Jeremiah 48
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 48
Against Moab.[a] 1 Concerning Moab. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Ah, Nebo! it is ravaged;
Kiriathaim is disgraced, captured;
Disgraced and overthrown is the stronghold:
2 Moab’s glory is no more.
In Heshbon they plot evil against her:
“Come! We will put an end to her as a nation.”
You, too, Madmen,[b] shall be silenced;
you the sword stalks!
3 Listen! an outcry from Horonaim,(A)
“Ruin and great destruction!”
4 “Moab is crushed!”
their outcry is heard in Zoar.
5 Up the ascent of Luhith
they go weeping;
At the descent to Horonaim
they hear cries of anguish:
6 “Flee, save your lives!
Be like a wild donkey in the wilderness!”
7 Because you trusted in your works and your treasures,
you also shall be captured.
Chemosh[c] shall go into exile,
his priests and princes with him.(B)
8 The destroyer comes upon every city,
not a city escapes;
Ruined is the valley,
wasted the plateau—oracle of the Lord.
9 Set up a tombstone for Moab;
it will soon become a complete wasteland,
Its cities turned into ruins
where no one dwells.
10 Cursed are they who do the Lord’s work carelessly,
cursed those who keep their sword from shedding blood.
11 [d]Moab has been resting from its youth,
suspended above its dregs,
Never poured from flask to flask,
never driven into exile.
Thus it retained its flavor,
its bouquet is not lost.(C)
12 Be assured! The days are coming—oracle of the Lord—when I will send him wine-makers to decant the wine; they shall empty its flasks and smash its jars. 13 Chemosh shall disappoint Moab, just as the house of Israel was disappointed by Bethel, in which they trusted.(D)
14 How can you say, “We are heroes,
mighty warriors”?
15 The one who ravages Moab and its cities comes up,
the best of its youth go down to slaughter—
oracle of the King, whose name is Lord of hosts.
16 Moab’s ruin is near at hand,
its disaster approaches swiftly.
17 Mourn, all you neighbors,
all you who know its name!
Say: How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff!
18 Come down from glory, sit on the parched ground,
enthroned daughter Dibon;[e]
Moab’s destroyer has fallen upon you,
has shattered your strongholds.(E)
19 Stand along the road, keep watch,
enthroned Aroer;
Ask the fleeing man, the escaping woman:
ask them what has happened.(F)
20 “Moab is put to shame, destroyed.”
Wail and cry out,
Proclaim it at the Arnon:
“Moab is destroyed!”(G)
21 Judgment has come upon the plateau: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,(H) 22 on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24 on Kerioth and on Bozrah: on all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
25 The horn of Moab is cut off,
its arm is broken—oracle of the Lord.
26 Make him drunk because he set himself over against the Lord; let Moab swim in his vomit and become a laughingstock. 27 Has Israel not been a laughingstock to you? Was he caught among thieves that you wag your heads whenever you speak of him?(I)
28 Abandon the cities, take shelter in the crags,
inhabitants of Moab.
Be like the dove that nests
in the walls of a gorge.
29 We have heard of the pride of Moab,(J)
pride beyond bounds:
His loftiness, his pride, his scorn,
his insolent heart.
30 I myself know his arrogance—oracle of the Lord—
liar in word, liar in deed.
31 And so I wail over Moab,
over all Moab I cry,
over the people of Kir-heres I moan.(K)
32 More than for Jazer I weep for you,
vine of Sibmah.
Your tendrils trailed down to the sea,
as far as Jazer they stretched.
Upon your summer harvest and your vintage,
the destroyer has fallen.(L)
33 Joy and gladness are taken away
from the garden land, the land of Moab.
I dry up the wine from the wine vats,
the treader treads no more,
the vintage shout is stilled.
34 The cry of Heshbon and Elealeh is heard as far as Jahaz; they call from Zoar to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; even the waters of Nimrim turn into a wasteland.(M) 35 I will leave no one in Moab—oracle of the Lord—to offer burnt offerings on the high place or to make sacrifices to their gods. 36 Hence my heart wails like a flute for Moab; my heart wails like a flute for the people of Kir-heres: the wealth they accumulated has perished.(N) 37 Every head has been shaved bald, every beard cut off; every hand gashed, and all their loins are draped in sackcloth.(O) 38 On all the rooftops of Moab and in all its squares there is mourning. I have shattered Moab like a pot that no one wants—oracle of the Lord. 39 How terrified they are, how they wail! How Moab turns its back in shame! Moab has become a laughingstock and a horror to all its neighbors!
40 For thus says the Lord:
Look there! Like an eagle he swoops,
spreading his wings over Moab.(P)
41 Cities are captured,
strongholds seized:
On that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors
become like the heart of a woman in labor.(Q)
42 Moab shall be wiped out, a people no more,
because it set itself over against the Lord.(R)
43 Terror, pit, and trap be upon you,
enthroned Moab—oracle of the Lord.(S)
44 Those fleeing the terror
fall into the pit;
Those climbing out of the pit
are caught in the trap;
Ah, yes! I will bring these things upon Moab
in the year of their punishment—oracle of the Lord.
45 In Heshbon’s shadow the fugitives
stop short, exhausted;
For fire blazes up from Heshbon,
and flames up from the house of Sihon:
It consumes the forehead of Moab,
the scalp of the noisemakers.(T)
46 Woe to you, Moab!
You are finished, people of Chemosh!
Your sons are taken into exile,
your daughters into captivity.
47 Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the days to come—oracle of the Lord.(U)
Thus far the judgment on Moab.
Footnotes
- 48:1–47 Moab, located east of the Dead Sea, was one of Israel’s bitter enemies (cf., e.g., Is 15–16; Am 2:1–3). According to Flavius Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Moab and Ammon in his twenty-third year (582 B.C.), five years after the destruction of Jerusalem. This chapter is full of local place names in Moab.
- 48:2 Madmen: a place name, not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament.
- 48:7 Chemosh: chief god of Moab (cf. Nm 21:29).
- 48:11–12 Moabite wine was known for its high quality. Here the wine is a metaphor for Moab’s complacency.
- 48:18 Dibon, the capital of Moab at that time, is situated on a height. The prophet here offers a personification of the city, pictured as a confident ruler.
Ben Sira 21:1-14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 21
Dangers from Sin[a]
1 My child, if you have sinned, do so no more,
and for your past sins pray to be forgiven.
2 Flee from sin as from a serpent
that will bite you if you go near it;
Its teeth, lion’s teeth,
destroying human lives.
3 All lawlessness is like a two-edged sword;
when it cuts, there is no healing.(A)
4 Panic and pride wipe out wealth;
so too the house of the proud is uprooted.
5 Prayer from the lips of the poor is heard at once,
and justice is quickly granted them.
6 Whoever hates correction walks the sinner’s path,(B)
but whoever fears the Lord repents in his heart.
7 Glib speakers are widely known,
but when they slip the sensible perceive it.
8 Those who build their houses with someone else’s money
are like those who collect stones for their funeral mounds.
9 A band of criminals is like a bundle of tow;
they will end in a flaming fire.(C)
10 The path of sinners is smooth stones,
but its end is the pit of Sheol.[b]
The Wise and Foolish: A Contrast[c]
11 Those who keep the Law control their thoughts;
perfect fear of the Lord is wisdom.
12 One who is not clever can never be taught,
but there is a cleverness filled with bitterness.
13 The knowledge of the wise wells up like a flood,
and their counsel like a living spring.(D)
14 A fool’s mind is like a broken jar:
it cannot hold any knowledge at all.
Footnotes
- 21:1–10 Under various figures, the consequences of sin are described as destructive of wealth, and even of life, deserving of death (vv. 2–4, 6a, 8–10). Fear of the Lord motivates repentance (vv. 5, 6b).
- 21:10 The path of sinners…Sheol: Ben Sira refers to the death that awaits unrepentant sinners; see notes on 11:26–28; 17:24–32.
- 21:11–28 The mind of the wise is a fountain of knowledge (vv. 13, 15); their will is trained to keep the Law (v. 11); their words are gracious, valued, carefully weighed, sincere (vv. 16–17, 25–26); their conduct is respectful, cultured and restrained (vv. 20, 22–24). The mind of the foolish is devoid of knowledge and impenetrable to it (vv. 12, 14, 18–19); their will rejects it (v. 15); their talk is burdensome (v. 16), their laughter unrestrained (v. 20), their conversation shallow and meddlesome (vv. 25–26); their conduct is bold and rude (vv. 22–24); their abuse of others redounds on themselves (vv. 27–28).
John 9:24-41
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
24 So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give God the praise![a] We know that this man is a sinner.”(A) 25 He replied, “If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.” 26 So they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” 28 They ridiculed him and said, “You are that man’s disciple; we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from.”(B) 30 The man answered and said to them, “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him.(C) 32 [b]It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.”(D) 34 They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.
35 When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he.”(E) 38 He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him. 39 [c]Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.”(F)
40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?”(G) 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.(H)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 9:24 Give God the praise!: an Old Testament formula of adjuration to tell the truth; cf. Jos 7:19; 1 Sm 6:5 LXX. Cf. Jn 5:41.
- 9:32 A person born blind: the only Old Testament cure from blindness is found in Tobit (cf. Tb 7:7; 11:7–13; 14:1–2), but Tobit was not born blind.
- 9:39–41 These verses spell out the symbolic meaning of the cure; the Pharisees are not the innocent blind, willing to accept the testimony of others.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.