¹¹ “Go up to Gilead and get balm,^(A)
    Virgin^(B) Daughter Egypt.
But you try many medicines in vain;
    there is no healing^(C) for you.
¹² The nations will hear of your shame;
    your cries will fill the earth.
One warrior will stumble over another;
    both will fall^(D) down together.”

¹⁴ “Announce this in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;
    proclaim it also in Memphis^(G) and Tahpanhes:^(H)
‘Take your positions and get ready,
    for the sword devours^(I) those around you.’
¹⁵ Why will your warriors be laid low?
    They cannot stand, for the Lord will push them down.^(J)
16 They will stumble^(K) repeatedly;
    they will fall^(L) over each other.
They will say, ‘Get up, let us go back
    to our own people^(M) and our native lands,
    away from the sword of the oppressor.’^(N)
17 There they will exclaim,
    ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise;^(O)
    he has missed his opportunity.^(P)’

¹⁸ “As surely as I live,” declares the King,^(Q)
    whose name is the Lord Almighty,
“one will come who is like Tabor^(R) among the mountains,
    like Carmel^(S) by the sea.
¹⁹ Pack your belongings for exile,^(T)
    you who live in Egypt,
for Memphis^(U) will be laid waste^(V)
    and lie in ruins without inhabitant.

²⁰ “Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
    but a gadfly is coming
    against her from the north.^(W)
21 The mercenaries^(X) in her ranks
    are like fattened calves.^(Y)
They too will turn and flee^(Z) together,
    they will not stand their ground,
for the day^(AA) of disaster is coming upon them,
    the time^(AB) for them to be punished.
²² Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent
    as the enemy advances in force;
they will come against her with axes,
    like men who cut down trees.^(AC)
23 They will chop down her forest,”
declares the Lord,
    “dense though it be.
They are more numerous than locusts,^(AD)
    they cannot be counted.
²⁴ Daughter Egypt will be put to shame,
    given into the hands of the people of the north.^(AE)”

²⁷ “Do not be afraid,^(AM) Jacob^(AN) my servant;^(AO)
    do not be dismayed, Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
    your descendants from the land of their exile.^(AP)
Jacob will again have peace and security,
    and no one will make him afraid.
²⁸ Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant,
    for I am with you,”^(AQ) declares the Lord.
“Though I completely destroy^(AR) all the nations
    among which I scatter you,
    I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;
    I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”

“See how the waters are rising in the north;^(AU)
    they will become an overflowing torrent.
They will overflow the land and everything in it,
    the towns and those who live in them.
The people will cry out;
    all who dwell in the land will wail^(AV)
3 at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds,
    at the noise of enemy chariots^(AW)
    and the rumble of their wheels.
Parents will not turn to help their children;
    their hands will hang limp.^(AX)
4 For the day has come
    to destroy all the Philistines
and to remove all survivors
    who could help Tyre^(AY) and Sidon.^(AZ)
The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,^(BA)
    the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.^[a](BB)
5 Gaza will shave^(BC) her head in mourning;
    Ashkelon^(BD) will be silenced.
You remnant on the plain,
    how long will you cut^(BE) yourselves?

⁶ “‘Alas, sword^(BF) of the Lord,
    how long till you rest?
Return to your sheath;
    cease and be still.’^(BG)
7 But how can it rest
    when the Lord has commanded it,
when he has ordered it
    to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”^(BH)

“Woe to Nebo,^(BK) for it will be ruined.
    Kiriathaim^(BL) will be disgraced and captured;
    the stronghold^[b] will be disgraced and shattered.
² Moab will be praised^(BM) no more;
    in Heshbon^[c](BN) people will plot her downfall:
    ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’^(BO)
You, the people of Madmen,^[d] will also be silenced;
    the sword will pursue you.
³ Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim,^(BP)
    cries of great havoc and destruction.
⁴ Moab will be broken;
    her little ones will cry out.^[e]
5 They go up the hill to Luhith,^(BQ)
    weeping bitterly as they go;
on the road down to Horonaim^(BR)
    anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
⁶ Flee!^(BS) Run for your lives;
    become like a bush^[f] in the desert.^(BT)
7 Since you trust in your deeds and riches,^(BU)
    you too will be taken captive,
and Chemosh^(BV) will go into exile,^(BW)
    together with his priests and officials.^(BX)
8 The destroyer^(BY) will come against every town,
    and not a town will escape.
The valley will be ruined
    and the plateau^(BZ) destroyed,
    because the Lord has spoken.
⁹ Put salt^(CA) on Moab,
    for she will be laid waste^[g];^(CB)
her towns will become desolate,
    with no one to live in them.

¹⁰ “A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!
    A curse on anyone who keeps their sword^(CC) from bloodshed!^(CD)

¹¹ “Moab has been at rest^(CE) from youth,
    like wine left on its dregs,^(CF)
not poured from one jar to another—
    she has not gone into exile.
So she tastes as she did,
    and her aroma is unchanged.
¹² But days are coming,”
    declares the Lord,
“when I will send men who pour from pitchers,
    and they will pour her out;
they will empty her pitchers
    and smash her jars.
¹³ Then Moab will be ashamed^(CG) of Chemosh,^(CH)
    as Israel was ashamed
    when they trusted in Bethel.^(CI)

¹⁴ “How can you say, ‘We are warriors,^(CJ)
    men valiant in battle’?
¹⁵ Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded;
    her finest young men^(CK) will go down in the slaughter,^(CL)”
    declares the King,^(CM) whose name is the Lord Almighty.^(CN)
16 “The fall of Moab is at hand;^(CO)
    her calamity will come quickly.
¹⁷ Mourn for her, all who live around her,
    all who know her fame;^(CP)
say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter,^(CQ)
    how broken the glorious staff!’

¹⁸ “Come down from your glory
    and sit on the parched ground,^(CR)
    you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon,^(CS)
for the one who destroys Moab
    will come up against you
    and ruin your fortified cities.^(CT)
19 Stand by the road and watch,
    you who live in Aroer.^(CU)
Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,
    ask them, ‘What has happened?’
²⁰ Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.
    Wail^(CV) and cry out!
Announce by the Arnon^(CW)
    that Moab is destroyed.