1 Word Against Moab 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 48:1Or dismayed shattered.
2 “There is praise for Moab no longer;In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her:‘Come and let us cut her off frombeinga nation!’You too, 48:2A city of Moab Madmen, will be silenced;The sword will follow after you.
3 “The sound of an outcry from Horonaim,‘ 48:3 Or destruction, cf. 48:1 Devastation and great destruction!’
4 “Moab is broken;Her little ones have madetheircryof distressheard.
5 “For by the ascent of LuhithThey will ascend with continual weeping;For at the descent of HoronaimThey 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 exileTogether 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 48:9Or salt wings to Moab,For she will 48:9Or fall in ruins 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 slackhand,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 wineon 48:11Lit his its dregs,And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,Nor has he gone into exile.Therefore 48:11Lit his flavor has stayed in him 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 tipvessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter 48:12Lit their 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 48:15Lit one has men have gone up to 48:15Lit her his cities;His choicest 48:15Warriors 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 wholivearound him,Even all of you who know his name;Say, ‘How has the strong 48:17Or rod scepter been broken,A staff of beauty!’
18 “Come down from your gloryAnd inhabit 48:18Lit in thirst 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 escapesAndsay, ‘What has happened?’
20 “Moab has been put to shame, for it has been 48:20Or dismayed shattered.Wail and cry out;Declare by the ArnonThat 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 magnifiedhimselfagainst Yahweh; so Moab will 48:26Or splash into wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock.
27 Now was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Or was he 48:27Or found caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you shakeyour head in scorn.
28 “Leave the cities and dwell among the crags,O inhabitants of Moab,And be like a dove that nestsBeyond the mouth of the chasm.
29 “We have heard of the pride of Moab—heisvery 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; 48:31Or He I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
32 “More than the weeping for JazerI 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 harvestThe destroyer has fallen.
33 “So gladness and joy are gathered upFrom the fruitful orchard, even from the land of Moab.And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses;No one will treadthemwith shouting,The shouting will not be shoutsof joy.
34 From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have given forth their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaimand toEglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate.
35 I will make Moab cease,” declares Yahweh, “the one who offersofferingson the high place and the one who offersofferingsin smoke to his gods.
36 “Therefore My heart moans for Moab like flutes; My heart also moans like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced.
37 For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins.
38 On all the rooftops of Moab and in its open squares 48:38Lit all of it is lamentation there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel,” declares Yahweh.
39 “How 48:39Or dismayed shattered it is!Howthey have wailed! How Moab has turned his back—he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an object of terror to all around him.”
40 For thus says Yahweh:“Behold, one will swoop like an eagleAnd spread out his wings against Moab.
41 “Kerioth has been captured,And the strongholds have been seized,So the hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that dayWill be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42 “Moab will be destroyed frombeinga peopleBecause he has magnifiedhimselfagainst Yahweh.
43 “Panic and pit and pitfall arecomingupon you,O inhabitant of Moab,” declares Yahweh.
44 “The one who flees from the panicWill fall into the pit,And the one who climbs up out of the pitWill be caught in the pitfall;For I shall bring upon her,evenupon Moab,The year of their punishment,” declares Yahweh.
45 ¶“In the shadow of HeshbonThose who flee stand without strength;For a fire has gone forth from HeshbonAnd a flame from the midst of Sihon,And it has devoured the top of the head of MoabAnd the scalps of 48:45Lit sons of tumult those who rumble.
46 “Woe to you, Moab!The people of Chemosh have perished;For your sons have been taken away captiveAnd your daughters into captivity.
47 “Yet I will 48:47Or restore return the 48:47Or captivity fortunes of MoabIn the last days,” declares Yahweh.Thus far the judgment on Moab.