VerseAI

NIV

Jeremiah 48

  1. 1<pb/>Concerning Moab: <pb/>This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: <pb/><t>“Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined.</t> <t>Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured;</t> <t>the stronghold<f>[96]</f> will be disgraced and shattered.</t>
  2. 2<t>Moab will be praised no more;</t> <t>in Heshbon<f>[97]</f> people will plot her downfall:</t> <t>‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’</t> <t>You, the people of Madmen,<f>[98]</f> will also be silenced;</t> <t>the sword will pursue you.</t>
  3. 3<t>Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim,</t> <t>cries of great havoc and destruction.</t>
  4. 4<t>Moab will be broken;</t> <t>her little ones will cry out.<f>[99]</f></t>
  5. 5<t>They go up the hill to Luhith,</t> <t>weeping bitterly as they go;</t> <t>on the road down to Horonaim</t> <t>anguished cries over the destruction are heard.</t>
  6. 6<t>Flee! Run for your lives;</t> <t>become like a bush<f>[100]</f> in the desert.</t>
  7. 7<t>Since you trust in your deeds and riches,</t> <t>you too will be taken captive,</t> <t>and Chemosh will go into exile,</t> <t>together with his priests and officials.</t>
  8. 8<t>The destroyer will come against every town,</t> <t>and not a town will escape.</t> <t>The valley will be ruined</t> <t>and the plateau destroyed,</t> <t>because the LORD has spoken.</t>
  9. 9<t>Put salt on Moab,</t> <t>for she will be laid waste<f>[101]</f>;</t> <t>her towns will become desolate,</t> <t>with no one to live in them. <pb/></t>
  10. 10<t>“A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the LORD’s work!</t> <t>A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed! <pb/></t>
  11. 11<t>“Moab has been at rest from youth,</t> <t>like wine left on its dregs,</t> <t>not poured from one jar to another—</t> <t>she has not gone into exile.</t> <t>So she tastes as she did,</t> <t>and her aroma is unchanged.</t>
  12. 12<t>But days are coming,”</t> <t>declares the LORD,</t> <t>“when I will send men who pour from pitchers,</t> <t>and they will pour her out;</t> <t>they will empty her pitchers</t> <t>and smash her jars.</t>
  13. 13<t>Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,</t> <t>as Israel was ashamed</t> <t>when they trusted in Bethel. <pb/></t>
  14. 14<t>“How can you say, ‘We are warriors,</t> <t>men valiant in battle’?</t>
  15. 15<t>Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded;</t> <t>her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,”</t> <t>declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.</t>
  16. 16<t>“The fall of Moab is at hand;</t> <t>her calamity will come quickly.</t>
  17. 17<t>Mourn for her, all who live around her,</t> <t>all who know her fame;</t> <t>say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter,</t> <t>how broken the glorious staff!’ <pb/></t>
  18. 18<t>“Come down from your glory</t> <t>and sit on the parched ground,</t> <t>you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon,</t> <t>for the one who destroys Moab</t> <t>will come up against you</t> <t>and ruin your fortified cities.</t>
  19. 19<t>Stand by the road and watch,</t> <t>you who live in Aroer.</t> <t>Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,</t> <t>ask them, ‘What has happened?’</t>
  20. 20<t>Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.</t> <t>Wail and cry out!</t> <t>Announce by the Arnon</t> <t>that Moab is destroyed.</t>
  21. 21<t>Judgment has come to the plateau—</t> <t>to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,</t>
  22. 22<t>to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,</t>
  23. 23<t>to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,</t>
  24. 24<t>to Kerioth and Bozrah—</t> <t>to all the towns of Moab, far and near.</t>
  25. 25<t>Moab’s horn<f>[102]</f> is cut off;</t> <t>her arm is broken,”</t> <t>declares the LORD. <pb/></t>
  26. 26<t>“Make her drunk,</t> <t>for she has defied the LORD.</t> <t>Let Moab wallow in her vomit;</t> <t>let her be an object of ridicule.</t>
  27. 27<t>Was not Israel the object of your ridicule?</t> <t>Was she caught among thieves,</t> <t>that you shake your head in scorn</t> <t>whenever you speak of her?</t>
  28. 28<t>Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks,</t> <t>you who live in Moab.</t> <t>Be like a dove that makes its nest</t> <t>at the mouth of a cave. <pb/></t>
  29. 29<t>“We have heard of Moab’s pride—</t> <t>how great is her arrogance!—</t> <t>of her insolence, her pride, her conceit</t> <t>and the haughtiness of her heart.</t>
  30. 30<t>I know her insolence but it is futile,”</t> <t>declares the LORD,</t> <t>“and her boasts accomplish nothing.</t>
  31. 31<t>Therefore I wail over Moab,</t> <t>for all Moab I cry out,</t> <t>I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.</t>
  32. 32<t>I weep for you, as Jazer weeps,</t> <t>you vines of Sibmah.</t> <t>Your branches spread as far as the sea<f>[103]</f>;</t> <t>they reached as far as<f>[104]</f> Jazer.</t> <t>The destroyer has fallen</t> <t>on your ripened fruit and grapes.</t>
  33. 33<t>Joy and gladness are gone</t> <t>from the orchards and fields of Moab.</t> <t>I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses;</t> <t>no one treads them with shouts of joy.</t> <t>Although there are shouts,</t> <t>they are not shouts of joy. <pb/></t>
  34. 34<t>“The sound of their cry rises</t> <t>from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz,</t> <t>from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah,</t> <t>for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.</t>
  35. 35<t>In Moab I will put an end</t> <t>to those who make offerings on the high places</t> <t>and burn incense to their gods,”</t> <t>declares the LORD.</t>
  36. 36<t>“So my heart laments for Moab like the music of a pipe;</t> <t>it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth.</t> <t>The wealth they acquired is gone.</t>
  37. 37<t>Every head is shaved</t> <t>and every beard cut off;</t> <t>every hand is slashed</t> <t>and every waist is covered with sackcloth.</t>
  38. 38<t>On all the roofs in Moab</t> <t>and in the public squares</t> <t>there is nothing but mourning,</t> <t>for I have broken Moab</t> <t>like a jar that no one wants,”</t> <t>declares the LORD.</t>
  39. 39<t>“How shattered she is! How they wail!</t> <t>How Moab turns her back in shame!</t> <t>Moab has become an object of ridicule,</t> <t>an object of horror to all those around her.”</t>
  40. 40<pb/>This is what the LORD says: <pb/><t>“Look! An eagle is swooping down,</t> <t>spreading its wings over Moab.</t>
  41. 41<t>Kerioth<f>[105]</f> will be captured</t> <t>and the strongholds taken.</t> <t>In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors</t> <t>will be like the heart of a woman in labor.</t>
  42. 42<t>Moab will be destroyed as a nation</t> <t>because she defied the LORD.</t>
  43. 43<t>Terror and pit and snare await you,</t> <t>you people of Moab,”</t> <t>declares the LORD.</t>
  44. 44<t>“Whoever flees from the terror</t> <t>will fall into a pit,</t> <t>whoever climbs out of the pit</t> <t>will be caught in a snare;</t> <t>for I will bring on Moab</t> <t>the year of her punishment,”</t> <t>declares the LORD. <pb/></t>
  45. 45<t>“In the shadow of Heshbon</t> <t>the fugitives stand helpless,</t> <t>for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,</t> <t>a blaze from the midst of Sihon;</t> <t>it burns the foreheads of Moab,</t> <t>the skulls of the noisy boasters.</t>
  46. 46<t>Woe to you, Moab!</t> <t>The people of Chemosh are destroyed;</t> <t>your sons are taken into exile</t> <t>and your daughters into captivity. <pb/></t>
  47. 47<t>“Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab</t> <t>in days to come,”</t> <t>declares the LORD.</t> <pb/>Here ends the judgment on Moab.