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."