Get Out While You Can!

48 1-10 The Message on Moab from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel:

“Doom to Nebo! Leveled to the ground!
    Kiriathaim demeaned and defeated,
The mighty fortress reduced to a molehill,
    Moab’s glory—dust and ashes.
Conspirators plot Heshbon’s doom:
    ‘Come, let’s wipe Moab off the map.’
The city of Madmen will be struck mute,
    as killing follows killing.
Listen! A cry out of Horonaim:
    ‘Disaster—doom and more doom!’
Moab will be shattered.
    Her cries will be heard clear down in Zoar.
Up the ascent of Luhith
    climbers weep,
And down the descent from Horonaim,
    cries of loss and devastation.
Oh, run for your lives! Get out while you can!
    Survive by your wits in the wild!
You trusted in thick walls and big money, yes?
    But it won’t help you now.
Your big god Chemosh will be hauled off,
    his priests and managers with him.
A wrecker will wreck every city.
    Not a city will survive.
The valley fields will be ruined,
    the plateau pastures destroyed, just as I told you.
Cover the land of Moab with salt.
    Make sure nothing ever grows here again.
Her towns will all be ghost towns.
    Nobody will ever live here again.
Sloppy work in God’s name is cursed,
    and cursed all halfhearted use of the sword.

11-17 “Moab has always taken it easy—
    lazy as a dog in the sun,
Never had to work for a living,
    never faced any trouble,
Never had to grow up,
    never once worked up a sweat.
But those days are a thing of the past.
    I’ll put him to work at hard labor.
That will wake him up to the world of hard knocks.
    That will smash his illusions.
Moab will be as ashamed of god Chemosh
    as Israel was ashamed of her Bethel calf-gods,
    the calf-gods she thought were so great.
For how long do you think you’ll be saying, ‘We’re tough.
    We can beat anyone anywhere’?
The destruction of Moab has already begun.
    Her choice young soldiers are lying dead right now.”
The King’s Decree—
    his full name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
“Yes. Moab’s doom is on countdown,
    disaster targeted and launched.
Weep for Moab, friends and neighbors,
    all who know how famous he’s been.
Lament, ‘His mighty scepter snapped in two like a toothpick,
    that magnificent royal staff!’

18-20 “Come down from your high horse, pampered beauty of Dibon.
    Sit in dog dung.
The destroyer of Moab will come against you.
    He’ll wreck your safe, secure houses.
Stand on the roadside,
    pampered women of Aroer.
Interview the refugees who are running away.
    Ask them, ‘What’s happened? And why?’
Moab will be an embarrassing memory, nothing left of the place.
    Wail and weep your eyes out!
Tell the bad news along the Arnon river.
    Tell the world that Moab is no more.

21-24 “My judgment will come to the plateau cities: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath; on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim; on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon; on Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of Moab, far and near.

25 “Moab’s link to power is severed.
    Moab’s arm is broken.” God’s Decree.

The Sheer Nothingness of Moab

26-27 “Turn Moab into a drunken lush, drunk on the wine of my wrath, a dung-faced drunk, filling the country with vomit—Moab a falling-down drunk, a joke in bad taste. Wasn’t it you, Moab, who made crude jokes over Israel? And when they were caught in bad company, didn’t you cluck and gossip and snicker?

28 “Leave town! Leave! Look for a home in the cliffs,
    you who grew up in Moab.
Try living like a dove
    who nests high in the river gorge.

29-33 “We’ve all heard of Moab’s pride,
    that legendary pride,
The strutting, bullying, puffed-up pride,
    the insufferable arrogance.
I know”—God’s Decree—“his rooster-crowing pride,
    the inflated claims, the sheer nothingness of Moab.
But I will weep for Moab,
    yes, I will mourn for the people of Moab.
    I will even mourn for the people of Kir-heres.
I’ll weep for the grapevines of Sibmah
    and join Jazer in her weeping—
Grapevines that once reached the Dead Sea
    with tendrils as far as Jazer.
Your summer fruit and your bursting grapes
    will be looted by brutal plunderers,
Lush Moab stripped
    of song and laughter.
And yes, I’ll shut down the winepresses,
    stop all the shouts and hurrahs of harvest.

34 “Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out, and the people in Jahaz will hear the cries. They will hear them all the way from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up.

35 “I will put a stop in Moab”—God’s Decree—“to all hiking to the high places to offer burnt sacrifices to the gods.

36 “My heart moans for Moab, for the men of Kir-heres, like soft flute sounds carried by the wind. They’ve lost it all. They’ve got nothing.

37 “Everywhere you look are signs of mourning:
    heads shaved, beards cut,
Hands scratched and bleeding,
    clothes ripped and torn.

38 “In every house in Moab there’ll be loud lamentation, on every street in Moab, loud lamentation. As with a pottery jug that no one wants, I’ll smash Moab to bits.” God’s Decree.

39 “Moab ruined!
    Moab shamed and ashamed to be seen!
Moab a cruel joke!
    The stark horror of Moab!”

* * *

40-42 God’s verdict on Moab. Indeed!

“Look! An eagle is about to swoop down
    and spread its wings over Moab.
The towns will be captured,
    the fortresses taken.
Brave warriors will double up in pain, helpless to fight,
    like a woman giving birth to a baby.
There’ll be nothing left of Moab, nothing at all,
    because of his defiant arrogance against me.

43-44 “Terror and pit and trap
    are what you have facing you, Moab.” God’s Decree.
“A man running in terror
    will fall into a trap.
A man climbing out of a pit
    will be caught in a trap.
This is my agenda for Moab
    on doomsday.” God’s Decree.

45-47 “On the outskirts of Heshbon,
    refugees will pull up short, worn out.
Fire will flame high from Heshbon,
    a firestorm raging from the capital of Sihon’s kingdom.
It will burn off Moab’s eyebrows,
    will scorch the skull of the braggarts.
That’s all for you, Moab!
    You worshipers of Chemosh will be finished off!
Your sons will be trucked off to prison camps;
    your daughters will be herded into exile.
But yet there’s a day that’s coming
    when I’ll put things right in Moab.

    “For now, that’s the judgment on Moab.”

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.
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.
Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim,(H)
    cries of great havoc and destruction.
Moab will be broken;
    her little ones will cry out.[d]
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.
Flee!(K) Run for your lives;
    become like a bush[e] in the desert.(L)
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)
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.
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

  1. Jeremiah 48:1 Or captured; / Misgab
  2. Jeremiah 48:2 The Hebrew for Heshbon sounds like the Hebrew for plot.
  3. Jeremiah 48:2 The name of the Moabite town Madmen sounds like the Hebrew for be silenced.
  4. Jeremiah 48:4 Hebrew; Septuagint / proclaim it to Zoar
  5. Jeremiah 48:6 Or like Aroer
  6. Jeremiah 48:9 Or Give wings to Moab, / for she will fly away
  7. Jeremiah 48:25 Horn here symbolizes strength.
  8. Jeremiah 48:32 Probably the Dead Sea
  9. Jeremiah 48:32 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts as far as the Sea of
  10. Jeremiah 48:41 Or The cities