Jeremiah 48

1 Of Moab. Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Woe to Nebo! For it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is put to shame; it is taken. Misgab is put to shame and broken down.

2 The praise of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. Thou also, O madmen, shall be brought to silence. The sword shall pursue thee.

3 The sound of a cry from Horonaim: Desolation and great destruction!

4 Moab is destroyed. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.

5 For they shall go up by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping, for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.

6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

7 For, because thou have trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou also shall be taken. And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his rulers together.

8 And the destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape. The valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as Jehovah has spoken.

9 Give wings to Moab, that she may fly and get her away. And her cities shall become a desolation, without any to dwell therein.

10 Cursed be he who does the work of Jehovah negligently, and cursed be he who keeps back his sword from blood.

11 Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.

12 Therefore, behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will send to him those who pour off, and they shall pour him off. And they shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces.

13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.

14 How can ye say, We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?

15 Moab is laid waste, and they have gone up into his cities. And his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter, says the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts.

16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hastens fast.

17 All ye who are round about him, bemoan him, and all ye who know his name, say, How the strong staff has broken, the beautiful rod!

18 O thou daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst, for the destroyer of Moab has come up against thee. He has destroyed thy strongholds.

19 O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and watch. Ask him who flees, and her who escapes. Say, What has been done?

20 Moab is put to shame, for it is broken down. Wail and cry, tell ye it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.

21 And judgment has come upon the plain country: upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath,

22 and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim,

23 and upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon,

24 and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.

25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says Jehovah.

26 Make ye him drunken, for he magnified himself against Jehovah. And Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.

27 For was not Israel a derision to thee? Was he found among thieves? For as often as thou speak of him, thou wag the head.

28 O ye inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of an abyss.

29 We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud, his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.

30 I know his wrath, says Jehovah, that it is nothing. His boastings have wrought nothing.

31 Therefore I will wail for Moab, yea, I will cry out for all Moab. For they shall mourn the men of Kir-heres.

32 With more than the weeping of Jazer I will weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah. Thy branches passed over the sea. They reached even to the sea of Jazer. The destroyer has fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.

33 And gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab. And I have caused wine to cease from the winepresses. None shall tread with shouting. The shouting shall be no shouting.

34 From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolate.

35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, says Jehovah, him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods.

36 Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like pipes, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore the abundance that he has gotten is perished.

37 For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. Upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.

38 On all the housetops of Moab and in the streets thereof there is lamentation everywhere. For I have broken Moab like a vessel of which none delights, says Jehovah.

39 How it is broken down! How they do wail! How Moab has turned the back with shame! So Moab shall become a derision and a horror to all who are round about him.

40 For thus says Jehovah: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread out his wings against Moab.

41 Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Jehovah.

43 Fear and the pit and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, says Jehovah.

44 He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, and he who gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare. For I will bring upon him, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, says Jehovah.

45 Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon. For a fire has gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.

46 Woe to thee, O Moab! The people of Chemosh is undone, for thy sons are taken away captive, and thy daughters into captivity.

47 Yet I will bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days, says Jehovah. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.