48:1 Concerning Moab. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed; Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured; The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and shattered. |
48:2 "There is praise for Moab no longer; In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her: `Come and let us cut her off from {being} a nation!' You too, Madmen, will be silenced; The sword will follow after you. |
48:3 "The sound of an outcry from Horonaim, `Devastation and great destruction!' |
48:4 "Moab is broken, Her little ones have sounded out a cry {of distress.} |
48:5 "For by the ascent of Luhith They will ascend with continual weeping; For at the descent of Horonaim They have heard the anguished cry of destruction. |
48:6 "Flee, save your lives, That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness. |
48:7 "For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures, Even you yourself will be captured; And Chemosh will go off into exile Together with his priests and his princes. |
48:8 "A destroyer will come to every city, So that no city will escape; The valley also will be ruined And the plateau will be destroyed, As the LORD has said. |
48:9 "Give wings to Moab, For she will flee away; And her cities will become a desolation, Without inhabitants in them. |
48:10 "Cursed be the one who does the LORD'S work negligently, And cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood. |
48:11 "Moab has been at ease since his youth; He has also been undisturbed, {like wine} on its dregs, And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, And his aroma has not changed. |
48:12 "Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, "when I will send to him those who tip {vessels,} and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars." |
48:13 "And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. |
48:14 "How can you say, `We are mighty warriors, And men valiant for battle'? |
48:15 "Moab has been destroyed and men have gone up to his cities; His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter, Declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts." |
48:16 "The disaster of Moab will soon come, And his calamity has swiftly hastened. |
48:17 "Mourn for him, all you who {live} around him, Even all of you who know his name; Say, `How has the mighty scepter been broken, A staff of splendor!' |
48:18 "Come down from your glory And sit on the parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, He has ruined your strongholds. |
48:19 "Stand by the road and keep watch, O inhabitant of Aroer; Ask him who flees and her who escapes {And} say, `What has happened?' |
48:20 "Moab has been put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out; Declare by the Arnon That Moab has been destroyed. |
48:21 "Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, Jahzah and against Mephaath, |
48:22 against Dibon, Nebo and Beth-diblathaim, |
48:23 against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul and Beth-meon, |
48:24 against Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. |
48:25 "The horn of Moab has been cut off and his arm broken, declares the LORD." |
48:26 "Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant toward the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock. |
48:27 "Now was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Or was he caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you shake {your head in scorn.} |
48:28 "Leave the cities and dwell among the crags, O inhabitants of Moab, And be like a dove that nests Beyond the mouth of the chasm. |
48:29 "We have heard of the pride of Moab--he {is} very proud-- Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation. |
48:30 "I know his fury, declares the LORD, "But it is futile; His idle boasts have accomplished nothing." |
48:31 "Therefore I will wail for Moab, Even for all Moab will I cry out; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres. |
48:32 "More than the weeping for Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your tendrils stretched across the sea, They reached to the sea of Jazer; Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest The destroyer has fallen. |
48:33 "So gladness and joy are taken away From the fruitful field, even from the land of Moab. And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses; No one will tread {them} with shouting, The shouting will not be shouts {of joy.} |
48:34 "From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim {and to} Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate. |
48:35 "I will make an end of Moab, declares the LORD, "the one who offers {sacrifice} on the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods." |
48:36 "Therefore My heart wails for Moab like flutes; My heart also wails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced. |
48:37 "For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins. |
48:38 "On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel, declares the LORD." |
48:39 "How shattered it is! {How} they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back--he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an object of terror to all around him." |
48:40 For thus says the LORD: "Behold, one will fly swiftly like an eagle And spread out his wings against Moab. |
48:41 "Kerioth has been captured And the strongholds have been seized, So the hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day Will be like the heart of a woman in labor. |
48:42 "Moab will be destroyed from {being} a people Because he has become arrogant toward the LORD. |
48:43 "Terror, pit and snare are {coming} upon you, O inhabitant of Moab, declares the LORD." |
48:44 "The one who flees from the terror Will fall into the pit, And the one who climbs up out of the pit Will be caught in the snare; For I shall bring upon her, {even} upon Moab, The year of their punishment, declares the LORD." |
48:45 "In the shadow of Heshbon The fugitives stand without strength; For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon And a flame from the midst of Sihon, And it has devoured the forehead of Moab And the scalps of the riotous revelers. |
48:46 "Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; For your sons have been taken away captive And your daughters into captivity. |
48:47 "Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab In the latter days, declares the LORD. Thus far the judgment on Moab." |