Judgment on Moab
(Isaiah 15:1–9)

1Against Moab, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe upon Nebo! For it has been devastated and confounded. Kiriathaim has been seized; the strong one has been confounded and has trembled.

2There is no longer any rejoicing in Moab over Heshbon. They have devised evil. ‘Come and let us destroy it as a nation.’ Then you will be utterly silenced, and the sword will pursue you.

3A voice of clamor from Horonaim: devastation and great destruction!

4Moab has been crushed. Announce an outcry for her little ones.

5For, along the ascent of Luhith, the mourner will ascend with weeping. For, on the descent of Horonaim, the enemies have heard the wailing of devastation.

6Flee, save your lives! And you shall be like a saltcedar tree in the desert.

7For because you have had faith in your fortifications and in your storehouses, you too will be seized. And Chemosh will go into captivity: his priests and his leaders together.

8And the despoiler will overwhelm every city, and not a single city will be saved. And the valleys will perish, and the fields will be destroyed. For the Lord has spoken.

9Give a blossom to Moab. For it will depart when it is blossoming. And its cities will become desolate and uninhabited.

10Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully. And cursed is he who prohibits his sword from blood.

11Moab has been fertile from his youth, and he has rested amid his brood. And he has not been transferred from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into the transmigration. Therefore, his taste has remained with him, and his scent has not changed.

12Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will send to him those who will line up and knock down his bottles, and they will knock him down and empty his vessels, and they will break their bottles against one another. 13And Moab will be confounded by Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was shamed by Bethel, in which they had faith.

14How can you say: ‘We are strong and robust men of battle?’

15Moab has been devastated, and they have cut down her cities. And her elect young men have descended to slaughter. So says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

16The passing away of Moab draws near and arrives. Its evil will rush forward with great speed.

17Console him, all you who surround him and all you who know his name. Say: ‘How has the strong staff become broken, the glorious staff?’

18Descend from your glory, and sit in thirst, O habitation of the daughter of Dibon! For the destroyer of Moab has ascended to you; he has dissipated your fortifications.

19Stand in the way, and gaze out, O habitation of Aroer! Question him who is fleeing, and say to him who has escaped: ‘What has happened?’

20Moab has been confounded, because he has been conquered. Wail and cry out! Announce it in Arnon: Moab has been devastated,

21and judgment has arrived upon the land of the plains: upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath, 22and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon the house of Deblathaim, 23and upon Kiriathaim, and upon the house of Gamul, and upon the house of Meon, 24and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, those far away and those nearby. 25The horn of Moab has been cut away, and his arm has been crushed, says the Lord. 26Inebriate him, for he has lifted himself up against the Lord. And Moab will thrust his hand into his own vomit, and also now he himself will become a derision. 27For Israel had been a derision to them. It was as if you had discovered him among thieves. Because of your own words, then, which you have spoken against him, you will be led away captive.

28Relinquish the cities, and live upon a rock, O inhabitants of Moab, and be like a dove nesting at the mouth of an opening at the summit.

29We have listened to the arrogance of Moab; he is very proud: his exaltation, and arrogance, and pride, and the loftiness of his heart.

30I myself know, says the Lord, his boasting, and that his ability is not in accord with it, nor is it in accord with what he has been striving to do.

31For this reason, I will wail over Moab, and I will cry out to all of Moab, to the men on the brick wall who are lamenting.

32O vineyard of Sibmah, I will weep for you, with the mourning of Jazer. Your offshoots have crossed over the sea. They have reached even to the sea of Jazer. The despoiler has rushed over your harvest and your vintage.

33Rejoicing and exultation has been taken away from Carmel and from the land of Moab. And I have taken the wine from the winepresses. The treader of grapes will no longer sing the usual rhythmic chant.

34From the outcry of Heshbon, even to Elealeh and Jahzah, they have uttered their voice; from Zoar, even to Horonaim, like a three year old calf. So too, the waters of Nimrim will be very bad. 35And I will take away from Moab, says the Lord, the one who makes offerings in exalted places, and the one who sacrifices to his gods.

36Because of this, my heart will resound for Moab, like the pipes, and my heart will make a sound like the pipes for the men on the brick wall. For he has done more than he was able, yet still they have perished. 37For every head will be bald, and every beard will be shaved. All the hands will be bound together, and there will be haircloth on every back. 38Over all the rooftops of Moab, and in its streets, everyone will mourn. For I have crushed Moab like a useless vessel, says the Lord. 39How was it conquered, so that they would wail? How is it that Moab has cast down his neck and been confounded? And Moab will be a derision and an example to everyone around him.”

40Thus says the Lord: “Behold, he will fly like the eagle, and he will extend his wings to Moab.

41Kerioth has been captured, and the fortifications have been taken. And in that day, the heart of the strong ones of Moab will be like the heart of a woman giving birth.

42And Moab will cease to be a people. For he has been glorified against the Lord.

43Terror and the pit and the snare will overwhelm you, O inhabitant of Moab, says the Lord.

44Whoever flees from the terror will fall into the pit. And whoever climbs out of the pit will be seized by the snare. For I will lead over Moab the year of their visitation, says the Lord.

45Those fleeing from the snare stood in the shadow of Heshbon. For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and it will devour the portion of Moab, and the top of the head of the sons of tumult.

46Woe to you, O Moab! You have been ruined, O people of Chemosh! For your sons and your daughters have been taken into captivity.

47But I will convert the captivity of Moab in the last days, says the Lord.” Such are the judgments of Moab thus far.