Jeremiah 48-49

English Standard Version

“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!’
⁴ Moab 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.
⁶ Flee! Save yourselves!
    You will be like ^(K)a juniper in the desert!
⁷ For, ^(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.

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.

¹⁴ “How do you say, ‘We are heroes
    and mighty men of war’?
¹⁵ The 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.
¹⁶ The 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?’
²⁰ Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
    ^(AI)wail and cry!
Tell it beside ^(AJ)the Arnon,
    that ^(AK)Moab is laid waste.

^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.
³⁰ I 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.
³² More 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.

⁴⁰ For 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;
⁴² Moab 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.
⁴⁴ He 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.

“Has Israel no sons?
    Has he no heir?
Why then has ^(CO)Milcom^{[d] (CP)}dispossessed Gad,
    and his people settled in its cities?
² Therefore, behold, the days are coming,
    declares the Lord,
when I will cause ^(CQ)the battle cry to be heard
    against ^(CR)Rabbah of the Ammonites;
it shall become a desolate ^(CS)mound,
    and its villages shall be burned with fire;
then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,
    says the Lord.

³ “Wail, O ^(CT)Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
    Cry out, O daughters of ^(CU)Rabbah!
^(CV)Put on sackcloth,
    lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!
For ^(CW)Milcom shall go into exile,
    ^(CX)with his priests and his officials.
⁴ Why do you boast of your valleys,^{[e]
    (CY)}O faithless daughter,
^(CZ)who trusted in her treasures, saying,
    ‘Who will come against me?’
⁵ Behold, ^(DA)I will bring terror upon you,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
    from all who are around you,
and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,
    with none to gather the fugitives.

^(DD)“Is wisdom no more in ^(DE)Teman?
    ^(DF)Has counsel perished from the prudent?
    ^(DG)Has their wisdom vanished?
^8 (DH)Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of ^(DI)Dedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
    ^(DJ)the time when I punish him.
^9 (DK)If grape gatherers came to you,
    would they not leave ^(DL)gleanings?
^(DM)If thieves came by night,
    would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
^10 (DN)But I have stripped Esau bare;
    ^(DO)I have uncovered his hiding places,
    and he is not able to conceal himself.
His children are destroyed, and his brothers,
    and his neighbors; and ^(DP)he is no more.
^11 (DQ)Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;
    ^(DR)and let your widows trust in me.”

^14 (DX)I have heard a message from the Lord,
    and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
^(DY)“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
    and rise up for battle!
¹⁵ For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
    despised among mankind.
¹⁶ The horror you inspire has deceived you,
    and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,^[f]
    who hold the height of the hill.
Though you ^(DZ)make your nest as high as the eagle's,
    I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord.

^(EV)“Hamath and ^(EW)Arpad are confounded,
    for they have heard bad news;
they melt in fear,
    ^(EX)they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
^24 (EY)Damascus has become feeble, ^(EZ)she turned to flee,
    and panic seized her;
anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
    as ^(FA)of a woman in labor.
²⁵ How is ^(FB)the famous city not forsaken,
    the city of my joy?
^26 (FC)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares,
    and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,
declares the Lord of hosts.
²⁷ And ^(FD)I will kindle a fire in the wall of ^(FE)Damascus,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of ^(FF)Ben-hadad.”

Thus says the Lord:
^(FH)“Rise up, advance against ^(FI)Kedar!
    Destroy ^(FJ)the people of the east!
^29 (FK)Their tents and their flocks shall be taken,
    their ^(FL)curtains and all their goods;
their camels shall be led away from them,
    and men shall cry to them: ^(FM)‘Terror on every side!’
^30 (FN)Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of Hazor!
declares the Lord.
For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
    has made a plan against you
    and formed a purpose against you.

^31 (FO)“Rise up, advance against a nation ^(FP)at ease,
    ^(FQ)that dwells securely,
declares the Lord,
^(FR)that has no gates or bars,
    that dwells alone.
^32 (FS)Their camels shall become plunder,
    their herds of livestock a spoil.
^(FT)I will scatter to every wind
    ^(FU)those who cut the corners of their hair,
and I will bring their calamity
    from every side of them,
declares the Lord.
³³ Hazor shall become ^(FV)a haunt of jackals,
    an everlasting waste;
^(FW)no man shall dwell there;
    ^(FX)no man shall sojourn in her.”