Jeremiah 48
Living Bible
48 The Moabites
This is the message of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, against Moab:
Woe to the city of Nebo, for it shall lie in ruins. The city of Kiriathaim and its forts are overwhelmed and captured. 2-4 No one will ever brag about Moab anymore, for there is a plot against her life. In Heshbon plans have been completed to destroy her. “Come,” they say, “we will cut her off from being a nation.” In Madmen all is silent. And then the roar of battle will surge against Horonaim, for all Moab is being destroyed. Her crying will be heard as far away as Zoar. 5 Her refugees will climb the hills of Luhith, weeping bitterly, while cries of terror rise from the city below. 6 Flee for your lives; hide in the wilderness! 7 For you trusted in your wealth and skill; therefore, you shall perish. Your god Chemosh, with his priests and princes, shall be taken away to distant lands!
8 All the villages and cities, whether they be on the plateaus or in the valleys, shall be destroyed, for the Lord has said it. 9 Oh, for wings for Moab that she could fly away, for her cities shall be left without a living soul. 10 Cursed be those withholding their swords from your blood, refusing to do the work that God has given them!
11 From her earliest history Moab has lived there undisturbed from all invasions. She is like wine that has not been poured from flask to flask and is fragrant and smooth. But now she shall have the pouring out of exile! 12 The time is coming soon, the Lord has said, when he will send troublemakers to spill her out from jar to jar and then shatter the jars! 13 Then at last Moab shall be ashamed of her idol Chemosh, as Israel was of her calf idol at Bethel.
14 Do you remember that boast of yours: “We are heroes, mighty men of war”? 15 But now Moab is to be destroyed; her destroyer is on the way; her choicest youth are doomed to slaughter, says the King, the Lord Almighty. 16 Calamity is coming fast to Moab.
17 O friends of Moab, weep for her and cry! See how the strong, the beautiful is shattered! 18 Come down from your glory and sit in the dust, O people of Dibon, for those destroying Moab shall shatter Dibon too, and tear down all her towers. 19 Those in Aroer stand anxiously beside the road to watch, and shout to those who flee from Moab, “What has happened there?”
20 And they reply, “Moab lies in ruins; weep and wail. Tell it by the banks of the Arnon, that Moab is destroyed.”
21 All the cities of the tableland lie in ruins too, for God’s judgment has been poured out upon them all—on Holon and Jahzah and Mephaath, 22 and Dibon and Nebo and Beth-diblathaim, 23 and Kiriathaim and Beth-gamul and Beth-meon, 24 and Kerioth and Bozrah—and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
25 The strength of Moab is ended—her horns are cut off; her arms are broken. 26 Let her stagger and fall like a drunkard, for she has rebelled against the Lord. Moab shall wallow in her vomit, scorned by all. 27 For you scorned Israel and robbed her and were happy at her fall.
28 O people of Moab, flee from your cities and live in the caves like doves that nest in the clefts of the rocks. 29 We have all heard of the pride of Moab, for it is very great. We know your loftiness, your arrogance, and your haughty heart. 30 I know her insolence, the Lord has said, but her boasts are false—her helplessness is great. 31 Yes, I wail for Moab, my heart is broken for the men of Kir-heres.
32 O men of Sibmah, rich in vineyards, I weep for you even more than for Jazer. For the destroyer has cut off your spreading tendrils and harvested your grapes and summer fruits. He has plucked you bare! 33 Joy and gladness are gone from fruitful Moab. The presses yield no wine; no one treads the grapes with shouts of joy. There is shouting, yes, but not the shouting of joy. 34 Instead the awful cries of terror and pain rise from all over the land—from Heshbon clear across to Elealeh and to Jahaz; from Zoar to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah. The pastures of Nimrim are deserted now.
35 For the Lord says: I have put a stop to Moab’s worshiping false gods and burning incense to idols. 36 Sadly sings my heart for Moab and Kir-heres, for all their wealth has disappeared. 37 They shave their heads and beards in anguish; they slash their hands and put on clothes of sackcloth. 38 Crying and sorrow will be in every Moabite home and on the streets; for I have smashed and shattered Moab like an old, unwanted bottle. 39 How it is broken! Hear the wails! See the shame of Moab! For she is a sign of horror and of scoffing to her neighbors now.
40 A vulture circles ominously above the land of Moab, says the Lord. 41 Her cities are fallen; her strongholds are seized. The hearts of her mightiest warriors fail with fear like women in the pains of giving birth. 42 Moab shall no longer be a nation, for she has boasted against the Lord. 43 Fear and traps and treachery shall be your lot, O Moab, says the Lord. 44 He who flees shall fall in a trap, and he who escapes from the trap shall run into a snare. I will see to it that you do not get away, for the time of your judgment has come. 45 They flee to Heshbon, unable to go farther. But a fire comes from Heshbon—Sihon’s ancestral home—and devours the land from end to end with all its rebellious people.
46 Woe to you, O Moab; the people of the god Chemosh are destroyed, and your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. 47 But in the latter days, says the Lord, I will reestablish Moab.
(Here the prophecy concerning Moab ends.)
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.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.