The city of Ar in Moab is destroyed.
    It happened in a single night.
Kir in Moab is also destroyed.
    It happened in a single night.
² The people of Dibon go up to their temple to worship.
    They go to their high places to weep.
    The people of Moab cry over the cities of Nebo and Medeba.
All their heads are shaved.
    All their beards have been cut off.
³ In the streets they wear the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad.
    On their roofs and in the market places
    all of them are crying.
They fall down flat with their faces toward the ground.
    And they weep.
⁴ The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out.
    Their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.
So the fighting men of Moab cry out.
    Their hearts are weak.

⁵ My heart cries out over Moab.
    Some who run away get as far as Zoar.
    Others run all the way to Eglath Shelishiyah.
Others go up the hill to Luhith.
    They are weeping as they go.
Still others travel the road to Horonaim.
    They sing a song of sadness because their town is being destroyed.
⁶ The waters at Nimrim are dried up.
    And so is the grass.
The plants have died.
    Nothing green is left.
⁷ The people are trying to escape
    through the Valley of the Poplar Trees.
They are carrying with them the wealth
    they have collected and stored up.
⁸ Their loud cries echo along the border of Moab.
    They reach as far as Eglaim.
    Their songs of sadness reach all the way to Beer Elim.
⁹ The waters of the city of Dimon are full of blood.
    But the Lord will bring even more trouble on Dimon.
He will bring lions against those who run away from Moab.
    They will also attack those who remain in the land.

16 People of Moab, send lambs as a gift
    to the ruler of Judah.
Send them from Sela.
    Send them across the desert.
    Send them to Mount Zion in the city of Jerusalem.
² The women of Moab are at the places
    where people go across the Arnon River.
They are like birds that flap their wings
    when they are pushed from their nest.

³ The Moabites say to the rulers of Judah,
    “Make up your mind. Make a decision.
Cover us with your shadow.
    Make it like night even at noon.
Hide those of us who are running away.
    Don’t turn them over to their enemies.
⁴ Let those who have run away from Moab stay with you.
    Keep them safe from those who are trying to destroy them.”

Those who crush others will be destroyed.
    The killing will stop.
    The attackers will disappear from the earth.
⁵ A man from the royal house of David will sit on Judah’s throne.
    He will rule with faithful love.
When he judges he will do what is fair.
    He will be quick to do what is right.

⁶ We have heard all about Moab’s pride.
    We have heard how very proud they are.
    They think they are so much better than others.
They brag about themselves.
    But all their bragging is nothing but empty words.

⁷ So the people of Moab cry out.
    All of them cry over their country.
Sing a song of sadness.
    Weep that you can no longer enjoy the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.
⁸ The fields of Heshbon dry up.
    So do the vines of Sibmah.
The rulers of the nations
    have walked all over its finest vines.
Those vines once reached as far as Jazer.
    They spread out toward the desert.
Their new growth went
    all the way to the Dead Sea.
⁹ Jazer weeps for the vines of Sibmah.
    And so do I.
Heshbon and Elealeh,
    I soak you with my tears!
There isn’t any ripe fruit for people to shout about.
    There isn’t any harvest to make them happy.
¹⁰ Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards.
    No one sings or shouts in the vineyards.
No one stomps on grapes at the winepresses.
    That’s because the Lord has put an end to the shouting.
¹¹ My heart mourns over Moab like a song of sadness played on a harp.
    Deep down inside me I mourn over Kir Hareseth.
¹² Moab’s people go to their high place to pray.
    But all they do is wear themselves out.
    Their god Chemosh can’t help them at all.

“Damascus will not be a city anymore.
    Instead, all its buildings will be knocked down.
² The cities of Aroer will be deserted.
    They will be left to the flocks that lie down there.
    No one will make them afraid.
³ Ephraim’s people will no longer have cities with high walls around them.
    Royal power will disappear from Damascus.
Those who are left alive in Aram
    will be like the glory of the people of Israel,”
    announces the Lord who rules over all.

⁴ “In days to come, the glory of Jacob’s people will fade.
    Their strength will get weaker and weaker.
⁵ It will be as when workers cut and gather grain
    in the Valley of Rephaim.
They gather up stalks in their arms.
    Only a few heads of grain are left.
⁶ In the same way, only a few people will be left alive.
    It will be as when workers knock olives off the trees.
Only two or three olives are left on the highest branches.
    Four or five at most are left on the limbs that produce fruit,”
    announces the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁷ In days to come, people will look to their Maker for help.
    They will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
⁸ They won’t trust in the altars
    they made with their own hands.
They won’t pay any attention to the poles they used
    to worship the female god named Asherah.
And they won’t depend on the incense altars
    they made with their own fingers.

¹⁰ Israel, you have forgotten God, who saves you.
    You have not remembered the Rock, who keeps you safe.
You might set out the finest plants.
    You might plant vines from other lands.
¹¹ The plants might start to grow on the day you set them out.
    The vines might begin to bud on the morning you plant them.
But even if they do, there won’t be any harvest.
    Instead, there will be sickness and pain that won’t go away.

¹² How terrible it will be for the nations that attack us!
    The noise of their armies is like the sound of the ocean.
How terrible it will be for the nations who fight against us!
    They are as loud as huge waves crashing on the shore.
¹³ They sound like the roar of rushing waters.
    But when the Lord speaks out against them, they run far away.
The wind blows them away like straw on the hills.
    A strong wind drives them along like tumbleweeds.
¹⁴ In the evening, the nations terrify us.
    But before morning comes, they are gone.
That’s what happens to those who steal our goods.
    That’s what happens to those who take what belongs to us.

Messengers, hurry back home!
    Go back to your people,
    who are tall and have smooth skin.
Everyone is afraid of them.
    They are warriors whose language is different from ours.
    Their land is divided up by rivers.

³ Pay attention, all you people of the world!
    Listen, all you who live on earth!
Banners will be lifted up on the mountains.
    And you will see them.
Trumpets will be blown.
    And you will hear them.
⁴ The Lord says to me,
    “I will look down from heaven, where I live.
I will be as quiet as summer heat in the sunshine.
    I will be as quiet as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
⁵ A farmer cuts off new growth with pruning knives.
    He cuts down spreading branches and takes them away.
He does it before the grapes are harvested.
    That’s when the blooms are gone and the grapes are ripe.
In the same way, the Lord will cut off the nations
    that are gathered against his people.
⁶ Their dead bodies will be left for the birds of the mountains to eat.
    They will be left for the wild animals.
The birds will eat the dead bodies all summer long.
    The wild animals will eat them all through the winter.

The people who are tall and have smooth skin will bring them.
    Everyone is afraid of those people.
They are warriors whose language is different from ours.
    Their land is divided up by rivers.

⁶ God, break the teeth in the mouths of those sinners!
    Lord, tear out the sharp teeth of those lions!
⁷ Let those people disappear like water that flows away.
    When they draw their bows, let their arrows fall short of the target.
⁸ Let them be like a slug that melts away as it moves along.
    Let them be like a baby that is born dead and never sees the sun.

⁹ Evil people will be swept away before burning thorns can heat a pot.
    And it doesn’t matter if the thorns are green or dry.
¹⁰ Godly people will be glad when those who have hurt them are paid back.
    They will dip their feet in the blood of those who do evil.
¹¹ Then people will say,
    “The godly will get their reward.
    There really is a God who judges the earth.”