Jeremiah
Chapter 48
1 God says this about Moab: “Trouble is coming to Nebo because it’s destroyed. Kiriathaim is captured and shamed. Misgab is terrified and upset.”
2 Moab will not be praised anymore; in Heshbon, they plan to destroy it. Come, let’s wipe it out as a nation. Madmen, you too will be destroyed; the sword will chase you.
3 Cries and loud noises will come from Horonaim, along with destruction and major damage.
4 Moab is ruined; her young children have made a cry heard.
5 As people climb up Luhith, they keep crying. As they go down to Horonaim, enemies hear a loud sound of ruin.
6 Run away, save yourselves, and be like a bush in the desert.
7 Because you trusted in what you did and in your riches, you will be captured: and Chemosh will be taken away as a prisoner with his priests and leaders.
8 The destroyer will come to every city, and every city will not be spared; the valley will also wither, and the flat land will be ruined, as God has said.
9 Give Moab wings to fly away and escape, because its cities will be empty, with no one living in them.
10 Cursed is the one who does God’s work with trickery, and cursed is the one who holds back his sword from drawing blood.
11 Moab has lived comfortably since he was young, settled without being disturbed, and has not been moved from one container to another, nor has he been taken captive; so his ways have stayed the same, and his character has not changed.
12 So, look, the time will come, God says, when I will send travelers to him who will make him wander, empty his containers, and smash his jars.
13 Moab will feel shame for Chemosh just as the people of Israel felt shame for their trust in Bethel.
14 How can you say, “We are powerful and strong warriors”?
15 Moab is destroyed, and people have left its towns, and its best young men have been killed, says the King, whose name is God of armies.
16 Moab’s disaster is coming soon, and his trouble is speeding up.
17 Everyone around him, mourn for him; and everyone who knows his name, ask, “How is the powerful stick broken, and the lovely stick!”
18 You who live in Dibon, come down from your high place and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab will attack you and break down your safe places.
19 People of Aroer, stand by the road, watch, and ask both the person who is running away and the person who has escaped, “What happened?”
20 Moab is embarrassed; it is destroyed: wail and weep; say it in Arnon, that Moab is ruined.
21 God’s judgment has come to the flat land, to Holon, to Jahazah, and to Mephaath.
22 On Dibon, Nebo, and Bethdiblathaim,
23 On Kiriathaim, on Bethgamul, and on Bethmeon,
24 And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of Moab, far and near.
25 Moab’s strength is gone, and his power is broken, says God.
26 Make him drunk because he acted arrogantly against God. Moab will roll in his own throw-up, and he will be mocked as well.
27 Didn’t you mock Israel? Did you catch him with thieves? You’ve been happy talking about him.
28 You who live in Moab, leave the cities, live in the cliffs, and be like the dove that builds her nest on the edge of a cave’s entrance.
29 We have heard how proud Moab is, very proud indeed, of his greatness, his arrogance, his pride, and his conceited heart.
30 I know his anger, says God, but it won’t happen like that; his lies won’t succeed.
31 So, I will wail for Moab and cry for all of Moab; my heart will grieve for the people of Kirheres.
32 O Sibmah vine, I will cry for you like the cries of Jazer: your branches have spread across the sea, even to Jazer’s sea: the destroyer has attacked your summer fruit and harvest.
33 Happiness and joy have been removed from the fertile fields and the land of Moab; I have made the wine stop flowing from the winepresses: no one will step on grapes with cheers; their cheers won’t be heard.
34 People are screaming from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, and from Zoar to Horonaim, like young cows. Even Nimrim’s waters will be empty.
35 I will stop people in Moab from making sacrifices on the high hills and burning incense to their gods, says God.
36 So my heart will cry for Moab like flutes, and my heart will be like flutes for the people of Kir Heres, for the wealth they gained is gone.
37 Every head will be shaved, every beard trimmed; all hands will be scratched, and around the waist, there will be rough cloth.
38 People will mourn on all the rooftops in Moab and in its streets, because I have shattered Moab like a useless pot, says God.
39 They will cry out, “How it is destroyed! How Moab has run away in shame!” So Moab will become a joke and a terror to all nearby.
40 For this is what God says: Look, he will soar like an eagle and spread his wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth is captured, and the strongholds are taken by surprise, and on that day, the brave soldiers in Moab will be as scared as a woman having a baby.
42 Moab will be ruined and no longer be a nation because it boasted against God.
43 Danger, a hole, and a trap will come to you, people of Moab, says God.
44 The one who runs from danger will fall into a hole, and whoever climbs out of the hole will get caught in a trap, because I will bring disaster on Moab when I punish them, says God.
45 Those who ran away stayed in the shade of Heshbon because of the enemy. But a fire will start from Heshbon, and a flame from Sihon, and it will burn the edges of Moab and the tops of the noisy people’s heads.
46 Sadness comes to you, Moab! The followers of Chemosh are destroyed: your sons are captured, and your daughters are captured.
47 But I will restore Moab from captivity in the future, says God. This is God’s judgment on Moab.