Chapter 48

Prophecy against Moab

1 Concerning aMoab. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,

“Woe to bNebo, for it has been destroyed;

cKiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured;

The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and 1shattered.

2 “There is praise for Moab no longer;

In aHeshbon they have devised calamity against her:

‘Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!’

You too, 1Madmen, will be silenced;

The sword will follow after you.

3 “The sound of an outcry from aHoronaim,

‘Devastation and great destruction!’

4 “Moab is broken,

Her little ones have sounded out a cry of distress.

5 “For by the ascent of aLuhith

They will ascend with continual weeping;

For at the descent of Horonaim

They have heard the 1anguished cry of destruction.

6 “aFlee, save your lives,

That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.

7 “For because of your atrust in your own achievements and treasures,

Even you yourself will be captured;

And bChemosh will go off into exile

Together with his priests and his princes.

8 “A destroyer will come to every city,

So that no city will escape;

The valley also will be ruined

And the aplateau will be destroyed,

As the Lord has said.

9 “Give 1awings to Moab,

For she will 2flee away;

And her cities will become a bdesolation,

Without inhabitants in them.

10 “aCursed be the one who does the Lord’s work bnegligently,

And cursed be the one who restrains his csword from blood.

11 “Moab has been aat ease since his youth;

He has also been bundisturbed, like wine on 1its dregs,

And he has not been cemptied from vessel to vessel,

Nor has he gone into exile.

Therefore 2he retains his flavor,

And his aroma has not changed.

12 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter 1his jars.

13 “And Moab will be aashamed of bChemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of cBethel, their confidence.

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

And men valiant for battle’?

15 “Moab has been destroyed and 1men have gone up to 2his cities;

His choicest 3ayoung men have also gone down to the slaughter,”

Declares the bKing, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

16 “The disaster of Moab will asoon come,

And his calamity has swiftly hastened.

17 “Mourn for him, all you who live around him,

Even all of you who know his name;

Say, ‘How has the mighty 1ascepter been broken,

A staff of splendor!’

18 “aCome down from your glory

And sit 1on the parched ground,

O bdaughter dwelling in cDibon,

For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,

He has ruined your strongholds.

19 “Stand by the road and keep watch,

O inhabitant of aAroer;

bAsk him who flees and her who escapes

And say, ‘What has happened?’

20 “Moab has been put to shame, for it has been 1shattered.

Wail and cry out;

Declare by the aArnon

That Moab has been destroyed.

21 “Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, aJahzah and against bMephaath,

22 against Dibon, Nebo and Beth-diblathaim,

23 against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul and aBeth-meon,

24 against aKerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.

25 “The ahorn of Moab has been cut off and his barm broken,” declares the Lord.

26 “aMake him drunk, for he has 1become barrogant toward the Lord; so Moab will 2wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock.

27 “Now was not Israel a alaughingstock to you? Or was he 1bcaught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you cshake your head in scorn.

28 “Leave the cities and dwell among the acrags,

O inhabitants of Moab,

And be like a bdove that nests

Beyond the mouth of the chasm.

29 “aWe have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud—

Of his haughtiness, his bpride, his arrogance and 1his self-exaltation.

30 “I know his afury,” declares the Lord,

“But it is futile;

His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.

31 “Therefore I will awail for Moab,

Even for all Moab will I cry out;

1I will moan for the men of bKir-heres.

32 “More than the aweeping for bJazer

I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah!

Your tendrils stretched across the sea,

They reached to the sea of Jazer;

Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest

The destroyer has fallen.

33 “So agladness and joy are taken away

From the fruitful field, even from the land of Moab.

And I have made the wine to bcease from the wine presses;

No one will tread them with shouting,

The shouting will not be shouts of joy.

34 “aFrom the outcry at Heshbon even to bElealeh, even to Jahaz they have 1raised their voice, from cZoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate.

35 “I will make an end of Moab,” declares the Lord, “the one who offers sacrifice on the ahigh place and the one who 1bburns incense to his gods.

36 “Therefore My aheart 1wails for Moab like flutes; My heart also 1wails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have blost the abundance it produced.

37 “For aevery head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and bsackcloth on the loins.

38 “On all the ahousetops of Moab and in its streets 1there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable bvessel,” declares the Lord.

39 “How 1shattered it is! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back—he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an aobject of terror to all around him.”

40 For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, one will afly swiftly like an eagle

And bspread out his wings against Moab.

41 “Kerioth has been captured

And the strongholds have been seized,

So the ahearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day

Will be like the heart of a bwoman in labor.

42 “Moab will be adestroyed from being a people

Because he has 1become barrogant toward the Lord.

43 “aTerror, pit and snare are coming upon you,

O inhabitant of Moab,” declares the Lord.

44 “The one who aflees from the terror

Will fall into the pit,

And the one who climbs up out of the pit

Will be caught in the snare;

For I shall bring upon her, even upon Moab,

The year of their bpunishment,” declares the Lord.

45 “In the shadow of Heshbon

The fugitives stand without strength;

For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon

And a aflame from the midst of bSihon,

And it has devoured the cforehead of Moab

And the scalps of the 1riotous revelers.

46 “aWoe to you, Moab!

The people of bChemosh have perished;

For your sons have been taken away captive

And your daughters into captivity.

47 “Yet I will arestore the 1fortunes of Moab

In the 2latter days,” declares the Lord.

Thus far the judgment on Moab.