48 To Moab, the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things. Woe on Nebo, for it is destroyed, and shamed; Kiriathaim is taken (captive), the strong city is shamed, and trembled. (About Moab, the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith these things. Woe on Nebo, for it is destroyed; Kiriathaim is shamed, and taken captive; Misgab is shamed, and trembleth.)

² And full out joying is no more in Moab; they thought evil against Heshbon. Come ye, and lose we it from [the] folk. Therefore thou being still, [thou] shalt be stilled, and sword shall follow thee. (And rejoicing is no longer in Moab; they plotted evil against Heshbon. Come ye, and let us destroy them from being a nation. And so thou shalt be silenced, O town of Madmen, yea, the sword shall follow after thee.)

³ A voice of cry(ing) from Horonaim, destroying, and great sorrow.

⁴ Moab is defouled, tell ye [out the] cry to (the) little children thereof. (Moab is defiled, tell ye out the cry of its little children.)

⁵ For a man weeping, ascended with weeping, by the ascending of Luhith; for in the coming down of Horonaim, [the] enemies heard the yelling of (that) sorrow. (For people wept, as they went up by the ascent of Luhith; and on the coming down, or the descent, of Horonaim, their enemies heard their cries of distress.)

⁶ Flee ye, save ye your lives; and ye shall be as brooms in desert. (Flee ye, save ye your lives; and ye shall be like the heath in the wilderness.)

⁷ For that that thou haddest trust in thy strongholds, and in thy treasures, also thou shalt be taken. And Chemosh shall go into passing over, the priests thereof and the princes thereof together. (For that thou haddest trust in thy strongholds, and in thy treasures, thou also shalt be taken. And Chemosh shall go into captivity, its priests and its princes, or its leaders, together.)

⁸ And a robber shall come to each city, and no city shall be saved; and valleys shall perish, and field places shall be destroyed, for the Lord said.

⁹ Give ye the flower of Moab, for it shall go out flowering; and the cities thereof shall be forsaken, and unhabitable. (Give ye a flower to Moab, for it shall go out flowering; and its cities shall be deserted, and uninhabited.)

¹⁰ He is cursed, that doeth the work of God guilefully; and he is cursed, that forbiddeth his sword from blood. (He is cursed, who doeth the work of God deceitfully; and he is cursed, who forbiddeth his sword from blood.)

¹¹ Moab was plenteous from his young waxing age, and rested in his dregs, neither was shed out from vessel into vessel, and went not into passing over; therefore his taste dwelled in him, and his odour is not changed. (Moab hath lived safe and secure since his youth, and rested on his dregs, or on his lees, yea, he was not poured out from vessel to vessel, nor went into captivity; and so his taste stayed in him, and his odour was not changed.)

¹² Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall send to it ordainers, and arrayers of pottles; and they shall array it, and they shall waste the vessels thereof, and hurtle together the pottles of them. (And so lo! days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall send him ordainers, and arrayers of bottles, or of wine jars; and they shall array it, and they shall destroy its vessels, and hurtle together their bottles, or break their wine jars in pieces.)

¹³ And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, in which it had trust. (And Moab shall be shamed by Chemosh, like the house of Israel was shamed by Bethel, in which it had trust.)

¹⁴ How say ye, We be strong, and stalworthy men to fight? (How say ye, We be strong, and stalwart men for the fight?)

¹⁵ Moab is destroyed, and they have burnt the cities thereof, and the chosen young men thereof went down into slaying, saith the king, the Lord of hosts is his name. (Moab is destroyed, and they have burned down its cities, and its chosen young men were killed, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.)

¹⁶ The perishing of Moab is nigh, that it come, and the evil thereof runneth full swiftly. (The perishing of Moab is near at hand, and its evil runneth very quickly.)

¹⁷ All ye that be in the compass thereof, comfort it; and all ye that know the name thereof, say, How is the strong rod broken, the glorious staff? (All ye who be around it, comfort it; and all ye who know its name, say, How the strong rod is broken, yea, the glorious staff!)

¹⁸ Thou dwelling of the daughter of Dibon, go down from glory, sit thou in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab shall ascend to thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds. (Thou daughter who liveth in Dibon, go down from thy glory, sit thou in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab shall come to thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds.)

¹⁹ Thou dwelling of Aroer, stand in the way, and behold; ask thou him that fleeth, and him that escaped; say thou, What befell? (Thou inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and look; ask thou him who fleeth, and him who escaped; say thou, What happened?)

²⁰ Moab is shamed, for he is overcome; yell ye, and cry; tell ye (out) in Arnon, that Moab is destroyed.

²¹ And doom is come to the land of the field (And judgement hath come to the land of the field, or to the plateau), (yea,) on Holon, and on Jahazah, and on Mephaath,

²² and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on the house of Diblathaim (and on Bethdiblathaim),

²³ and on Kiriathaim, and on Bethgamul, and on Bethmeon,

²⁴ and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, that be far, and that be nigh. (and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities in the land of Moab, that be far away, and that be near.)

²⁵ The horn of Moab is cut away, and the arm thereof is all-broken, saith the Lord.

²⁶ Fill ye him greatly, for he is raised (up) against the Lord; and he shall hurtle down the hand of Moab in his spewing, and he also shall be into scorn.

²⁷ For why, Israel, he was into scorn to thee, as if thou haddest found him among thieves; therefore for thy words which thou spakest against him, thou shalt be led (away as a) prisoner.

²⁸ Ye dwellers of Moab, forsake cities, and dwell in the stone, and be ye as a culver making nest in the highest mouth of an hole. (Ye inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and live among the stones, and be ye like a dove making her nest in the highest mouth of a hole in the wall of the cliff.)

²⁹ We have heard the pride of Moab; he is full proud. I know, saith the Lord, the highness thereof, and pride in word, and pride in bearing, and the highness of heart, (We have heard of the pride of Moab; yea, he is very proud. I know his highness, saith the Lord, and his pride in words, and his pride in bearing, and the highness of his heart,)

³⁰ and the boast thereof, and that the virtue thereof is not nigh, either like it, neither it enforced to do after that that it might. (and his boasting, and that his virtue, if any, is far from apparent, and that he hath not endeavoured to do what he should do.)

³¹ Therefore I shall wail on Moab, and I shall cry to all Moab, to the men of the earthen wall, that wail. (And so I shall wail for Moab, and I shall cry for all of Moab, and I shall wail for the people of Kirheres.)

³² Of the wailing of Jazer I shall weep to thee, thou vine of Sibmah (Thou vine of Sibmah, I shall weep for thee more than my wailing for Jazer); thy scions passed (over) the sea, those came unto the sea of Jazer; a robber fell in on thy ripe corn, and on thy vintage.

³³ Full out joy and gladness is taken away from Carmel, and from the land of Moab, and I have taken away wine from [the] pressers; a stamper of [the] grape shall not sing a customable merry song. (Rejoicing and happiness is taken away from the plentiful land, and from the land of Moab, and I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses; yea, a stamper of the grapes shall not sing the customary happy song.)

³⁴ Of the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh and (unto) Jahaz they gave their voice, from Zoar unto Horonaim (like) a cow calf of three years; forsooth the waters of Nimrim shall be full evil. (The people of Heshbon and of Elealeh cry out, and their voices have gone unto Jahaz, and unto Zoar, and unto Horonaim, and even unto Eglath Shelishiyah; for the waters of Nimrim have become evil, and have all dried up.)

³⁵ And I shall take away from Moab, saith the Lord, him that offereth in high places, and him that maketh sacrifice to the gods thereof. (And I shall take away from Moab, saith the Lord, those who offer at the hill shrines, and who make sacrifices to their gods.)

³⁶ Therefore mine heart shall sound as a pipe of brass to Moab, and mine heart shall give (the) sound of pipes to the men of the earthen wall; for it did more than it might, therefore they perished. (And so my heart shall sound like a brass pipe for Moab, and like funeral pipes for the people of Kirheres; for all their riches have perished.)

³⁷ For why (on) each head shall be baldness, and each beard shall be shaved; in all hands shall be binding together (and all hands shall be cut and gouged), and an hair-shirt shall be on each back.

³⁸ And all wailing shall be on all the roofs of Moab, and in the streets thereof, for I have all-broken Moab as an unprofitable vessel, saith the Lord. (And only wailing shall be on all of Moab’s rooftops, and in its streets, for I have broken Moab in pieces, like a useless vessel, saith the Lord.)

³⁹ How is it overcome, and they yelled? how hath Moab cast down the noll, and is shamed? And Moab shall be into scorn, and into ensample to all men in his compass. (And they shall yell, How it is overcome! how Moab hath cast down its head, and is shamed! And Moab shall be mocked, and made an example to all the people around it.)

⁴⁰ The Lord saith these things, Lo! as an eagle he shall fly out, and he shall stretch forth his wings to Moab. (The Lord saith these things, Lo! he shall fly out like an eagle, and he shall stretch out his wings over Moab.)

⁴¹ Kerioth is taken, and strongholds be taken; and the heart of strong men of Moab shall be in that day, as the heart of a woman travailing of child. (Yea, Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds be taken; and the hearts of Moab’s strong men shall be on that day, like the heart of a woman in labour.)

⁴² And Moab shall cease to be a people, for it had glory against the Lord. (And Moab shall cease to be a nation, for it magnified itself against the Lord.)

⁴³ Dread, and ditch, and snare is on thee, thou dweller of Moab, saith the Lord. (Terror, and ditch, and trap be waiting for thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord.)

⁴⁴ He that fleeth from the face of dread, shall fall into a ditch; and they that ascend from the ditch, shall be taken with a snare. For I shall bring on Moab the year of the visitation of them, saith the Lord. (He who fleeth from the face of terror, shall fall into the ditch; and those who get up out of the ditch, shall be caught in the trap. For I shall bring upon Moab the year of its visitation, that is, its time of punishment, saith the Lord.)

⁴⁵ Men fleeing from the snare stood in the shadow of Heshbon, for why fire went out of Heshbon, and flame from the midst of Sihon; and [it] devoured a part of Moab, and the top of the sons of noise (and it devoured a part of Moab, and the mountaintops of the sons of tumult).

⁴⁶ Moab, woe to thee; thou people of Chemosh, hast perished, for why thy sons and thy daughters be taken into captivity. (Moab, woe to thee; thou people of Chemosh have perished, for thy sons and thy daughters be taken into captivity.)

⁴⁷ And I shall turn (again) the captivity of Moab in the last days, saith the Lord. Hitherto be the dooms of Moab. (But I shall restore the fortunes of Moab in the last days, saith the Lord. Heretofore is the judgement, or the sentence, upon Moab.)