 Moab is spoiled, and has gone up [from] her cities, And the choice of its young men Have gone down to slaughter, An affirmation of the King, YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name.
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 destruction of Moab is near to come, And his calamity has hurried exceedingly.
Moab's disaster is soon to happen; calamity is hurrying quickly.
17 Bemoan for him, all you around him, And all knowing his name, say, How it has been broken, the staff of strength, The rod of beauty!
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 Come down from glory, sit in thirst, O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon, For a spoiler of Moab has come up to you, He has destroyed 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 on the way, and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer, Ask the fugitive and escaped, Say, 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 put to shame, For it has been broken down, Howl and cry, declare in Arnon, For Moab is spoiled,
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 come to the land of the plain—to Holon, And to Jahazah, and on Mephaath,
Now punishment has come to the hill country, to Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
22 And on Dibon, and on Nebo, And on Beth-Diblathaim, and on Kirathaim,
to Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim,
23 And on Beth-Gamul, and on Beth-Meon,
to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon,
24 And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, And on all cities of the land of Moab, The far off and the near.
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 down, And his arm has been broken, A declaration of YHWH.
The horn of Moab has been hacked off; its arm has been broken—this is Yahweh's declaration.
26 Declare him drunk, For he made himself great against YHWH And Moab has struck in his vomit, And he has been for a derision—even he.
Make him drunk, because he acted proudly against Yahweh. Let Moab wallow in his vomit, and let him be an object of ridicule.
27 And was Israel not the derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For since your words concerning him, You bemoan yourself.
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 Forsake cities, and dwell in a rock, You inhabitants of Moab, And be as a dove making a nest in the passages of a pit’s mouth.
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 heard of the arrogance of Moab, Exceedingly proud! His haughtiness, and his arrogance, And his pride, and the height 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 have known, a declaration of YHWH, His wrath, and [it is] not right, His boastings—they have done nothing right.
This is Yahweh's declaration—I myself know his defiant speech, which amounts to nothing, like his deeds.
31 Therefore I howl for Moab, even for Moab—all of it, I cry for men of Kir-Heres, it mourns,
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 With the weeping of Jazer, I weep for you, O vine of Sibmah, Your branches have passed over a sea, They have come to the Sea of Jazer, On your summer fruits, and on your harvest, A spoiler has fallen.
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 And joy and gladness have been removed from the fruitful field, Even from the land of Moab, And I have caused wine to cease from winepresses, Shouting does not proceed, The shouting [is] not shouting!
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 Because of the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh, They have given their voice to Jahaz, From Zoar to Horonaim, A heifer of the third [year], For even [the] waters of Nimrim become desolations.
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 have caused to cease in Moab, A declaration of YHWH, Him who is offering in a high place, And him who is making incense to his god.
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 Therefore My heart sounds as pipes for Moab, And My heart sounds as pipes for men of Kir-Heres, Therefore the abundance he made 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 [is] bald, and every beard diminished, On all hands—cuttings, and on the loins—sackcloth.
For every head is bald and every beard shaved. Incisions are on every hand, and sackcloth is around their waists.
38 On all roofs of Moab, and in her broad-places, All of it—lamentation, For I have broken Moab as a vessel in which there is no pleasure,” A declaration of YHWH.
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 it has been broken down! They have howled, How Moab has turned the neck ashamed! And Moab has been for a derision And for a terror to all around her.”
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 For thus said YHWH: “Behold, he flees as an eagle, And has spread his wings to Moab.
For Yahweh says this, “See, the enemy will come flying like an eagle, spreading out his wings over Moab.
41 The cities have been captured, And the strongholds are caught, And the heart of the mighty of Moab Has been in that day as the heart of a distressed woman.
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 has been destroyed from [being] a people, For he exerted himself against YHWH.
So Moab will be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he made himself to be great against Yahweh.
43 Fear, and a snare, and a trap, [are] for you, O inhabitant of Moab—a declaration of YHWH,
Terror and the pit, and a trap are coming on you, inhabitant of Moab—this is Yahweh's declaration.
44 Whoever is fleeing because of the fear falls into the snare, And whoever is coming up from the snare is captured by the trap, For I bring to her—to Moab—The year of their inspection, A declaration of YHWH.
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 In the shadow of Heshbon fugitives have stood powerless, For fire has gone forth from Heshbon, And a flame from within Sihon, And it consumes the corner of Moab, And the crown of the sons of Shaon.
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, The people of Chemosh have perished, For your sons were taken with the captives, And your daughters with the captivity.
Woe to you, Moab! Chemosh's people are destroyed, For your sons are taken as captives and your daughters into captivity.
47 And I have turned back [to] the captivity of Moab, In the latter end of the days,” A declaration of YHWH! “Until now [is] the judgment of Moab.”
But I will restore the fortunes of Moab in later days—this is Yahweh's declaration.” The judgment on Moab ends here.
