Jeremiah 48

English Standard Version

Judgment on Moab

48 ^(A)Concerning Moab.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Woe to ^(B)Nebo, for it is laid waste!
    ^(C)Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame ^(D)and broken down;
²    the renown of Moab is no more.
In ^(E)Heshbon they planned disaster against her:
    ‘Come, let us cut her off ^(F)from being a nation!’
You also, O ^(G)Madmen, shall be brought to silence;
    the sword shall pursue you.

³“A voice! A cry from ^(H)Horonaim,
    ‘Desolation and great destruction!’
⁴Moab is destroyed;
    her little ones have made a cry.
⁵^(I)For at the ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;^[a]
for ^(J)at the descent of Horonaim
    they have heard the distressed cry^[b] of destruction.
⁶Flee! Save yourselves!
    You will be like ^(K)a juniper in the desert!
⁷For, ^(L)because you trusted in your works and your treasures,
    you also shall be taken;
and ^(M)Chemosh ^(N)shall go into exile
    with ^(O)his priests and his officials.
⁸^(P)The destroyer shall come upon every city,
    and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
    and ^(Q)the plain shall be destroyed,
    as the Lord has spoken.

⁹“Give wings to Moab,
for she would fly away;
her cities shall become a desolation,
with no inhabitant in them.

¹⁰^(R)“Cursed is he who does ^(S)the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.

¹¹“Moab has been at ease from his youth
    and has ^(T)settled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
    nor has he gone into exile;
so his taste remains in him,
    and his scent is not changed.

¹²“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his^[c] jars in pieces. ¹³Then ^(U)Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as ^(V)the house of Israel was ashamed of ^(W)Bethel, their confidence.

¹⁴“How do you say, ‘We are heroes
    and mighty men of war’?
¹⁵The destroyer of ^(X)Moab and his cities has come up,
    and the choicest of his young men have ^(Y)gone down to slaughter,
    declares ^(Z)the King, ^(AA)whose name is the Lord of hosts.
¹⁶The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
    and his affliction hastens swiftly.
¹⁷^(AB)Grieve for him, all you who are around him,
    and all who know his name;
say, ^(AC)‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
    the glorious staff.’

¹⁸^(AD)“Come down from your glory,
    and sit on the parched ground,
    O inhabitant of ^(AE)Dibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
    he has destroyed your strongholds.
¹⁹^(AF)Stand by the way ^(AG)and watch,
    O inhabitant of ^(AH)Aroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
    say, ‘What has happened?’
²⁰Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
    ^(AI)wail and cry!
Tell it beside ^(AJ)the Arnon,
    that ^(AK)Moab is laid waste.

²¹“Judgment has come upon ^(AL)the tableland, upon Holon, and ^(AM)Jahzah, and Mephaath, ²²and ^(AN)Dibon, and ^(AO)Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, ²³and ^(AP)Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and ^(AQ)Beth-meon, ²⁴and ^(AR)Kerioth, and ^(AS)Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. ²⁵^(AT)The horn of Moab is cut off, and ^(AU)his arm is broken, declares the Lord.

²⁶^(AV)“Make him drunk, ^(AW)because he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall ^(AX)wallow in his vomit, ^(AY)and he too shall be held in derision. ²⁷^(AZ)Was not Israel a derision to you? ^(BA)Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him ^(BB)you wagged your head?

²⁸^(BC)“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
    O inhabitants of Moab!
Be ^(BD)like the dove that nests
    in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
²⁹^(BE)We have heard of the pride of Moab—
    he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
    and the haughtiness of his heart.
³⁰I know his insolence, declares the Lord;
    ^(BF)his boasts are false,
    his deeds are false.
³¹^(BG)Therefore I wail for Moab;
    I cry out for all Moab;
    for the men of ^(BH)Kir-hareseth I mourn.
³²More than for ^(BI)Jazer I weep for you,
    ^(BJ)O vine of ^(BK)Sibmah!
^(BL)Your branches passed over the sea,
    reached to the Sea of ^(BM)Jazer;
on your summer fruits and your grapes
    the destroyer has fallen.
³³^(BN)Gladness and joy have been taken away
    from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;
    no one treads them with shouts of joy;
    the shouting is not the shout of joy.

³⁴^(BO)“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to ^(BP)Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. ³⁵And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in ^(BQ)the high place and makes offerings to his god. ³⁶Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of ^(BR)Kir-hareseth. ^(BS)Therefore the riches they gained have perished.

³⁷^(BT)“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. ^(BU)On all the hands are gashes, and ^(BV)around the waist is sackcloth. ³⁸On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like ^(BW)a vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord. ³⁹How it is broken! How they wail! ^(BX)How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab ^(BY)has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”

⁴⁰For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, ^(BZ)one shall fly swiftly like an eagle
    ^(CA)and spread his wings against Moab;
⁴¹^(CB)the cities shall be taken
    and the strongholds seized.
^(CC)The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day
    like the heart of ^(CD)a woman in her birth pains;
⁴²Moab shall be ^(CE)destroyed and be no longer a people,
    because ^(CF)he magnified himself against the Lord.
⁴³^(CG)Terror, pit, and snare
    are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!
declares the Lord.
⁴⁴He who flees from the terror
    shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
    shall be caught in the snare.
^(CH)For I will bring these things upon Moab,
    the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.

⁴⁵“In the shadow of Heshbon
    fugitives stop without strength,
for fire came out from Heshbon,
    flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed ^(CI)the forehead of Moab,
    the crown of ^(CJ)the sons of tumult.
⁴⁶^(CK)Woe to you, O Moab!
    The people of ^(CL)Chemosh are undone,
for your sons have been taken captive,
    and your daughters into captivity.
⁴⁷^(CM)Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
    in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.