48:1  Concerning Moab Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Woe to Nebo, for God has destroyed it; Kiriathaim has fallen into shame, it has fallen into captivity; The lofty stronghold has fallen into shame and shattered.

48:2  "No one praises for Moab no longer; In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her: 'Come and let us cut her off from existing a nation!' You too, Madmen, will fall into silence; The sword will follow after you.

48:3  "The sound of an outcry from Horonaim, 'Devastation and great destruction!'

48:4  "Moab has 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 resemble a juniper in the wilderness.

48:7  "For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures, Even you yourself will fall into captivity; 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 fall into ruin And the plateau will suffer destruction, 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  " God will curse the one who does His work negligently, And will curse the one who restrains his sword from blood.

48:11  "Moab has remained at ease since his youth; He has also remained undisturbed, like wine on its dregs, And he has not become 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 will come," 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 feel shame because of Chemosh, as the house of Israel felt shame because of Bethel, their confidence.

48:14  "How can you say, 'We serve as mighty warriors, And men valiant for battle'?

48:15  "Moab has fallen into destruction and men have gone up to his cities; His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter," Declares the King, who has the name of 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 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 fallen into shame, for it has shattered. Wail and cry out; Declare by the Arnon That Moab has become 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 God has cut off the horn of Moab and has broken his arm ," 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 did not Israel become a laughingstock to you? Or did he catch you 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 resemble a dove that nests Beyond the mouth of the chasm.

48:29  " We have heard of the pride of Moab--he has become very proud-- Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation.

48:30  "I know his fury," declares the LORD, "But it has become 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 I have 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 emanate from 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 has become bald and every beard cut short; gashes have appeared on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins.

48:38  "On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets we hear lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel," declares the LORD.

48:39  "How shattered it has become! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back--he feels shame! 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 fallen into captivity And the enemies have seized the strongholds , So the hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day Will resemble the heart of a woman in labor.

48:42  "Moab will suffer destruction from existing as a people Because he has become arrogant toward the LORD.

48:43  " Terror, pit and snare will come 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 become 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 fallen into captivity 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