Jeremiah 48

1. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, against Moab, “Woe to Nebo, for it is ravaged! Kirjathaim is shamed and captured. The fortress is shamed and razed.

2. There shall be no more praise of Moab. In Heshbon they have plotted evil against it, saying, ‘Come and let us cut it off from being a nation.’ Also you shall be silenced, O madmen; the sword shall pursue you.

3. A voice of crying shall be heard from Horonaim, ‘Plundering and great destruction.’

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

5. For by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping they shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim they have heard the anguish cry of destruction.

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

7. For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you shall also be captured. And Chemosh shall go into exile with his priests and his rulers.

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

9. Give wings to Moab so that it may flee and get away; for its cities shall be desolate, without an inhabitant in them.

10. Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed is 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 exile. Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.

12. Therefore behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will send pourers to him, who shall tilt him up, and they shall empty his vessels and shatter their jars.

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

14. How do you say, ‘We are mighty and strong men for war’?

15. Moab is plundered and men have come up to her cities. And his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King Whose name is the LORD of hosts.

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

17. All of you who are around him, mourn for him. And all of you who know his name, say, ‘How the strong scepter is broken, the glorious staff!’

18. O daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory and sit in thirst. For the destroyer of Moab shall come upon you; he shall destroy your strongholds.

19. O dweller of Aroer, stand by the way and watch. Ask him who flees and her who escapes; say, ‘What is happening?’

20. Moab is put to shame, for it is broken down. Howl and cry! Tell it in Arnon that Moab is stripped.

21. And judgment has come on the plain country; on Holon, and on Jahzah, and on Mephaath,

22. And on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth Diblathaim,

23. And on Kirjathaim, and on Beth Gamul, and on Beth Meon,

24. And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on 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 the LORD.

26. “Make him drunk, for he magnified himself against the LORD. Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be a mockery.

27. For was not Israel a mockery to you? Was he found among thieves? For as often as you speak of him, you shake your head in scorn.

28. O you who dwell in Moab, leave the cities and live in the rocks, and be like the dove making her nest in the sides of the mouth of the pit.

29. We have heard the pride of Moab (he is exceedingly proud), his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and his elevated heart.”

30. “I know his wrath,” says the LORD, “but it is futile; idle boasts accomplish nothing.

31. So I will wail for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab, and shall mourn for the men of Kir Heres.

32. O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer. Your plants have gone over the sea; they reach to the sea of Jazer. A destroyer has fallen on your summer fruits and on your grape crop.

33. And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab. And I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses; none shall tread the grapes with shouting; their shouting shall not be joyful shouting.

34. From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh, and to Jahaz, they have uttered their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, like a heifer three years old. For the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate.

35. And, I will cause him who offers sacrifices in the high places to cease in Moab,” says the LORD, “and him who burns incense to his gods.

36. Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir Heres because the riches that he has gotten have perished.

37. For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped. On all the hands shall be cuttings and on the loins sackcloth.

38. On all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets, there is weeping everywhere. For I have broken Moab like a vessel in which is no pleasure,” says the LORD.

39. “They shall howl, saying, ‘How is it broken down! How has Moab turned the back with shame!’ So Moab shall become a derision, and a dismay to all those around him.”

40. For thus says the LORD, “Behold, he shall fly like an eagle and shall spread his wings over Moab.

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

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

43. Terror, and the pit and the snare, shall be on you, O Moabite,” says the LORD.

44. “He who flees from the terror shall fall into the pit; and he who goes up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare. For I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their judgment,” says the LORD.

45. “In the shadow of Heshbon, the fugitives stand without strength, and a flame out of the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the foreheads of Moab and the noisy boasters.

46. Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perish; for your sons are taken away into exile, and your daughters into captivity.

47. But I will turn back the captivity of Moab in the latter days,” says the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.