Old/New Testament
Judgment on Moab(A)
48 Concerning Moab:
Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel:
Woe to Nebo, for it is devastated.
Kiriathaim is humiliated and captured;
Misgab[a] is humiliated and dismayed.
2 There is no more praise for Moab;
in Heshbon they have devised evil against her:
“Come and let us cut it off from being a nation!”
Also you will be cut down, O Madmen.
The sword will pursue you.
3 A sound of crying will be from Horonaim:
“Devastation and great destruction!”
4 “Moab is destroyed”;
her little ones have caused a cry of distress to be heard;
5 for by the Ascent of Luhith they will go up
with continual weeping;
for at the descent of Horonaim
they have heard a cry of destruction.
6 Flee, save your lives,
and be like the juniper in the wilderness.
7 For because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures,
you will also be captured;
and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity
together with his priests and his officials.
8 The destroyer will come upon every city,
and no city will escape.
The valley also will perish,
and the plain will be destroyed,
as the Lord has spoken.
9 Give wings to Moab,
that she may flee and get away;
for the cities will become desolate,
without any to dwell in them.
10 Cursed be he who does the work of the Lord negligently,
and cursed be he who keeps back his sword from blood.
11 Moab has been at ease from his youth,
and he has also been undisturbed,
like wine on its dregs,
and he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
nor has he gone into captivity.
Therefore his taste remained in him,
and his scent has not changed.
12 Therefore, surely the days are coming,
says the Lord,
when I will send to him those who tip vessels,
and they will tip him over,
and will empty his vessels
and break his bottles.
13 Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh,
as the house of Israel was ashamed
of Bethel, their confidence.
14 How do you say, “We are mighty
and strong men for the war”?
15 Moab has been devastated and gone up out of her cities,
and her chosen young men have also gone down to the slaughter,
says the King whose name is the Lord of Hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab will come soon,
and his affliction hastens fast.
17 All you who are about him, mourn for him.
And all you who know his name,
say, “How the strong staff has been broken,
the beautiful rod!”
18 O daughter who inhabits Dibon,
come down from your glory
and sit on the parched ground,
for the destroyer of Moab
will come upon you,
and he will destroy your strongholds.
19 O inhabitant of Aroer,
stand by the road and keep watch.
Ask him who flees and her who escapes,
and say, “What has happened?”
20 Moab has been humiliated, for it has been broken down.
Howl and cry out.
Tell it in Arnon,
that Moab has been devastated.
21 And judgment has come upon the plain country:
upon Holon and Jahzah and Mephaath,
22 and Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
23 and Kiriathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,
24 and Kerioth and Bozrah,
and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
25 The horn of Moab has been cut off
and his arm has been broken,
says the Lord.
26 Make him drunk,
for he magnified himself against the Lord.
Moab also will wallow in his vomit,
and he also will be held in derision.
27 For was not Israel a derision to you?
Or was he caught among thieves?
For each time you speak of him,
you shake your head in scorn.
28 O you who dwell in Moab,
leave the cities and dwell in the rock,
and be like the dove that makes her nest
in the sides of the hole’s mouth.
29 We have heard of the pride of Moab
(he is very proud),
of his loftiness, and his arrogance, and his pride,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I know his wrath,
says the Lord,
but it is futile. His lies have accomplished nothing.
31 Therefore I will howl for Moab,
and I will cry out for all Moab.
My heart shall mourn for the men of Kir Hareseth.
32 O vine of Sibmah,
I will weep for you more than the weeping of Jazer.
Your plants have stretched over the sea,
they reach even to the sea of Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen upon your summer fruits
and upon your vintage.
33 Joy and gladness are taken away
from the plentiful field, even from the land of Moab,
and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses;
no one will tread with shouting.
Their shouting will not be shouts of joy.
34 From the outcry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, and even to Jahaz,
they have uttered their voice,
from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath Shelishiyah;
for also the waters of Nimrim shall become desolate.
35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,
says the Lord,
him who offers sacrifice in the high place
and him who burns incense to his gods.
36 Therefore My heart will wail for Moab like pipes,
and My heart will wail like pipes for the men of Kir Hareseth,
because the riches that they have gotten have perished.
37 For every head will be bald
and every beard clipped;
upon all the hands will be gashes,
and upon the loins sackcloth.
38 There will be lamentation everywhere
upon all the housetops of Moab
and in the streets,
for I have broken Moab
like a vessel in which is no pleasure,
says the Lord.
39 How it is broken down! How they have wailed!
How Moab has turned his back with shame!
So Moab will be a derision
and a terror to all around him.
40 For thus says the Lord:
Look, one will fly as an eagle
and spread his wings against Moab.
41 Kerioth has been captured,
and the strongholds have been seized,
and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab in that day
will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42 Moab will be destroyed from being a people
because he has magnified himself against the Lord.
43 Fear and the pit and the snare will be upon you,
O inhabitant of Moab,
says the Lord.
44 He who flees from the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and he who gets up out of the pit
will be taken in the snare;
for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab,
the year of their punishment,
says the Lord.
45 The fugitives stand without strength
under the shadow of Heshbon;
for a fire will come out of Heshbon
and a flame from the midst of Sihon,
and will devour the forehead of Moab
and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46 Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished;
for your sons have been taken away captive
and your daughters into captivity.
47 Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days,
says the Lord.
Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Judgment on Ammon
49 Concerning the Ammonites:
Thus says the Lord:
Does Israel have no sons?
Or has he no heirs?
Why then does their king inherit Gad
and his people dwell in his cities?
2 Therefore, surely the days are coming,
says the Lord,
when I will cause an alarm of war
to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites;
and it will be a desolate heap,
and her towns will be burned with fire.
Then Israel will be heir
to those who were his heirs,
says the Lord.
3 Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai has been devastated!
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah,
gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament,
and run to and fro inside the walls;
for their king shall go into captivity,
and his priests and his officials together.
4 Why do you glory in the valleys,
your flowing valley,
O backsliding daughter
who trusts in her treasures, saying,
“Who shall come against me?”
5 I will bring a fear upon you,
says the Lord God of Hosts,
from all those who are around you;
and each of you will be driven out headlong,
and no one will gather together the fugitives.
6 Yet afterward I will restore the fortunes of the sons of Ammon,
says the Lord.
Judgment on Edom(B)
7 Concerning Edom.
Thus says the Lord of Hosts:
Is there no more wisdom in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom vanished?
8 Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of Dedan.
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
the time that I punish him.
9 If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
If thieves came by night,
they would destroy until they had enough.
10 But I have made Esau bare,
I have uncovered his secret places
so that he will not be able to hide himself.
His seed is devastated, and his brothers, and his neighbors,
and he is no more.
11 Leave your fatherless children behind. I will preserve them alive;
and let your widows trust in Me.
12 For thus says the Lord: They whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunk. And are you the one who shall go unpunished altogether? You will not go unpunished, but you will surely drink of it. 13 For I have sworn by Myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. And all the cities will become perpetual wastes.
14 I have heard a message from the Lord,
and an ambassador has been sent to the nations:
“Gather together, and come against her,
and rise up to the battle!”
15 For I will make you small among the nations,
and despised among men.
16 As for the terror of you,
the pride of your heart has deceived you,
O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
who hold the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as the eagle,
I will bring you down from there,
says the Lord.
17 Also Edom will become a desolation;
everyone who goes by it will be astonished,
and will hiss at all its wounds.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
and the neighboring cities,
says the Lord,
no man will abide there,
nor will a son of man dwell in it.
19 He will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan
against the perpetually watered meadow;
but I will suddenly make him run away from her.
And I will appoint over her whomever I choose.
For who is like Me? And who will summon Me into court?
Who is the shepherd who can stand against Me?
20 Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord that He has planned against Edom,
and His purposes that He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman:
Surely the least of the flock will drag them out;
surely He will make their habitations desolate because of them.
21 The earth has shaken at the noise of their fall;
there is an outcry. Its noise has been heard at the Red Sea.
22 He will mount up and fly as the eagle
and spread his wings against Bozrah;
and in that day the hearts of the mighty men of Edom
will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
Judgment on Damascus
23 Concerning Damascus:
Hamath and Arpad have been humiliated,
for they have heard bad news.
They are faint-hearted;
there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quieted.
24 Damascus has become helpless;
she has turned away to flee,
and panic has seized her.
Anguish and sorrows have seized her
as a woman in labor.
25 How the city of praise has not been deserted,
the city of My joy!
26 Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,
and all the men of war will be cut off in that day,
says the Lord of Hosts.
27 I will kindle a fire to the wall of Damascus,
and it will consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.
Judgment on Kedar and Hazor
28 Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated:
Thus says the Lord:
Arise, go up to Kedar,
and destroy the men of the East.
29 Their tents and their flocks they will take away.
They will carry away their curtains for themselves,
and all their vessels, and their camels;
and they will call out to one another,
“Terror is on every side!”
30 Flee, go far away,
dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Hazor,
says the Lord.
For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you,
and has conceived a purpose against you.
31 Arise, go up to the nation at ease,
that dwells securely,
says the Lord.
It has neither gates nor bars;
they dwell alone.
32 Their camels will become plunder,
and the multitude of their cattle booty.
And I will scatter into all winds those who cut the corners of their hair,
and I will bring their calamity from all sides,
says the Lord.
33 Hazor will become a dwelling for jackals
and a desolation forever.
No man will abide there,
nor any son of man dwell in it.
Judgment on Elam
34 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
35 Thus says the Lord of Hosts:
I will break the bow of Elam,
the chief of their might.
36 Upon Elam I will bring the four winds
from the four quarters of heaven,
and will scatter them toward all those winds.
And there will be no nation
where the outcasts of Elam will not go.
37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies,
and before those who seek their life.
And I will bring disaster upon them,
even My fierce anger,
says the Lord;
and I will send the sword after them
until I have consumed them.
38 And I will set My throne in Elam
and will destroy from there the king and the officials,
says the Lord.
39 But it will come to pass in the latter days
that I will restore the fortunes of Elam,
says the Lord.
The Priestly Order of Melchizedek
7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. 2 To him Abraham also gave a tenth part of everything. In the first place, his name is translated “king of righteousness,” and then also he is king of Salem, which means “king of peace.” 3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he continually remains a priest.
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 Surely the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a command to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, from their brothers, though they also come from the seed of Abraham. 6 But this man, whose descent is not numbered among them, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Without question, the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case mortal men receive tithes, but in the other he of whom it is witnessed that he is alive receives them. 9 One might say that Levi also, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met Abraham.
11 If perfection were attained through the Levitical priesthood (for through it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise in the order of Melchizedek, rather than established in the order of Aaron? 12 For a change in the priesthood necessitates a change in the law. 13 For the One concerning whom these things are spoken pertains to another tribe, from which no man served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe concerning which Moses said nothing about priests. 15 This is far more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who becomes a priest not by a law pertaining to ancestry, but by the power of an endless life. 17 For He testifies:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”[a]
18 For there is then an annulling of the previous commandment due to its weakness and uselessness. 19 For the law made nothing perfect, but now a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20 And He was not made a priest without an oath. 21 (Other priests were made without an oath, but this One with an oath by the One who said to Him:
“The Lord has sworn
and will not relent,
‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’ ”[b])
22 Through this oath Jesus became the guarantor of a better covenant.
23 And the former priests were numerous because they were hindered from serving because of death. 24 But He, because He lives forever, has an everlasting priesthood. 25 Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, because He at all times lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, for He is holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and is higher than the heavens. 27 Unlike those high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices—first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for He did this once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints men who are weak as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son who is made perfect forever.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.