48:1 Concerning Moab: This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered.
48:2 Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon men will plot her downfall: ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’ You too, O Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.
48:3 Listen to the cries from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and destruction.
48:4 Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out.
48:5 They go up the way to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
48:6 Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert.
48:7 Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.
48:8 The destroyer will come against every town, and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the LORD has spoken.
48:9 Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them.
48:10 “A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD’S work! A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed!
48:11 “Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another–she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged.
48:12 But days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will send men who pour from jars, and they will pour her out; they will empty her jars and smash her jugs.
48:13 Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.
48:14 “How can you say, ‘We are warriors, men valiant in battle’?
48:15 Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
48:16 “The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly.
48:17 Mourn for her, all who live around her, all who know her fame; say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff!’
48:18 “Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, O inhabitants of the Daughter of Dibon, for he who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities.
48:19 Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, ‘What has happened?’
48:20 Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered. Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
48:21 Judgment has come to the plateau–to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,
48:22 to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
48:23 to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,
48:24 to Kerioth and Bozrah–to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
48:25 Moab’s horn is cut off; her arm is broken,” declares the LORD.
48:26 “Make her drunk, for she has defied the LORD. Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule.
48:27 Was not Israel the object of your ridicule? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her?
48:28 Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.
48:29 “We have heard of Moab’s pride–her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart.
48:30 I know her insolence but it is futile,” declares the LORD, “and her boasts accomplish nothing.
48:31 Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the men of Kir Hareseth.
48:32 I weep for you, as Jazer weeps, O vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea; they reached as far as the sea of Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes.
48:33 Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy.
48:34 “The sound of their cry rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
48:35 In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods,” declares the LORD.
48:36 “So my heart laments for Moab like a flute; it laments like a flute for the men of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone.
48:37 Every head is shaved and every beard cut off; every hand is slashed and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
48:38 On all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,” declares the LORD.
48:39 “How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her.”
48:40 This is what the LORD says: “Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab.
48:41 Kerioth will be captured and the strongholds taken. In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
48:42 Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the LORD.
48:43 Terror and pit and snare await you, O people of Moab,” declares the LORD.
48:44 “Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring upon Moab the year of her punishment,” declares the LORD.
48:45 “In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand helpless, for a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a blaze from the midst of Sihon; it burns the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the noisy boasters.
48:46 Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are destroyed; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity.
48:47 “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,” declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.
48:1 Concerning Moab: / Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: / Woe to Nebo, for it is destroyed; / Kiriathaim is put to shame; it is captured; / The lofty retreat is put to shame and dismayed.
48:2 The praise of Moab is no more; / In Heshbon they have devised evil against her, saying: / Come and let us cut her off from being a nation. / You also, O Madmen, will be brought to silence; / A sword will go after you.
48:3 The sound of a cry from Horonaim, / Desolation and great destruction!
48:4 Moab is destroyed; / Her young have caused a cry to be heard.
48:5 For by the ascent of Luhith / Continual weeping will go up; / For by the descent of Horonaim / They have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.
48:6 Flee, save your life, / And be like a shrub in the wilderness.
48:7 For because of your trust in your works and in your treasures, / You also will be captured; / And Chemosh will go forth into exile; / His priests and his princes together.
48:8 And a destroyer will come to every city, / And no city will escape; / The valley will also perish, / And the plateau will be destroyed, / As Jehovah has said.
48:9 Give wings to Moab, / That she may fly and go away; / And her cities will become a waste, / Without inhabitant in them.
48:10 Cursed is he who does the work of Jehovah negligently, / And cursed is he who keeps his sword from blood.
48:11 Moab has been at ease from his youth; / And he is settled on his lees / And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel; / Nor has he gone into exile. / Therefore his taste remains in him, / And his scent is not changed.
48:12 Therefore indeed, days are coming, declares Jehovah, when I will send pourers to him, and they will pour him out and empty his vessels and shatter his jars.
48:13 And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
48:14 How can you say, We are mighty men / And valiant men for war?
48:15 Moab has been destroyed, / And its cities have gone up in smoke, / And its choice young men have gone down to slaughter, / Declares the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts.
48:16 The calamity of Moab is near to coming, / And his affliction hastens quickly.
48:17 Lament for him, all who are around him / And all who know his name; / Say, How the strong rod is broken, / The glorious staff.
48:18 Come down from glory and sit in thirst, / O daughter who dwells in Dibon, / For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you; / He has destroyed your strongholds.
48:19 Stand by the way and watch, / O inhabitant of Aroer; / Ask him who flees and her who escapes, / And say, What has happened?
48:20 Moab is put to shame, for it is shattered. / Howl and cry out; / Declare in Arnon / That Moab is devastated.
48:21 And judgment has come upon the land of the Plateau, on Holon and on Jahzah and on Mephaath
48:22 And on Dibon and on Nebo and on Beth-diblathaim
48:23 And on Kiriathaim and on Beth-gamul and on Beth-meon
48:24 And on Kerioth and on Bozrah and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
48:25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, declares Jehovah.
48:26 Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against Jehovah; so Moab will wallow in his vomit and will also be in derision.
48:27 For was not Israel a derision to you? Or was he found among thieves? For as often as you speak of him, you shake your head.
48:28 Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, / O inhabitants of Moab, / And be like a dove who nests / On the sides of the mouth of the pit.
48:29 We have heard of the pride of Moab ? / He is extremely proud ? / Of his loftiness and his pride and his arrogance / And of the haughtiness of his heart.
48:30 I know of his insolence, declares Jehovah; / His boastings are all untrue; / They have accomplished nothing.
48:31 Therefore I will wail for Moab, / I will even cry out for all Moab; / There will be mourning for the men of Kir-heres.
48:32 With more than the weeping of Jazer / I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah. / Your shoots have crossed over to the sea; / They have reached as far as the sea, to Jazer; / On your summer fruit and on your vintage / The destroyer has fallen.
48:33 Rejoicing and exultation are taken away / From the fruited field and from the land of Moab. / And I have caused the wine from the wine presses to cease; / No one will tread them with the harvest shout; / The harvest shout will be no harvest shout.
48:34 From the cry of Heshbon as far as Elealeh, even as far as Jahaz, they have uttered their voice, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become a devastation.
48:35 And I will bring to an end in Moab the one who offers up in high places and burns incense to his gods, declares Jehovah.
48:36 Therefore My heart will moan for Moab like flutes; for the men of Kir-heres My heart will also moan like flutes. As a result, the abundance he has produced has perished.
48:37 For every head is bald, and every beard is shaved off; there are cuts on all the hands, and sackcloth on the loins.
48:38 On all the roofs of Moab and in her open squares there is wailing everywhere, for I have broken Moab like a vessel which no one desires, declares Jehovah.
48:39 How it is shattered! they howl. How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a terror to all who are around him.
48:40 For thus says Jehovah, / One will swoop down like an eagle / And spread its wings against Moab.
48:41 Kerioth is captured, / And the strongholds are seized, / And the heart of the mighty men of Moab in that day / Will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
48:42 And Moab will be destroyed from being a people, / Because he magnified himself against Jehovah.
48:43 Dread, pit, and snare / Are upon you, O inhabitant of Moab, / Declares Jehovah.
48:44 He who flees from dread / Will fall into the pit, / And he who comes up out of the pit / Will be taken in the snare; / For I will bring upon her, upon Moab, / The year of their punishment, declares Jehovah.
48:45 In the shadow of Heshbon / Those who flee stand without strength; / For fire has gone forth from Heshbon / And a flame from the midst of Sihon; / And it has consumed the corner of Moab / And the top of the head of the sons of tumult.
48:46 Woe to you, O Moab! / The people of Chemosh have perished, / For your sons have been taken captive, / And your daughters have gone into captivity.
48:47 But I will turn again the captivity of Moab / In the last days, declares Jehovah. / Thus far is the judgment of Moab.