A Prophecy Against Moab

16:6–12pp—Jer 48:29–36

15 A prophecyy against Moab:z

Ara in Moab is ruined,b

destroyed in a night!

Kirc in Moab is ruined,

destroyed in a night!

2 Dibond goes up to its temple,

to its high placese to weep;

Moab wailsf over Nebog and Medeba.

Every head is shavedh

and every beard cut off.i

3 In the streets they wear sackcloth;j

on the roofsk and in the public squaresl

they all wail,m

prostrate with weeping.n

4 Heshbono and Elealehp cry out,

their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.q

Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,

and their hearts are faint.

5 My heart cries outr over Moab;s

her fugitivest flee as far as Zoar,u

as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.

They go up the hill to Luhith,

weeping as they go;

on the road to Horonaimv

they lament their destruction.w

6 The waters of Nimrim are dried upx

and the grass is withered;y

the vegetation is gonez

and nothing green is left.a

7 So the wealth they have acquiredb and stored up

they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.

8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;

their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,

their lamentation as far as Beerc Elim.

9 The waters of Dimona are full of blood,

but I will bring still more upon Dimonb—

a liond upon the fugitives of Moabe

and upon those who remain in the land.

16 Send lambsf as tributeg

to the ruler of the land,

from Sela,h across the desert,

to the mount of Daughter Zion.i

2 Like fluttering birds

pushed from the nest,j

so are the women of Moabk

at the fordsl of the Arnon.m

3 “Make up your mind,” Moab says.

“Render a decision.

Make your shadow like night—

at high noon.

Hide the fugitives,n

do not betray the refugees.

4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;

be their sheltero from the destroyer.”

The oppressorp will come to an end,

and destruction will cease;q

the aggressor will vanish from the land.

5 In love a throner will be established;s

in faithfulness a man will sit on it—

one from the housea of Davidt—

one who in judging seeks justiceu

and speeds the cause of righteousness.

6 We have heard of Moab’sv pridew—

how great is her arrogance!—

of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;

but her boasts are empty.

7 Therefore the Moabites wail,x

they wail together for Moab.

Lament and grieve

for the raisin cakesy of Kir Hareseth.z

8 The fields of Heshbona wither,b

the vines of Sibmahc also.

The rulers of the nations

have trampled down the choicest vines,d

which once reached Jazere

and spread toward the desert.

Their shoots spread outf

and went as far as the sea.b g

9 So I weep,h as Jazer weeps,

for the vines of Sibmah.

Heshbon and Elealeh,i

I drench you with tears!j

The shouts of joyk over your ripened fruit

and over your harvestsl have been stilled.

10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;m

no one sings or shoutsn in the vineyards;

no one treadso out wine at the presses,p

for I have put an end to the shouting.

11 My heart laments for Moabq like a harp,r

my inmost beings for Kir Hareseth.

12 When Moab appears at her high place,t

she only wears herself out;

when she goes to her shrineu to pray,

it is to no avail.v

13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab.