Jeremiah 48

PROPHECIES AGAINST MOAB

48About Moab,^a this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says:

Woe to Nebo,^b because it is about to be destroyed;

Kiriathaim will be put to shame;^c it will be taken captive.

The fortress will be put to shame and dismayed!

²There is no longer praise for Moab;

they plan harm against her in Heshbon:^d

Come, let’s cut her off from nationhood.

Also, Madmen, you will be silenced;

the sword will follow^e you.

³A voice cries out from Horonaim,^f

“Devastation and a crushing blow!”^g

⁴Moab will be shattered;

her little ones will cry out.

⁵For on the Ascent to Luhith

they will be weeping continually,^B

and on the descent to Horonaim

will be heard cries of distress over the destruction:^h

⁶Flee! Save your lives!ⁱ

Be like a juniper bush^j in the wilderness.

⁷Because you trust in your works and treasures,

you will be captured also.

Chemosh^k will go into exile

with his priests and officials.^l

⁸The destroyer^m will move against every town;

not one town will escape.

The valley will perish,

and the plain will be annihilated,ⁿ

as the Lord has said.

⁹Make Moab a salt marsh,^Do

for she will run away;^E

her towns will become a desolation,

without inhabitant.^p

¹⁰The one who does

the Lord’s business deceitfully^F is cursed,^q

and the one who withholds

his sword from bloodshed is cursed.

¹¹Moab has been left quiet since his youth,

settled like wine on its dregs.^r

He hasn’t been poured from one container to another

or gone into exile.

So his taste has remained the same,

and his aroma hasn’t changed.

¹²Therefore look, the days are coming^s —

this is the Lord’s declaration—

when I will send pourers to him, who will pour him out.

They will empty his containers

and smash his jars.

¹³Moab will be put to shame because of Chemosh,

just as the house of Israel was put to shame

because of Bethel^t that they trusted in.

¹⁴How can you say, “We are warriors—

valiant men for battle”?

¹⁵The destroyer of Moab and its towns

has come up,^A

and the best of its young men

have gone down to slaughter.

This is the King’s declaration;

the Lord of Armies is his name.^u

¹⁶Moab’s calamity is near at hand;

his disaster is rushing swiftly.

¹⁷Mourn for him, all you surrounding nations,

everyone who knows his name.

Say, “How the mighty scepter^v is shattered,

the glorious staff!”

¹⁸Come down from glory; sit on parched ground,

resident of the daughter of Dibon,^w

for the destroyer of Moab has come against you;

he has destroyed your fortresses.

¹⁹Stand by the highway and watch,

resident of Aroer!^x

Ask him who is fleeing or her who is escaping,^y

“What happened?”

²⁰Moab is put to shame, indeed dismayed.

Wail and cry out!^z

Declare by the Arnon

that Moab is destroyed.

²¹“Judgment has come to the land of the plateau^a —to Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, ²²Dibon, Nebo, Beth-diblathaim, ²³Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, Beth-meon,^{b 24}Kerioth,^c Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, those far and near. ²⁵Moab’s horn is chopped off;^d his arm is shattered.”^e

This is the Lord’s declaration.

²⁶“Make him drunk, because he has exalted himself against the Lord.^f Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock. ²⁷Wasn’t Israel a laughingstock to you?^g Was he ever found among thieves?^h For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.”ⁱ

²⁸Abandon the towns! Live in the cliffs,

residents of Moab!

Be like a dove

that nests inside the mouth of a cave.^j

²⁹We have heard of Moab’s pride,

great pride, indeed—

his insolence, arrogance, pride,

and haughty heart.

³⁰I know his outburst.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

It is empty.

His boast is empty.

³¹Therefore, I will wail over Moab.

I will cry out for Moab, all of it;

he will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

³²I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah,

with more than the weeping for Jazer.

Your tendrils have extended to the sea;

they have reached to the sea and to Jazer.^A

The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and grape harvest.

³³Gladness and celebration are taken from the fertile field

and from the land of Moab.

I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses;

no one will tread with shouts of joy.

The shouting is not a shout of joy.^k

³⁴“There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they make their voices heard as far as Jahaz^l —from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah—because even the Waters of Nimrim have become desolate. ³⁵In Moab, I will stop”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the one who offers sacrifices on the high place and burns incense to his gods.^{m 36}Therefore, my heart moans like flutes for Moab,ⁿ and my heart moans like flutes for the people of Kir-heres. And therefore, the wealth he has gained has perished. ³⁷Indeed, every head is bald and every beard is chopped short.^o On every hand is a gash^p and sackcloth^q around the waist. ³⁸On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants.”^r This is the Lord’s declaration. ³⁹“How broken it is! They wail! How Moab has turned his back! He is ashamed. Moab will become a laughingstock and a shock to all those around him.”^s

⁴⁰For this is what the Lord says:

Look! He will swoop down like an eagle

and spread his wings against Moab.^t

⁴¹The towns have^B been captured,

and the strongholds seized.

In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors

will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.^u

⁴²Moab will be destroyed as a people

because he has exalted himself against the Lord.^v

⁴³Panic,^w pit, and trap

await you, resident of Moab.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁴⁴He who flees from the panic will fall in the pit,

and he who climbs from the pit

will be captured in the trap,

for I will bring against Moab

the year of their punishment.^x

This is the Lord’s declaration.^y

⁴⁵Those who flee will stand exhausted in Heshbon’s shadow

because fire has come out from Heshbon

and a flame from within Sihon.

It will devour Moab’s forehead

and the skull of the noisemakers.

⁴⁶Woe to you, Moab!

The people of Chemosh have perished

because your sons have been taken captive

and your daughters have gone into captivity.^z

⁴⁷Yet, I will restore the fortunes^A of Moab in the last days.^a

This is the Lord’s declaration.

The judgment on Moab ends here.