Jeremiah 48 — AAB

Judgment on Moab

48Verse 1Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:
“Woe to Nebo,for it will be devastated.Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced;the fortress will be shattered and dismantled.^{Verse 2}There is no longer praise for Moab;in Heshbon⁺they devise evil against her:
‘Come, let us cut her off from nationhood.’
You too, O people of Madmen,⁺will be silenced;the sword will pursue you.^{Verse 3}A voice cries out from Horonaim:‘Devastation and great destruction!’^{Verse 4}Moab will be shattered;her little ones will cry out.^{+Verse 5}For on the ascent to Luhiththey weep bitterly as they go,and on the descent to Horonaimcries of distress resound
over the destruction:^{Verse 6}‘Flee! Run for your lives!Become like a juniper in the desert.⁺’^{Verse 7}Because you trust in your works and treasures,you too will be captured,and Chemosh will go into exilewith his priests and officials.^{Verse 8}The destroyer will move against every city,and not one town will escape.The valley will also be ruined,and the high plain will be destroyed,
as the LORD has said.^{Verse 9}Put salt on Moab,for she will be laid waste;⁺her cities will become desolate,with no one to dwell in them.^{Verse 10}Cursed is the one who is remissin doing the work of the LORD,and cursed is he who withholdshis sword from bloodshed.^{Verse 11}Moab has been at ease from youth,settled like wine on its dregs;he has not been poured from vessel to vesselor gone into exile.So his flavor has remained the same,and his aroma is unchanged.^{Verse 12}Therefore behold, the days are coming,declares the LORD,when I will send to him wanderers,who will pour him out.They will empty his vesselsand shatter his jars.^{Verse 13}Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,just as the house of Israel was ashamed
when they trusted in Bethel.^{Verse 14}How can you say, ‘We are warriors,mighty men ready for battle’?^{Verse 15}Moab has been destroyedand its towns have been invaded;the best of its young menhave gone down in the slaughter,declares the King,whose name is the LORD of Hosts.^{Verse 16}Moab’s calamity is at hand,and his affliction is rushing swiftly.^{Verse 17}Mourn for him, all you who surround him,everyone who knows his name;tell how the mighty scepter is shattered—the glorious staff!^{Verse 18}Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground,O daughter dwelling in Dibon,for the destroyer of Moab has come against you;he has destroyed your fortresses.^{Verse 19}Stand by the road and watch,O dweller of Aroer!Ask the man fleeing or the woman escaping,‘What has happened?’^{Verse 20}Moab is put to shame, for it has been shattered.Wail and cry out!Declare by the Arnonthat Moab is destroyed.^{Verse 21}Judgment has come upon the high plain—upon Holon, Jahzah,⁺and Mephaath,^{Verse 22}upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,^{Verse 23}upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,^{Verse 24}upon Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of Moab,those far and near.^{Verse 25}The horn of Moab has been cut off,and his arm is broken,”declares the LORD.^{Verse 26}“Make him drunk,because he has magnified himself against the LORD;so Moab will wallow in his own vomit,and he will also become a laughingstock.^{Verse 27}Was not Israel your object of ridicule?Was he ever found among thieves?For whenever you speak of himyou shake your head.^{Verse 28}Abandon the towns and settle among the rocks,O dwellers of Moab!Be like a dovethat nests at the mouth of a cave.^{Verse 29}We have heard of Moab’s pomposity,his exceeding pride and conceit,
his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.^{Verse 30}I know his insolence,”declares the LORD,“but it is futile.
His boasting is as empty as his deeds.^{Verse 31}Therefore I will wail for Moab;I will cry out for all of Moab;
I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.^{+Verse 32}I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah,more than I weep for Jazer.Your tendrils have extended to the sea;⁺they reach even to Jazer.⁺The destroyer has descendedon your summer fruit and grape harvest.^{Verse 33}Joy and gladness are removed from the orchardand from the fields of Moab.I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses;no one treads them with shouts of joy;
their shouts are not for joy.^{Verse 34}There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh;they raise their voices to Jahaz,from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah;for even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.^{Verse 35}In Moab, declares the LORD,I will bring an endto those who make offerings on the high placesand burn incense to their gods.^{Verse 36}Therefore My heart laments like a flute for Moab;it laments like a flute for the men of Kir-heres,
because the wealth they acquired has perished.^{Verse 37}For every head is shavedand every beard is clipped;on every hand is a gash,and around every waist is sackcloth.^{Verse 38}On all the rooftops of Moaband in the public squares,everyone is mourning;for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar,”declares the LORD.^{Verse 39}“How shattered it is! How they wail!How Moab has turned his back in shame!Moab has become an object of ridicule and horrorto all those around him.”^{Verse 40}For this is what the LORD says:
“Behold, an eagle swoops downand spreads his wings against Moab.^{Verse 41}Kirioth has been taken,and the strongholds seized.In that day the heart of Moab’s warriorswill be like the heart of a woman in labor.^{Verse 42}Moab will be destroyed as a nationbecause he vaunted himself against the LORD.^{Verse 43}Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,”declares the LORD.^{Verse 44}“Whoever flees the panicwill fall into the pit,and whoever climbs from the pitwill be caught in the snare.For I will bring upon Moabthe year of their punishment,”declares the LORD.^{Verse 45}“Those who flee will stand helpless in Heshbon’s shadow,because fire has gone forth from Heshbon
and a flame from within Sihon.It devours the foreheads of Moaband the skulls of the sons of tumult.^{Verse 46}Woe to you, O Moab!The people of Chemosh have perished;for your sons have been taken into exileand your daughters have gone into captivity.^{Verse 47}Yet in the latter days I will restore Moab from captivity,⁺”declares the LORD.
Here ends the judgment on Moab.