Jeremiah 48:14-47

English Standard Version

¹⁴“How do you say, ‘We are heroes
    and mighty men of war’?
¹⁵The destroyer of ^(A)Moab and his cities has come up,
    and the choicest of his young men have ^(B)gone down to slaughter,
    declares ^(C)the King, ^(D)whose name is the Lord of hosts.
¹⁶The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
    and his affliction hastens swiftly.
¹⁷^(E)Grieve for him, all you who are around him,
    and all who know his name;
say, ^(F)‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
    the glorious staff.’

¹⁸^(G)“Come down from your glory,
    and sit on the parched ground,
    O inhabitant of ^(H)Dibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
    he has destroyed your strongholds.
¹⁹^(I)Stand by the way ^(J)and watch,
    O inhabitant of ^(K)Aroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
    say, ‘What has happened?’
²⁰Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
    ^(L)wail and cry!
Tell it beside ^(M)the Arnon,
    that ^(N)Moab is laid waste.

²¹“Judgment has come upon ^(O)the tableland, upon Holon, and ^(P)Jahzah, and Mephaath, ²²and ^(Q)Dibon, and ^(R)Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, ²³and ^(S)Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and ^(T)Beth-meon, ²⁴and ^(U)Kerioth, and ^(V)Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. ²⁵^(W)The horn of Moab is cut off, and ^(X)his arm is broken, declares the Lord.

²⁶^(Y)“Make him drunk, ^(Z)because he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall ^(AA)wallow in his vomit, ^(AB)and he too shall be held in derision. ²⁷^(AC)Was not Israel a derision to you? ^(AD)Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him ^(AE)you wagged your head?

²⁸^(AF)“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
    O inhabitants of Moab!
Be ^(AG)like the dove that nests
    in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
²⁹^(AH)We have heard of the pride of Moab—
    he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
    and the haughtiness of his heart.
³⁰I know his insolence, declares the Lord;
    ^(AI)his boasts are false,
    his deeds are false.
³¹^(AJ)Therefore I wail for Moab;
    I cry out for all Moab;
    for the men of ^(AK)Kir-hareseth I mourn.
³²More than for ^(AL)Jazer I weep for you,
    ^(AM)O vine of ^(AN)Sibmah!
^(AO)Your branches passed over the sea,
    reached to the Sea of ^(AP)Jazer;
on your summer fruits and your grapes
    the destroyer has fallen.
³³^(AQ)Gladness and joy have been taken away
    from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;
    no one treads them with shouts of joy;
    the shouting is not the shout of joy.

³⁴^(AR)“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to ^(AS)Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. ³⁵And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in ^(AT)the high place and makes offerings to his god. ³⁶Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of ^(AU)Kir-hareseth. ^(AV)Therefore the riches they gained have perished.

³⁷^(AW)“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. ^(AX)On all the hands are gashes, and ^(AY)around the waist is sackcloth. ³⁸On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like ^(AZ)a vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord. ³⁹How it is broken! How they wail! ^(BA)How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab ^(BB)has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”

⁴⁰For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, ^(BC)one shall fly swiftly like an eagle
    ^(BD)and spread his wings against Moab;
⁴¹^(BE)the cities shall be taken
    and the strongholds seized.
^(BF)The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day
    like the heart of ^(BG)a woman in her birth pains;
⁴²Moab shall be ^(BH)destroyed and be no longer a people,
    because ^(BI)he magnified himself against the Lord.
⁴³^(BJ)Terror, pit, and snare
    are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!
declares the Lord.
⁴⁴He who flees from the terror
    shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
    shall be caught in the snare.
^(BK)For I will bring these things upon Moab,
    the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.

⁴⁵“In the shadow of Heshbon
    fugitives stop without strength,
for fire came out from Heshbon,
    flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed ^(BL)the forehead of Moab,
    the crown of ^(BM)the sons of tumult.
⁴⁶^(BN)Woe to you, O Moab!
    The people of ^(BO)Chemosh are undone,
for your sons have been taken captive,
    and your daughters into captivity.
⁴⁷^(BP)Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
    in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.