Jeremiah 48
1 Against Moab, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe upon Nebo! For it has been devastated and confounded. Kiriathaim has been seized; the strong one has been confounded and has trembled.
Against Moab. Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Woe unto Nebo! for it is wasted; made ashamed, captured is Kiryathayim; made ashamed is Misgab and dismayed.
2 There is no longer any rejoicing in Moab over Heshbon. They have devised evil. ‘Come and let us destroy it as a nation.’ Then you will be utterly silenced, and the sword will pursue you.
There is no more praise of Moab: in Cheshbon have they devised evil against it, “Come, and let us cut it off from being a nation.” Also thou Madmen shalt be ruined; after thee shall pursue the sword.
3 A voice of clamor from Horonaim: devastation and great destruction!
There is a voice of crying from Choronayim, destruction and a great breach.
4 Moab has been crushed. Announce an outcry for her little ones.
Broken down is Moab: her little ones send forth a cry of distress.
5 For, along the ascent of Luhith, the mourner will ascend with weeping. For, on the descent of Horonaim, the enemies have heard the wailing of devastation.
For the ascent of Luchith is ascended with weeping and tears; for on the descent of Choronayim the enemies have heard the cry of destruction.
6 Flee, save your lives! And you shall be like a saltcedar tree in the desert.
Flee, save your life, and be ye like the solitary tree in the wilderness.
7 For because you have had faith in your fortifications and in your storehouses, you too will be seized. And Chemosh will go into captivity: his priests and his leaders together.
For, because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou also shalt be conquered: and Kemosh shall go forth into exile, [with] his priests and his princes together.
8 And the despoiler will overwhelm every city, and not a single city will be saved. And the valleys will perish, and the fields will be destroyed. For the Lord has spoken.
And the water shall come over every city, and no city shall escape: and lost shall be the valley, and destroyed shall be the plain, as the Lord hath said.
9 Give a blossom to Moab. For it will depart when it is blossoming. And its cities will become desolate and uninhabited.
Give wings unto Moab, that she may flee and get away; since her cities shall become desolate, without any to dwell therein.
10 Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully. And cursed is he who prohibits his sword from blood.
Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord negligently, and cursed be he that withholdeth his sword from blood.
11 Moab has been fertile from his youth, and he has rested amid his brood. And he has not been transferred from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into the transmigration. Therefore, his taste has remained with him, and his scent has not changed.
Moab was ever at ease from his youth, and he was resting on his lees, and was not emptied from vessel to vessel, and had not gone into exile: therefore had his taste remained in him, and his scent was not changed.
12 Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will send to him those who will line up and knock down his bottles, and they will knock him down and empty his vessels, and they will break their bottles against one another.
Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith the Lord, when I will send unto him tappers, that shall tap him, and they shall empty his vessels, and dash in pieces their bottles.
13 And Moab will be confounded by Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was shamed by Bethel, in which they had faith.
And Moab shall be ashamed of Kemosh, as the house of Israel were made ashamed because of Beth-el their confidence.
14 How can you say: ‘We are strong and robust men of battle?’
How can ye say, We are mighty and men of bravery for the war?
15 Moab has been devastated, and they have cut down her cities. And her elect young men have descended to slaughter. So says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
Moab is wasted, and into his cities hath [the enemy] ascended, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, the Lord of hosts is his name.
16 The passing away of Moab draws near and arrives. Its evil will rush forward with great speed.
Near is the calamity of Moab to come, and his misfortune hasteneth fast.
17 Console him, all you who surround him and all you who know his name. Say: ‘How has the strong staff become broken, the glorious staff?’
All ye that are about him bemoan him; and all ye that know his name: say, How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful stick!
18 Descend from your glory, and sit in thirst, O habitation of the daughter of Dibon! For the destroyer of Moab has ascended to you; he has dissipated your fortifications.
Come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst, thou inhabitress, daughter of Dibon; for the waster of Moab cometh up against thee, he destroyeth thy strong-holds.
19 Stand in the way, and gaze out, O habitation of Aroer! Question him who is fleeing, and say to him who has escaped: ‘What has happened?’
Stand by the way, and look out, O inhabitress of 'Aro'er: ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, say, What hath been done?
20 Moab has been confounded, because he has been conquered. Wail and cry out! Announce it in Arnon: Moab has been devastated,
Moab hath been made ashamed; for it is broken down; wail, and cry aloud: tell ye it by the Arnon, that Moab is wasted,
21 and judgment has arrived upon the land of the plains: upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath,
And punishment is come over the land of the plain, over Cholon, and over Yahzah, and over Mepha'ath,
22 and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon the house of Deblathaim,
And over Dibon, and over Nebo, and over Beth-diblathayim,
23 and upon Kiriathaim, and upon the house of Gamul, and upon the house of Meon,
And over Kiryathayim, and over Beth-gamul, and over Beth-me'on,
24 and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, those far away and those nearby.
And over Keriyoth, and over Bozrah, and over all the cities of the land of Moab, that are far and that are near.
25 The horn of Moab has been cut away, and his arm has been crushed, says the Lord.
Hewn away is the horn of Moab, and his arm is broken, saith the Lord.
26 Inebriate him, for he has lifted himself up against the Lord. And Moab will thrust his hand into his own vomit, and also now he himself will become a derision.
Make him drunken; for he magnified himself against the Lord: and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall become [an object] of derision.
27 For Israel had been a derision to them. It was as if you had discovered him among thieves. Because of your own words, then, which you have spoken against him, you will be led away captive.
For was not Israel a derision unto thee? or was he found among thieves? that whenever thou spokest of him, thou hadst to shake [thy head]?
28 Relinquish the cities, and live upon a rock, O inhabitants of Moab, and be like a dove nesting at the mouth of an opening at the summit.
Leave the cities, and dwell on rocks, O ye that dwell in Moab; and be ye like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the mouth of rocky clefts.
29 We have listened to the arrogance of Moab; he is very proud: his exaltation, and arrogance, and pride, and the loftiness of his heart.
We have heard the pride of Moab, who is so exceedingly proud, his haughtiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the overbearingness of his heart.
30 I myself know, says the Lord, his boasting, and that his ability is not in accord with it, nor is it in accord with what he has been striving to do.
I will know, saith the Lord, his wrath, and how causeless it is: his liars have done what is not right.
31 For this reason, I will wail over Moab, and I will cry out to all of Moab, to the men on the brick wall who are lamenting.
Therefore will I wail for Moab, and for all Moab will I cry out; for the men of Kir-cheres shall people moan.
32 O vineyard of Sibmah, I will weep for you, with the mourning of Jazer. Your offshoots have crossed over the sea. They have reached even to the sea of Jazer. The despoiler has rushed over your harvest and your vintage.
With the weeping of Ya'zer will I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah; thy tendrils [once] passed over the sea, they reached as far as to the sea of Ya'zer: over thy summer-fruits and over thy vintage the waster is fallen.
33 Rejoicing and exultation has been taken away from Carmel and from the land of Moab. And I have taken the wine from the winepresses. The treader of grapes will no longer sing the usual rhythmic chant.
And banished are joy and gladness from Carmel, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused the wine to cease from the wine-presses; none shall tread the press with the vintner's call; battle cry—nor vintner's call.
34 From the outcry of Heshbon, even to Elealeh and Jahzah, they have uttered their voice; from Zoar, even to Horonaim, like a three year old calf. So too, the waters of Nimrim will be very bad.
From the loud cry of Cheshbon as far as El'aleh, even unto Yahaz, have they sent forth their voice, from Zo'ar even unto Choronayim, to the third 'Eglath; for the waters also of Nimrim shall become desolate.
35 And I will take away from Moab, says the Lord, the one who makes offerings in exalted places, and the one who sacrifices to his gods.
Moreover will I cause to cease unto Moab, saith the Lord, him that offereth on the high-places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.
36 Because of this, my heart will resound for Moab, like the pipes, and my heart will make a sound like the pipes for the men on the brick wall. For he has done more than he was able, yet still they have perished.
Therefore shall my heart groan for Moab like flutes, and my heart shall groan like flutes for the men of Kir-cheres; for the cause that the remnant of the riches he had gotten are lost.
37 For every head will be bald, and every beard will be shaved. All the hands will be bound together, and there will be haircloth on every back.
For every head is bald, and every beard is shorn: upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins is sackcloth.
38 Over all the rooftops of Moab, and in its streets, everyone will mourn. For I have crushed Moab like a useless vessel, says the Lord.
Upon all the roofs of Moab, and in her streets, there is everywhere lamentation; for I have broken Moab like a vessel which hath no value, saith the Lord.
39 How was it conquered, so that they would wail? How is it that Moab has cast down his neck and been confounded? And Moab will be a derision and an example to everyone around him.”
Oh, how is it broken down! wail! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! and Moab shall be a derision and a dismay to all those around him.
40 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, he will fly like the eagle, and he will extend his wings to Moab.
For thus hath said the Lord, Behold, as the eagle shall he fly, and he shall spread out his wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth has been captured, and the fortifications have been taken. And in that day, the heart of the strong ones of Moab will be like the heart of a woman giving birth.
Captured are the fortresses, and the strong-holds are conquered: and the heart of the mighty men of Moab shall be on that day as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42 And Moab will cease to be a people. For he has been glorified against the Lord.
And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people; because it hath magnified himself against the Lord.
43 Terror and the pit and the snare will overwhelm you, O inhabitant of Moab, says the Lord.
Terror, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord.
44 Whoever flees from the terror will fall into the pit. And whoever climbs out of the pit will be seized by the snare. For I will lead over Moab the year of their visitation, says the Lord.
He that fleeth from the terror shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be caught in the snare; for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.
45 Those fleeing from the snare stood in the shadow of Heshbon. For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and it will devour the portion of Moab, and the top of the head of the sons of tumult.
Under the shadow of Cheshbon stand still, deprived of strength, those that flee; but a fire cometh forth out of Cheshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sichon, and it devoureth the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the children of vaunting.
46 Woe to you, O Moab! You have been ruined, O people of Chemosh! For your sons and your daughters have been taken into captivity.
Woe unto thee, O Moab! lost is the people of Kemosh; for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters into captivity.
47 But I will convert the captivity of Moab in the last days, says the Lord.” Such are the judgments of Moab thus far.
Yet will I bring back again the captivity of Moab in the end of days, saith the Lord. Thus far is the punishment of Moab.
