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Jeremiah 48
Amplified Bible
Jeremiah 48
Amplified Bible
Prophecy against Moab
48 Concerning [a]Moab.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Woe (judgment is coming) to [the city of] [b]Nebo, for it has been destroyed!
Kiriathaim has been shamed, it has been captured;
Misgab [the high fortress] has been shamed, broken down and crushed.(A)
2
“The glory of Moab is no more;
In [c]Heshbon they planned evil against her,
Saying, ‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’
You also, O [city of] Madmen, shall be silenced;
The sword will pursue you.
3
“The sound of an outcry from Horonaim,
‘Desolation and great destruction!’
4
“Moab is destroyed;
Her little ones have called out a cry of distress [to be heard as far as Zoar].
5
“For the Ascent of Luhith
Will be climbed by [successive groups of] fugitives with continual weeping;
For on the descent of Horonaim
They have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.
6
“Run! Save your lives,
That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.
7
“For because you have trusted in your works [your hand-made idols] and in your treasures [instead of in God],
Even you yourself will be captured;
And [d]Chemosh [your disgusting god cannot rescue you, but] will go away into exile [along with the fugitives]
Together with his priests and his princes.
8
“And the destroyer will come upon every city;
No city will escape.
The [Jordan] valley also will be ruined
And the plain will be devastated,
As the Lord has said.
9
“Give a gravestone to Moab,
For she will fall into ruins;
Her cities (pastures, farms) will be desolate,
Without anyone to live in them.
10
“Cursed is the one who does the work of the Lord negligently,
And cursed is the one who restrains his sword from blood [in executing the judgment of the Lord].
11
“Moab has been at ease from his youth;
He has also been undisturbed, and settled like wine on his dregs,
And he has not been emptied from one vessel to another,
Nor has he gone into exile.
Therefore his flavor remains in him,
And his scent has not changed.
12 Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will send to Moab those who will tip him over and who will empty his vessels and break his [earthenware] jars in pieces. 13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh [his worthless, disgusting god], as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their [misplaced] confidence.(B)
14
“How can you say, ‘We are great warriors
And valiant men in war?’
15
“Moab has been made desolate and his cities have gone up [in smoke and flame];
And his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,”
Says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
16
“The destruction of Moab will come soon,
And his disaster hurries quickly.
17
“Show sympathy for him, all you [nations] who are around him,
And all you [distant nations] who know his name;
Say, ‘How has the mighty scepter [of national power] been broken,
And the splendid staff [of glory]!’
18
“Come down from your glory,
O Daughter living in [e]Dibon,
And sit on the parched ground [among the thirsty]!
For the destroyer of Moab has advanced against you;
He has destroyed your strongholds.
19
“O inhabitant of Aroer,
Stand by the road and keep watch!
Ask [of] him who flees and [ask of] her who escapes,
Saying, ‘What has happened?’
20
“Moab is shamed, for she has been broken down and shattered.
Wail and cry out!
Tell by [the banks of] the Arnon
That Moab has been destroyed.
21 “Judgment has come on [the land of] the plain—upon Holon, Jahzah, and against Mephaath, 22 against Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24 against Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 The horn (strength) of Moab has been cut off and his arm [of authority] is shattered,” says the Lord. 26 “Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant and magnified himself against the Lord [by denying Reuben’s occupation of the land the Lord had assigned him]. Moab also will wallow in his vomit, and he too shall become a laughingstock.(C) 27 For was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Was he caught among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head in scorn.
28
“You inhabitants of Moab,
Leave the cities and live among the rocks,
And be like the dove that makes her nest
In the walls of the yawning ravine.
29
“We have heard of the [giddy] pride of Moab, the extremely proud one—
His haughtiness, his arrogance, his conceit, and his self-exaltation.
30
“I know his [insolent] wrath,” says the Lord,
“But it is futile;
His idle boasts [in his deeds] have accomplished nothing.
31
“Therefore I will wail over Moab,
And I will cry out for all Moab.
I will sigh and mourn over the men of Kir-heres (Kir-hareseth).(D)
32
“O vines of Sibmah, I will weep for you
More than the weeping of Jazer [over its ruins and wasted vineyards].
Your tendrils [of influence] stretched across the sea,
Reaching [even] to the sea of Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen
On your summer fruits and your [season’s] crop of grapes.
33
“So joy and gladness are taken away
From the fruitful field and from the land of Moab.
And I have made the wine cease from the wine presses;
No one treads the grapes with shouting.
Their shouting is not joyful shouting [but is instead, a battle cry].
34 From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolations. 35 Moreover, I will cause to cease in Moab,” says the Lord, “the one who ascends and offers sacrifice in the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.
36 “Therefore My heart moans and sighs for Moab like flutes, and My heart moans and sighs like flutes for the men of Kir-heres (Kir-hareseth); therefore [the remnant of] the abundant riches they gained has perished. 37 For every head is [shaven] bald and every beard cut off; there are cuts (slashes) on all the hands and sackcloth on the [f]loins [all expressions of mourning].(E) 38 On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation (expressions of grief for the dead) everywhere, for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which there is no pleasure,” says the Lord. 39 “How it is broken down! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab will become a laughingstock and a [horrifying] terror to all who are around him.”
40 For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, one (Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon) will fly swiftly like an eagle
And spread out his wings against Moab.(F)
41
“Kerioth [and the cities] has been taken
And the strongholds seized;
And the hearts of the warriors of Moab in that day
Shall be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.
42
“Moab will be [g]destroyed from being a nation (people)
Because he has become arrogant and magnified himself against the Lord.
43
“Terror and pit and snare are before you,
O inhabitant of Moab,” says the Lord.(G)
44
“The one who flees from the terror
Will fall into the pit,
And the one who gets up out of the pit
Will be taken and caught in the trap;
For I shall bring upon it, even upon Moab,
The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
45
“In the shadow of Heshbon
The fugitives stand powerless [helpless and without strength],
For a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
A flame from the midst of Sihon;
It has destroyed the forehead of Moab
And the crowns of the heads of [the arrogant Moabites] the ones in tumult.
46
“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Moab!
The people of [the pagan god called] Chemosh have perished;
For your sons have been taken away captive
And your daughters into captivity.
47
“Yet I will return the captives and restore the fortunes of Moab
In the latter days,” says the Lord.
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 48:1 The Moabites were descendants of Lot through his elder daughter. Chemosh was the primary god of the territory of Moab. The territory of Moab was located east of the Dead Sea.
- Jeremiah 48:1 The towns of Nebo and Kiriathaim were located in the rich pasturelands allotted to the tribe of Reuben. Their exact location, as well as that of the other towns mentioned, is uncertain.
- Jeremiah 48:2 A border town between territories of Reuben and Gad, east of the Jordan River.
- Jeremiah 48:7 Chemosh was the national god revered by the Moabites. Burning children as a sacrifice was part of the ritualistic worship. Solomon, in response to requests from his Moabite wives, established an altar to Chemosh on a hill east of Jerusalem (1 Kin 11:7). This repulsive idol remained in place for nearly three hundred years.
- Jeremiah 48:18 Dibon, known today as Dhiban, stands on two hills. The famous Moabite Stone, a stela of black basalt, was found among the ruins of Dibon in 1868, and had been inscribed in 850 b.c. to commemorate certain accomplishments of King Mesha of Moab, including a victory in his revolt against Israel. Also recorded on the Moabite Stone was the fact that King Mesha built (or restored) the city of Aroer and made the road over the Arnon. The city of Aroer mentioned in this chapter (v 19) stood on the north side of the river Arnon (v 20), just south of Dibon. The inscriptions on the stone are written in a Phoenician dialect similar to an early form of the Hebrew language.
- Jeremiah 48:37 The midsection of the body between the lower ribs and the hips.
- Jeremiah 48:42 Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 b.c.) subjugated the Moabites, but they continued to exist as a people into the first century a.d. (though the national existence of both Moab and Ammon seems to have ended long before the time of Christ). This in itself is a remarkable fulfillment of prophecy; but the fact that Moab’s fortunes are to be restored “in the latter days” (v 47) and have proceeded toward that end is even more amazing. Yet Moab is only one of the numerous nations whose fate was accurately written down in advance by the ancient prophets of God.
Jeremiah 48
New International Version
Jeremiah 48
New International Version
A Message About Moab(A)
48 Concerning Moab:(B)
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Woe to Nebo,(C) for it will be ruined.
Kiriathaim(D) will be disgraced and captured;
the stronghold[a] will be disgraced and shattered.
2 Moab will be praised(E) no more;
in Heshbon[b](F) people will plot her downfall:
‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’(G)
You, the people of Madmen,[c] will also be silenced;
the sword will pursue you.
3 Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim,(H)
cries of great havoc and destruction.
4 Moab will be broken;
her little ones will cry out.[d]
5 They go up the hill to Luhith,(I)
weeping bitterly as they go;
on the road down to Horonaim(J)
anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
6 Flee!(K) Run for your lives;
become like a bush[e] in the desert.(L)
7 Since you trust in your deeds and riches,(M)
you too will be taken captive,
and Chemosh(N) will go into exile,(O)
together with his priests and officials.(P)
8 The destroyer(Q) will come against every town,
and not a town will escape.
The valley will be ruined
and the plateau(R) destroyed,
because the Lord has spoken.
9 Put salt(S) on Moab,
for she will be laid waste[f];(T)
her towns will become desolate,
with no one to live in them.
10 “A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!
A curse on anyone who keeps their sword(U) from bloodshed!(V)
11 “Moab has been at rest(W) from youth,
like wine left on its dregs,(X)
not poured from one jar to another—
she has not gone into exile.
So she tastes as she did,
and her aroma is unchanged.
12 But days are coming,”
declares the Lord,
“when I will send men who pour from pitchers,
and they will pour her out;
they will empty her pitchers
and smash her jars.
13 Then Moab will be ashamed(Y) of Chemosh,(Z)
as Israel was ashamed
when they trusted in Bethel.(AA)
14 “How can you say, ‘We are warriors,(AB)
men valiant in battle’?
15 Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded;
her finest young men(AC) will go down in the slaughter,(AD)”
declares the King,(AE) whose name is the Lord Almighty.(AF)
16 “The fall of Moab is at hand;(AG)
her calamity will come quickly.
17 Mourn for her, all who live around her,
all who know her fame;(AH)
say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter,(AI)
how broken the glorious staff!’
18 “Come down from your glory
and sit on the parched ground,(AJ)
you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon,(AK)
for the one who destroys Moab
will come up against you
and ruin your fortified cities.(AL)
19 Stand by the road and watch,
you who live in Aroer.(AM)
Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,
ask them, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.
Wail(AN) and cry out!
Announce by the Arnon(AO)
that Moab is destroyed.
21 Judgment has come to the plateau(AP)—
to Holon,(AQ) Jahzah(AR) and Mephaath,(AS)
22 to Dibon,(AT) Nebo(AU) and Beth Diblathaim,
23 to Kiriathaim,(AV) Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,(AW)
24 to Kerioth(AX) and Bozrah(AY)—
to all the towns(AZ) of Moab, far and near.
25 Moab’s horn[g](BA) is cut off;
her arm(BB) is broken,”
declares the Lord.
26 “Make her drunk,(BC)
for she has defied(BD) the Lord.
Let Moab wallow in her vomit;(BE)
let her be an object of ridicule.(BF)
27 Was not Israel the object of your ridicule?(BG)
Was she caught among thieves,(BH)
that you shake your head(BI) in scorn(BJ)
whenever you speak of her?
28 Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks,
you who live in Moab.
Be like a dove(BK) that makes its nest
at the mouth of a cave.(BL)
29 “We have heard of Moab’s pride(BM)—
how great is her arrogance!—
of her insolence, her pride, her conceit
and the haughtiness(BN) of her heart.
30 I know her insolence but it is futile,”
declares the Lord,
“and her boasts(BO) accomplish nothing.
31 Therefore I wail(BP) over Moab,
for all Moab I cry out,
I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.(BQ)
32 I weep for you, as Jazer(BR) weeps,
you vines of Sibmah.(BS)
Your branches spread as far as the sea[h];
they reached as far as[i] Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen
on your ripened fruit and grapes.
33 Joy and gladness are gone
from the orchards and fields of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine(BT) from the presses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy.(BU)
Although there are shouts,
they are not shouts of joy.
34 “The sound of their cry rises
from Heshbon(BV) to Elealeh(BW) and Jahaz,(BX)
from Zoar(BY) as far as Horonaim(BZ) and Eglath Shelishiyah,
for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.(CA)
35 In Moab I will put an end
to those who make offerings on the high places(CB)
and burn incense(CC) to their gods,”
declares the Lord.
36 “So my heart laments(CD) for Moab like the music of a pipe;
it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth.(CE)
The wealth they acquired(CF) is gone.
37 Every head is shaved(CG)
and every beard(CH) cut off;
every hand is slashed
and every waist is covered with sackcloth.(CI)
38 On all the roofs in Moab
and in the public squares(CJ)
there is nothing but mourning,
for I have broken Moab
like a jar(CK) that no one wants,”
declares the Lord.
39 “How shattered(CL) she is! How they wail!
How Moab turns her back in shame!
Moab has become an object of ridicule,(CM)
an object of horror to all those around her.”
40 This is what the Lord says:
“Look! An eagle is swooping(CN) down,
spreading its wings(CO) over Moab.
41 Kerioth[j](CP) will be captured
and the strongholds taken.
In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors(CQ)
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.(CR)
42 Moab will be destroyed(CS) as a nation(CT)
because she defied(CU) the Lord.
43 Terror(CV) and pit and snare(CW) await you,
you people of Moab,”
declares the Lord.
44 “Whoever flees(CX) from the terror
will fall into a pit,
whoever climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a snare;
for I will bring on Moab
the year(CY) of her punishment,”
declares the Lord.
45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
the fugitives stand helpless,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
a blaze from the midst of Sihon;(CZ)
it burns the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls(DA) of the noisy boasters.
46 Woe to you, Moab!(DB)
The people of Chemosh are destroyed;
your sons are taken into exile
and your daughters into captivity.
47 “Yet I will restore(DC) the fortunes of Moab
in days to come,”
declares the Lord.
Here ends the judgment on Moab.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 48:1 Or captured; / Misgab
- Jeremiah 48:2 The Hebrew for Heshbon sounds like the Hebrew for plot.
- Jeremiah 48:2 The name of the Moabite town Madmen sounds like the Hebrew for be silenced.
- Jeremiah 48:4 Hebrew; Septuagint / proclaim it to Zoar
- Jeremiah 48:6 Or like Aroer
- Jeremiah 48:9 Or Give wings to Moab, / for she will fly away
- Jeremiah 48:25 Horn here symbolizes strength.
- Jeremiah 48:32 Probably the Dead Sea
- Jeremiah 48:32 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts as far as the Sea of
- Jeremiah 48:41 Or The cities
Jeremiah 48
King James Version
Jeremiah 48
King James Version
48 Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
2 There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.
4 Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5 For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.
6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
7 For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.
8 And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord hath spoken.
9 Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
11 Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
14 How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
15 Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.
17 All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!
18 Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.
19 O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?
20 Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
21 And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
22 And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim,
23 And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon,
24 And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the Lord.
26 Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the Lord: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
27 For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.
29 We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I know his wrath, saith the Lord; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.
31 Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.
32 O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.
33 And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab, and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.
34 From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.
35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the Lord, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.
36 Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.
37 For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
38 There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the Lord.
39 They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him.
40 For thus saith the Lord; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the Lord.
43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord.
44 He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.
45 They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46 Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.
47 Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
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