Jeremiah 48
1 Concerning Moab: “Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Woe to Nebo, for it is spoiled, Kiriathaim has been captured [and] put to shame, The high tower has been put to shame, Indeed, it has been broken down.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Moab: Disaster is coming to the town of Nebo, because it will be destroyed. The town of Kiriathaim will be captured and humiliated; the fortress will be torn down and its people shamed.
2 There is no longer praise of Moab, In Heshbon they devised evil against her: Come, and we cut it off from [being] a nation, Also, O Madmen, you are cut off, A sword goes after you.
No one praises Moab anymore. People in Heshbon are plotting, “We will destroy Moab as a nation. People of the town of Madmen, we will silence you too—you will be attacked by swords and chased down.”
3 A voice of a cry [is] from Horonaim, Spoiling and great destruction.
Listen to the cries from Horonaim: “Violence and terrible destruction!”
4 Moab has been destroyed, Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
Moab will be smashed. Hear the little ones crying for help.
5 For the ascent of Luhith with weeping, Weeping goes up, For in the descent of Horonaim Adversaries have heard a cry of desolation.
People weep as they go up to Luhith; and as they come down to Horonaim their sad cries at the destruction echo around.
6 Flee, deliver yourselves, You are as a naked thing in a wilderness.
Run away! Save yourselves! Be like a scrawny tamarisk tree in the desert!
7 For because of your trusting in your works, And in your treasures, even you are captured, And Chemosh has gone out in a removal, His priests and his heads together.
It's because you put your confidence in what you do and what you own that you too will be captured. Your god Chemosh will be taken into exile along with his priests and leaders.
8 And a spoiler comes to every city, And no city escapes, And the valley has perished, And the plain has been destroyed, as YHWH said.
The invaders will attack every town; not a single one will escape destruction. The valley will be ruined, and the plain will be destroyed, for the Lord has spoken.
9 Give wings to Moab, that she may go forth and flee away, And her cities are for a desolation, Without an inhabitant in them.
Put up gravestones in Moab, because the country will become a wasteland. Its towns will be turned into ruins where no one lives.
10 Cursed [is] he who is doing the work of YHWH slothfully, And cursed [is] he Who is withholding his sword from blood.
A curse on those who don't do the Lord's work properly. A curse on those who don't use their swords to kill.
11 Moab is secure from his youth, And he [is] at rest for his preserved things, And he has not been emptied out from vessel to vessel, And he has not gone into captivity, Therefore his taste has remained in him, And his fragrance has not been changed.
The people of Moab have been living comfortably since the country was founded. They're like wine that hasn't been disturbed, not poured from one container to another. So the taste and fragrance remains the same. They haven't experienced exile.
12 Therefore, behold, days are coming, A declaration of YHWH, And I have sent wanderers to him, And they have caused him to wander, And they empty out his vessels, And they dash his bottles in pieces.
But watch out, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will send them “winemakers” who will pour them out like wine. They will empty out the Moabites, and smash them like jars.
13 And Moab has been ashamed because of Chemosh, As the house of Israel has been ashamed Because of Beth-El, their confidence.
Then the Moabites will feel let down by Chemosh, just as the people of Israel felt let down when they trusted in the golden calf idol at Bethel.
14 How do you say, We [are] mighty, And men of strength for battle?
How on earth can you Moabites say, “We're heroes, strong men ready to fight in battle”?
15 Moab is spoiled, and has gone up [from] her cities, And the choice of its young men Have gone down to slaughter, An affirmation of the King, YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name.
Moab is going to be destroyed and its towns conquered. Its finest young men will be killed, declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
16 The destruction of Moab is near to come, And his calamity has hurried exceedingly.
Moab's doom is about to happen; destruction is rushing down on them.
17 Bemoan for him, all you around him, And all knowing his name, say, How it has been broken, the staff of strength, The rod of beauty!
Mourn for them, all you surrounding nations, everyone who knows them! Let others know how the great scepter has been smashed, the rod that once proudly ruled!
18 Come down from glory, sit in thirst, O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon, For a spoiler of Moab has come up to you, He has destroyed your fortifications.
Come down from your glory and sit on the dusty ground, you who live in Dibon, for Moab's destroyer will come and attack you, destroying your fortresses.
19 Stand on the way, and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer, Ask the fugitive and escaped, Say, What has happened?
Stand at the roadside and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the men and women who are running away to escape, “What's happened?”
20 Moab has been put to shame, For it has been broken down, Howl and cry, declare in Arnon, For Moab is spoiled,
Moab has been humiliated because it has been defeated. Weep and wail! Shout out beside the River Arnon that Moab has been destroyed!
21 And judgment has come to the land of the plain—to Holon, And to Jahazah, and on Mephaath,
Punishment has arrived on the towns of the high plain—on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
22 And on Dibon, and on Nebo, And on Beth-Diblathaim, and on Kirathaim,
on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
23 And on Beth-Gamul, and on Beth-Meon,
on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
24 And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, And on all cities of the land of Moab, The far off and the near.
on Kerioth, Bozrah, and on all the towns of Moab, whether far away or nearby.
25 The horn of Moab has been cut down, And his arm has been broken, A declaration of YHWH.
Moab's strength is gone; their power has been broken, declares the Lord.
26 Declare him drunk, For he made himself great against YHWH And Moab has struck in his vomit, And he has been for a derision—even he.
Make the people of Moab drunk, because they defied the Lord. Then they will roll around in their own vomit, as people laugh at them.
27 And was Israel not the derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For since your words concerning him, You bemoan yourself.
Didn't you Moabites used to ridicule the Israelites? But they weren't ever found to be thieves, were they? Yet whenever you talk about them, you shake your heads in contempt.
28 Forsake cities, and dwell in a rock, You inhabitants of Moab, And be as a dove making a nest in the passages of a pit’s mouth.
You people living in Moab, run from your towns, go and live among the rocks. Be like a dove nesting on the cliffs at the entrance to a ravine.
29 We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, Exceedingly proud! His haughtiness, and his arrogance, And his pride, and the height of his heart,
We know all about how pompous Moabites are, how extremely proud and conceited they are, arrogantly thinking so highly of themselves.
30 I have known, a declaration of YHWH, His wrath, and [it is] not right, His boastings—they have done nothing right.
I'm well aware of how disrespectful they are, declares the Lord, but it doesn't matter. They make empty boasts, and what they do is just as empty.
31 Therefore I howl for Moab, even for Moab—all of it, I cry for men of Kir-Heres, it mourns,
So I will weep for Moab; I will cry out for all the Moabites; I will mourn for the people of Kir-heres.
32 With the weeping of Jazer, I weep for you, O vine of Sibmah, Your branches have passed over a sea, They have come to the Sea of Jazer, On your summer fruits, and on your harvest, A spoiler has fallen.
will weep for you, people of the town of Sibmah with its vineyards, more than I weep for the town of Jazer. Your vines have spread to the sea, and all the way to Jazer. But the destroyer has stolen your harvest of summer fruit and grapes.
33 And joy and gladness have been removed from the fruitful field, Even from the land of Moab, And I have caused wine to cease from winepresses, Shouting does not proceed, The shouting [is] not shouting!
There's no more celebration and happiness in Moab's orchards and fields. I have stopped the grape juice flowing from the winepresses. No one shouts for joy as they tread out the grapes. No, their shouts now are not because of joy!
34 Because of the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh, They have given their voice to Jahaz, From Zoar to Horonaim, A heifer of the third [year], For even [the] waters of Nimrim become desolations.
Cries for help reach from Heshbon to Elealeh and all the way to Jahaz. They're shouting out from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah, for even the water in the Nimrim Brook has dried up.
35 And I have caused to cease in Moab, A declaration of YHWH, Him who is offering in a high place, And him who is making incense to his god.
I'm going to finish off those in Moab who sacrifice on the pagan high places and burn incense to their gods, declares the Lord.
36 Therefore My heart sounds as pipes for Moab, And My heart sounds as pipes for men of Kir-Heres, Therefore the abundance he made perished.
So I mourn inside like a flute playing a sad song for Moab; like a flute playing a funeral tune for the people of Kir-heres, because they've lost everything of value that they worked for.
37 For every head [is] bald, and every beard diminished, On all hands—cuttings, and on the loins—sackcloth.
As signs of their mourning, every head is shaved, every beard is trimmed, every hand has a gash, and every waist is wearing sackcloth.
38 On all roofs of Moab, and in her broad-places, All of it—lamentation, For I have broken Moab as a vessel in which there is no pleasure,” A declaration of YHWH.
Everyone is mourning on all the flat roofs and streets of Moab, because I have smashed the country like a jar nobody wants, declares the Lord.
39 “How it has been broken down! They have howled, How Moab has turned the neck ashamed! And Moab has been for a derision And for a terror to all around her.”
Moab is completely shattered! Listen to them cry! See how the Moabites turn away in shame! All the surrounding nations are horrified at what's happened to the country, and ridicule its people.
40 For thus said YHWH: “Behold, he flees as an eagle, And has spread his wings to Moab.
This is what the Lord says: Watch as an enemy like an eagle swoops down, spreading its wings as it attacks Moab.
41 The cities have been captured, And the strongholds are caught, And the heart of the mighty of Moab Has been in that day as the heart of a distressed woman.
Kirioth has been conquered, and the fortresses captured. At that time Moab's warriors will be as scared as a woman in labor.
42 And Moab has been destroyed from [being] a people, For he exerted himself against YHWH.
Moab will cease to exist as a nation because they defied the Lord.
43 Fear, and a snare, and a trap, [are] for you, O inhabitant of Moab—a declaration of YHWH,
You people living in Moab, what's waiting for you are terror, traps, and snares, declares the Lord.
44 Whoever is fleeing because of the fear falls into the snare, And whoever is coming up from the snare is captured by the trap, For I bring to her—to Moab—The year of their inspection, A declaration of YHWH.
You will run away in terror and fall into a trap, and when you climb out of the trap, you'll be caught in a snare. I will do this to the Moabites at the time when they're punished, declares the Lord.
45 In the shadow of Heshbon fugitives have stood powerless, For fire has gone forth from Heshbon, And a flame from within Sihon, And it consumes the corner of Moab, And the crown of the sons of Shaon.
Those who run away will be left defenseless in Heshbon where they went for protection, because fire blazes out from Heshbon, a fire from where Sihon once reigned. It burns up the whole country of Moab and its defiant people.
46 Woe to you, O Moab, The people of Chemosh have perished, For your sons were taken with the captives, And your daughters with the captivity.
What a disaster has come to you Moabites! The people of Chemosh have been wiped out. Your sons and daughters have been taken prisoner and have gone into exile.
47 And I have turned back [to] the captivity of Moab, In the latter end of the days,” A declaration of YHWH! “Until now [is] the judgment of Moab.”
But even so, later on, I will bring the people of Moab back from exile, declares the Lord. This is the end of the description of the judgment on Moab.
