Jeremiah 48:1-30 ▼

1 Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be devastated. Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced; the fortress will be shattered and dismantled.

2 There is no longer praise for Moab; in Heshbon they devise evil against her: ‘Come, let us cut her off from nationhood.’ You too, O people of Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.

3 A voice cries out from Horonaim: ‘Devastation and great destruction!’

4 Moab will be shattered; her little ones will cry out.

5 For on the ascent to Luhith they weep bitterly as they go, and on the descent to Horonaim cries of distress resound over the destruction:

6 ‘Flee! Run for your lives! Become like a juniper in the desert.’

7 Because you trust in your works and treasures, you too will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials.

8 The destroyer will move against every city, and not one town will escape. The valley will also be ruined, and the high plain will be destroyed, as the LORD has said.

9 Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her cities will become desolate, with no one to dwell in them.

10 Cursed is the one who is remiss in doing the work of the LORD, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from bloodshed.

11 Moab has been at ease from youth, settled like wine on its dregs; he has not been poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile. So his flavor has remained the same, and his aroma is unchanged.

12 Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will send to him wanderers, who will pour him out. They will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.

13 Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.

14 How can you say, ‘We are warriors, mighty men ready for battle’?

15 Moab has been destroyed and its towns have been invaded; the best of its young men have gone down in the slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.

16 Moab’s calamity is at hand, and his affliction is rushing swiftly.

17 Mourn for him, all you who surround him, everyone who knows his name; tell how the mighty scepter is shattered—the glorious staff!

18 Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.

19 Stand by the road and watch, O dweller of Aroer! Ask the man fleeing or the woman escaping, ‘What has happened?’

20 Moab is put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out! Declare by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.

21 Judgment has come upon the high plain—upon Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,

22 upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,

23 upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,

24 upon Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of Moab, those far and near.

25 The horn of Moab has been cut off, and his arm is broken,” declares the LORD.

26 “Make him drunk, because he has magnified himself against the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock.

27 Was not Israel your object of ridicule? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.

28 Abandon the towns and settle among the rocks, O dwellers of Moab! Be like a dove that nests at the mouth of a cave.

29 We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.

30 I know his insolence,” declares the LORD, “but it is futile. His boasting is as empty as his deeds.