A Message About Moab

48:29–36pp—Isa 16:6–12

48 Concerning Moab:w

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

“Woe to Nebo,x for it will be ruined.

Kiriathaimy will be disgraced and captured;

the strongholda will be disgraced and shattered.

2 Moab will be praisedz no more;

in Heshbonb a people will plot her downfall:

‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’b

You, the people of Madmen,c will also be silenced;

the sword will pursue you.

3 Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim,c

cries of great havoc and destruction.

4 Moab will be broken;

her little ones will cry out.d

5 They go up the hill to Luhith,d

weeping bitterly as they go;

on the road down to Horonaime

anguished cries over the destruction are heard.

6 Flee!f Run for your lives;

become like a bushe in the desert.g

7 Since you trust in your deeds and riches,h

you too will be taken captive,

and Chemoshi will go into exile,j

together with his priests and officials.k

8 The destroyerl will come against every town,

and not a town will escape.

The valley will be ruined

and the plateaum destroyed,

because the Lord has spoken.

9 Put saltn on Moab,

for she will be laid wastef;o

her towns will become desolate,

with no one to live in them.

10 “A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!

A curse on anyone who keeps their swordp from bloodshed!q

11 “Moab has been at restr from youth,

like wine left on its dregs,s

not poured from one jar to another—

she has not gone into exile.

So she tastes as she did,

and her aroma is unchanged.

12 But days are coming,”

declares the Lord,

“when I will send men who pour from pitchers,

and they will pour her out;

they will empty her pitchers

and smash her jars.

13 Then Moab will be ashamedt of Chemosh,u

as Israel was ashamed

when they trusted in Bethel.v

14 “How can you say, ‘We are warriors,w

men valiant in battle’?

15 Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded;

her finest young menx will go down in the slaughter,y”

declares the King,z whose name is the Lord Almighty.a

16 “The fall of Moab is at hand;b

her calamity will come quickly.

17 Mourn for her, all who live around her,

all who know her fame;c

say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter,d

how broken the glorious staff!’

18 “Come down from your glory

and sit on the parched ground,e

you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon,f

for the one who destroys Moab

will come up against you

and ruin your fortified cities.g

19 Stand by the road and watch,

you who live in Aroer.h

Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,

ask them, ‘What has happened?’

20 Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.

Waili and cry out!

Announce by the Arnonj

that Moab is destroyed.

21 Judgment has come to the plateauk—

to Holon,l Jahzahm and Mephaath,n

22 to Dibon,o Nebop and Beth Diblathaim,

23 to Kiriathaim,q Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,r

24 to Kerioths and Bozraht—

to all the townsu of Moab, far and near.

25 Moab’s horng v is cut off;

her armw is broken,”

declares the Lord.

26 “Make her drunk,x

for she has defiedy the Lord.

Let Moab wallow in her vomit;z

let her be an object of ridicule.a

27 Was not Israel the object of your ridicule?b

Was she caught among thieves,c

that you shake your headd in scorne

whenever you speak of her?

28 Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks,

you who live in Moab.

Be like a dovef that makes its nest

at the mouth of a cave.g

29 “We have heard of Moab’s prideh—

how great is her arrogance!—

of her insolence, her pride, her conceit

and the haughtinessi of her heart.

30 I know her insolence but it is futile,”

declares the Lord,

“and her boastsj accomplish nothing.

31 Therefore I wailk over Moab,

for all Moab I cry out,

I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.l

32 I weep for you, as Jazerm weeps,

you vines of Sibmah.n

Your branches spread as far as the seah;

they reached as far asi Jazer.

The destroyer has fallen

on your ripened fruit and grapes.

33 Joy and gladness are gone

from the orchards and fields of Moab.

I have stopped the flow of wineo from the presses;

no one treads them with shouts of joy.p

Although there are shouts,

they are not shouts of joy.

34 “The sound of their cry rises

from Heshbonq to Elealehr and Jahaz,s

from Zoart as far as Horonaimu and Eglath Shelishiyah,

for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.v

35 In Moab I will put an end

to those who make offerings on the high placesw

and burn incensex to their gods,”

declares the Lord.

36 “So my heart lamentsy for Moab like the music of a pipe;

it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth.z

The wealth they acquireda is gone.

37 Every head is shavedb

and every beardc cut off;

every hand is slashed

and every waist is covered with sackcloth.d

38 On all the roofs in Moab

and in the public squarese

there is nothing but mourning,

for I have broken Moab

like a jarf that no one wants,”

declares the Lord.

39 “How shatteredg she is! How they wail!

How Moab turns her back in shame!

Moab has become an object of ridicule,h

an object of horror to all those around her.”

40 This is what the Lord says:

“Look! An eagle is swoopingi down,

spreading its wingsj over Moab.

41 Keriothj k will be captured

and the strongholds taken.

In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriorsl

will be like the heart of a woman in labor.m

42 Moab will be destroyedn as a nationo

because she defiedp the Lord.

43 Terrorq and pit and snarer await you,

you people of Moab,”

declares the Lord.

44 “Whoever fleess from the terror

will fall into a pit,

whoever climbs out of the pit

will be caught in a snare;

for I will bring on Moab

the yeart of her punishment,”

declares the Lord.

45 “In the shadow of Heshbon

the fugitives stand helpless,

for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,

a blaze from the midst of Sihon;u

it burns the foreheads of Moab,

the skullsv of the noisy boasters.

46 Woe to you, Moab!w

The people of Chemosh are destroyed;

your sons are taken into exile

and your daughters into captivity.

47 “Yet I will restorex the fortunes of Moab

in days to come,”

declares the Lord.

Here ends the judgment on Moab.