The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 48
Prophecy against Moab
1 Against Moab thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Woe to Nebo, for it is destroyed! Kiriathaim is ashamed, it is taken! Misgab is ashamed and dismayed!
2 The glory of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they plotted evil against her, saying, “Come, and be uprooted; and the sword will pursue you!”
3 A cry of distress from Horonaim: ruin and great destruction!
4 Moab is destroyed! Her little ones have cried out!
5 For they will go up Luhith with continual weeping; for on the descent of Horonaim the adversaries of Moab have heard a lamentable cry.
6 Flee, save your lives, and you will be like a tamarisk in the desert!
7 For because of your trust in your works and in your treasures, you also will be taken; And Katmos will go into captivity, its priests and its princes together.
8 For the destroyer will come upon every city, and none will escape; the valley will perish, and the plain will be destroyed, for the Lord has spoken.
9 Give wings to Moab, for it will fly away, and its cities will become desolate, and no one will dwell in them.
10 Cursed be he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully; and cursed be he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.
11 Moab has been at rest from his youth, and his excrement has remained dormant; it has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has it gone into captivity; therefore its taste has remained, and its aroma has not changed.
12 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will send to him those who will pour out his vessels, and they will empty his jars and burst his skins.
13 Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
14 How can you say, “We are valiant men, strong for war”?
15 Moab is destroyed, and has gone up from its cities, and its chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter, says the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts.
16 The destruction of Moab is about to come; its evil hastens greatly.
17 Grieve for him, all you who know his name; say, “How the mighty rod is broken, the beautiful staff!”
18 Come down from your glory, and sit on dry ground, O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon; for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you and has destroyed your strongholds.
19 Stand on the road and look out, O inhabitant of Aroer; ask him who is fleeing;
20 And to the one who escaped, say: What has happened?
21 Moab is ashamed, for he has been broken; wail and cry out: announce in Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
22 Judgment has also come upon the land of the plain: upon Holon, and upon Jahaz, and upon Mephaath,
23 And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim,
24 And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon,
25 And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah; and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, both far and near.
26 The power of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the Lord.
27 Make him drunk, for he has magnified himself against the Lord; and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be an object of scorn.
27 Was not Israel also an object of scorn to you? Was he found among thieves? Why then, since you speak, do you laugh?
28 Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab; and be like the dove that nests in the corners of the mouth of the cave.
29 We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; of his arrogance, and his pride, and his haughtiness, and the height of his heart.
30 I know, says the Lord, his indignation, but it is nothing: his lies will accomplish nothing.
31 Therefore I will wail for Moab; yes, I will cry out for all Moab: for the men of Kir-Heres will lament.
32 With the weeping of Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah; your branches have passed over the sea, they have reached the sea of Jazer; But the destroyer has fallen on the fruits of your summer and on your vintage.
33 Joy and gladness have been taken away from the fertile field and from the land of Moab; for I have caused the wine to fail in the winepresses: they will no longer tread grapes with joy: joy will not be joy.
34 The cry of Heshbon was heard as far as Elealeh and as far as Jahaz, and from Zoar to Horonaim, its voice was heard, like that of a three-year-old heifer; for even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate.
35 And I will cause to disappear from Moab, says the Lord, who sacrifices on the high places and burns incense to his gods.
36 Therefore my heart will sound like flutes for Moab; and my heart will sound like flutes for the men of Kir-Heres; because the abundance that he gathered is lost.
37 For every head shall be bald, and every beard shall be sparse; upon all hands shall be sackcloth, and upon the loins.
38 On every rooftop of Moab and in its streets shall be a general wailing; for I have broken Moab, as a vessel that is not pleasing, saith the Lord.
39 How broken it is! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back and been ashamed! So shall Moab be an object of scorn and horror to all that are around him.
40 For thus saith the Lord: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and spread his wings over Moab.
41 The cities are taken, and the strongholds are occupied; and the heart of the mighty men of Moab will be in that day like the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42 And Moab will be destroyed, so that it will not be a people; because it has magnified itself against the Lord.
43 Terror, and pit, and snare, are upon you, O inhabitant of Moab, says the Lord.
44 He who flees from the terror will fall into the pit, and he who comes out of the pit will be caught in the snare; for I will bring upon him, upon Moab, the year of his visitation, says the Lord.
45 Those who fled were powerless and stopped in the shadow of Heshbon; but fire went out from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and devoured the song of Moab and the power of the turbulent ones.
46 Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; for your sons have gone into captivity, and your daughters into captivity.
47 But I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, declares the Lord. Thus far the judgment of Moab.