Jeremiah 48:1-32 ▼

1 Concerning Moab. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed; Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured; The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and shattered.

2 There is praise for Moab no longer; In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her: ‘Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!’ You too, Madmen, will be silenced; The sword will follow after you.

3 The sound of an outcry from Horonaim, ‘Devastation and great destruction!’

4 Moab is broken; Her little ones have made their cry of distress heard.

5 For by the ascent of Luhith They will ascend with continual weeping; For at the descent of Horonaim They have heard the distressed cry of destruction.

6 Flee, escape with your lives, That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.

7 For because of your trust in your own works and treasures, Even you yourself will be captured; And Chemosh will go off into exile Together with his priests and his princes.

8 A destroyer will come to every city, So that no city will escape; The valley also will perish, And the plateau will be destroyed, As Yahweh has said.

9 Give wings to Moab, For she will flee away; And her cities will become a desolation, Without inhabitants in them.

10 Cursed be the one who does the work of Yahweh with a slack hand, And cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood.

11 “Moab has been at ease since his youth; He has also had quiet, like wine on its dregs, And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, And his aroma has not changed.

12 Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.

13 And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their trust.

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

15 Moab has been destroyed, and men have gone up to his cities; His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter,” Declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts.

16 “The disaster of Moab will soon come, And his calamity has quickly hastened.

17 Mourn for him, all you who live around him, Even all of you who know his name; Say, ‘How has the strong scepter been broken, A staff of beauty!’

18 Come down from your glory And inhabit the parched ground, O inhabitant of the daughter of Dibon; For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, He has ruined your strongholds.

19 Stand by the road and keep watch, O inhabitant of Aroer; Ask him who flees and her who escapes And say, ‘What has happened?’

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

21 “Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, upon Jahzah, and against Mephaath,

22 and against Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,

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

24 and against Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.

25 The horn of Moab has been cut in pieces and his arm broken,” declares Yahweh.

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

27 Now was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Or was he caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you shake your head in scorn.

28 Leave the cities and dwell among the crags, O inhabitants of Moab, And be like a dove that nests Beyond the mouth of the chasm.

29 We have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud— Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance, and the exaltedness of his heart.

30 I know his fury,” declares Yahweh, “But it is nothing; His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.

31 Therefore I will wail for Moab, Even for all Moab will I cry out; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

32 More than the weeping for Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your branches stretched across the sea, They reached to the sea of Jazer; Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest The destroyer has fallen.