Ar in Moab is devastated,^(B)
destroyed in a night.
Kir in Moab is devastated,
destroyed in a night.
² Dibon went up to its temple
to weep at its high places.
Moab wails on Nebo and at^[a] Medeba.
Every head is shaved;
every beard is cut off.
³ In its streets they wear sackcloth;
on its rooftops and in its public squares everyone wails,
falling down and weeping.
⁴ Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.^(C)
Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out,
and they tremble.^[b]
5 My heart cries out over Moab,
whose fugitives flee as far as Zoar,^(D)
to Eglath-shelishiyah;
they go up the slope of Luhith weeping;
they raise a cry of destruction
on the road to Horonaim.
⁶ The waters of Nimrim^(E) are desolate;
the grass is withered, the foliage is gone,
and the vegetation has vanished.
⁷ So they carry their wealth and belongings
over the Wadi of the Willows.^(F)
8 For their cry echoes
throughout the territory of Moab.
Their wailing reaches Eglaim;
their wailing reaches Beer-elim.
⁹ The waters of Dibon^[c] are full of blood,^(G)
but I will bring on Dibon^[d] even more than this—
a lion for those who escape from Moab,
and for the survivors in the land.^(H)

16 Send lambs to the ruler of the land,^(I)
from Sela in the desert^(J)
to the mountain of Daughter Zion.
² Like a bird fleeing,
forced from the nest,
the daughters of Moab
will be at the fords of the Arnon.

³ Give us counsel and make a decision.
Shelter us at noonday
with shade that is as dark as night.
Hide the refugees;^(K)
do not betray the one who flees.
⁴ Let my refugees stay with you;
be a refuge for Moab^[e] from the aggressor.

When the oppressor has gone,
destruction has ended,
and marauders have vanished from the land.
⁵ Then in the tent of David
a throne will be established by faithful love.^(L)
A judge who seeks what is right
and is quick to execute justice
will sit on the throne forever.

⁶ We have heard of Moab’s pride^(M)—
how very proud he is—
his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance,
and his empty boasting.
⁷ Therefore let Moab wail;
let every one of them wail for Moab.
Mourn, you who are completely devastated,
for the raisin cakes^(N) of Kir-hareseth.^(O)
8 For Heshbon’s terraced vineyards
and the grapevines of Sibmah have withered.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled its choice vines
that reached as far as Jazer^(P)
and spread to the desert.
Their shoots spread out
and reached the Dead Sea.^(Q)
9 So I join with Jazer
to weep for the vines of Sibmah;
I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears.
Triumphant shouts have fallen silent^[f]
over your summer fruit and your harvest.
¹⁰ Joy and rejoicing^(R) have been removed from the orchard;
no one is singing or shouting for joy in the vineyards.^(S)
No one tramples grapes^[g] in the winepresses.
I have put an end to the shouting.
¹¹ Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab,^(T)
as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.
¹² When Moab appears on the high place,
when he tires^[h] himself out^(U)
and comes to his sanctuary to pray,
it will do him no good.^(V)

Woe to Nebo,^(B) because it is about to be destroyed;
Kiriathaim will be put to shame;^(C) it will be taken captive.
The fortress will be put to shame and dismayed!
² There is no longer praise for Moab;
they plan harm against her in Heshbon:^(D)
Come, let’s cut her off from nationhood.
Also, Madmen,^[a] you will be silenced;
the sword will pursue you.
³ A voice cries out from Horonaim,^(E)
“devastation and great disaster!”
⁴ Moab will be shattered;
her little ones will cry out.
⁵ For on the Ascent to Luhith
they will be weeping continually,^[b]
and on the descent to Horonaim
will be heard cries of distress over the destruction:^(F)
6 Flee! Save your lives!
Be like a juniper bush^[c](G) in the wilderness.
⁷ Because you trust in your works^[d] and treasures,
you will be captured also.
Chemosh^(H) will go into exile
with his priests and officials.
⁸ The destroyer will move against every town;
not one town will escape.
The valley will perish,
and the plain will be annihilated,^(I)
as the Lord has said.
⁹ Make Moab a salt marsh,^[e](J)
for she will run away;^[f]
her towns will become a desolation,
without inhabitant.

¹⁰ The one who does
the Lord’s business deceitfully^[g] is cursed,^(K)
and the one who withholds
his sword from bloodshed is cursed.

¹¹ Moab has been left quiet since his youth,
settled like wine on its dregs.^(L)
He hasn’t been poured from one container to another
or gone into exile.
So his taste has remained the same,
and his aroma hasn’t changed.
¹² Therefore look, the days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will send those to him, who will pour him out.
They will empty his containers
and smash his jars.
¹³ Moab will be put to shame because of Chemosh,
just as the house of Israel was put to shame
because of Bethel^(M) that they trusted in.

¹⁴ How can you say, “We are warriors—
mighty men ready for battle”?
¹⁵ The destroyer of Moab and its towns
has come up,^[h]
and the best of its young men
have gone down to slaughter.
This is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.^(N)
16 Moab’s calamity is near at hand;
his disaster is rushing swiftly.
¹⁷ Mourn for him, all you surrounding nations,
everyone who knows his name.
Say: How the mighty scepter^(O) is shattered,
the glorious staff!

¹⁸ Come down from glory; sit on parched ground,
resident of the daughter of Dibon,^(P)
for the destroyer of Moab has come against you;
he has destroyed your fortresses.
¹⁹ Stand by the highway and look,
resident of Aroer!^(Q)
Ask him who is fleeing or her who is escaping:^(R)
What happened?
²⁰ Moab is put to shame, indeed dismayed.
Wail and cry out!
Declare by the Arnon
that Moab is destroyed.

²⁸ Abandon the towns! Live in the cliffs,
residents of Moab!
Be like a dove
that nests inside the mouth of a cave.^(Z)

²⁹ We have heard of Moab’s pride,
great pride, indeed—
his insolence, arrogance, pride,
and haughty heart.
³⁰ I know his outburst.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is empty.
His boast is empty.
³¹ Therefore, I will wail over Moab.
I will cry out for Moab, all of it;
he will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
³² I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah,
with more than the weeping for Jazer.
Your tendrils have extended to the sea;
they have reached to the sea and to Jazer.^[i]
The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and grape harvest.
³³ Joy and celebration are taken from the fertile field
and from the land of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses;
no one will tread with shouts of joy.
The shouting is not a shout of joy.^(AA)

He will swoop down like an eagle
and spread his wings against Moab.^(AH)
41 The towns have^[j] been captured,
and the strongholds seized.
In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.^(AI)
42 Moab will be destroyed as a people
because he has exalted himself against the Lord.^(AJ)
43 Panic, pit, and trap
await you, resident of Moab.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
⁴⁴ He who flees from the panic will fall in the pit,
and he who climbs from the pit
will be captured in the trap,
for I will bring against Moab
the year of their punishment.
This is the Lord’s declaration.^(AK)

⁴⁵ Those who flee will stand exhausted in Heshbon’s shadow
because fire has come out from Heshbon
and a flame from within Sihon.
It will devour Moab’s forehead
and the skull of the noisemakers.
⁴⁶ Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished
because your sons have been taken captive
and your daughters have gone into captivity.^(AL)
47 Yet, I will restore the fortunes^[k] of Moab in the last days.^(AM)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
The judgment on Moab ends here.