Jeremiah 48
New American Standard Bible
Prophecy against Moab
48 Concerning (A)Moab. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says:
“Woe to (B)Nebo, for it has been destroyed;
(C)Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured;
The high stronghold has been put to shame and [a]shattered.
2 There is no longer praise for Moab;
In (D)Heshbon they have devised disaster against her:
‘Come and let’s cut her off from being a nation!’
You too, [b]Madmen, will be silenced;
The sword will follow you.
3 The sound of an outcry from (E)Horonaim,
‘Devastation and great destruction!’
4 Moab is broken,
Her little ones have sounded out a cry of distress.
5 For they will go up by the ascent of (F)Luhith
With continual weeping;
For at the descent of Horonaim
They have heard the [c]anguished cry of destruction.
6 (G)Flee, save yourselves,
So that you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.
7 For because of your (H)trust in your own achievements and treasures,
You yourself will also be captured;
And (I)Chemosh will go off into exile
Together with his priests and his leaders.
8 A destroyer will come to every city,
So that no city will escape;
The valley also will be ruined
And the (J)plateau will be destroyed,
As the Lord has said.
9 Give [d](K)wings to Moab,
For she will [e]flee away;
And her cities will become a (L)desolation,
Without inhabitants in them.
10 (M)Cursed is the one who does the Lord’s work (N)negligently,
And cursed is the one who restrains his (O)sword from blood.
11 “Moab has been (P)at ease since his youth;
He has also been (Q)peaceful, like wine on [f]its dregs,
And he has not been (R)poured from vessel to vessel,
Nor has he gone into exile.
Therefore [g]he retains his flavor,
And his aroma has not changed.
12 Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will pour out his vessels and smash [h]his jars. 13 And Moab will be (S)ashamed of (T)Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed of (U)Bethel, their confidence.
14 How can you say, ‘We are (V)warriors,
And men competent for battle’?
15 Moab has been destroyed and [i]men have gone up to [j]his cities;
His choicest [k](W)young men have also gone down to the slaughter,”
Declares the (X)King, whose name is the Lord of armies.
16 “The disaster of Moab will (Y)soon come,
And his catastrophe has hurried quickly.
17 Mourn for him, all you who live around him,
And all of you who know his name;
Say, ‘How the mighty [l](Z)scepter has been broken,
A staff of splendor!’
18 (AA)Come down from your glory
And sit on the parched ground,
O (AB)daughter living in (AC)Dibon,
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,
He has ruined your strongholds.
19 Stand by the road and keep watch,
You inhabitant of (AD)Aroer;
(AE)Ask him who flees and her who escapes
And say, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab has been put to shame, for it has been [m]shattered.
Wail and cry out;
Declare by the (AF)Arnon
That Moab has been destroyed.
21 “Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, (AG)Jahzah, and against (AH)Mephaath, 22 against Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and (AI)Beth-meon, 24 against (AJ)Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 The (AK)horn of Moab has been cut off, and his (AL)arm broken,” declares the Lord. 26 “(AM)Make him drunk, for he has [n]become (AN)arrogant toward the Lord; so Moab will [o]vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock. 27 Now was Israel not a (AO)laughingstock to you? Or was he [p](AP)caught among thieves? For whenever you speak about him you (AQ)shake your head in scorn.
28 Leave the cities and live among the (AR)rocky cliffs,
You inhabitants of Moab,
And be like a (AS)dove that nests
Beyond the mouth of the chasm.
29 (AT)We have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud—
Of his haughtiness, his (AU)pride, his arrogance, and [q]his self-exaltation.
30 I know his (AV)fury,” declares the Lord,
“But it is futile;
His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.
31 Therefore I will (AW)wail for Moab,
For all of Moab I will cry out;
[r]I will moan for the men of (AX)Kir-heres.
32 More than the (AY)weeping for (AZ)Jazer
I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah!
Your tendrils stretched across the sea,
They reached to the sea of Jazer;
Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest
The destroyer has fallen.
33 So (BA)joy and rejoicing are removed
From the fruitful field, and from the land of Moab.
And I have (BB)eliminated the wine from the wine presses;
No one will tread them with shouting,
The shouting will not be shouts of joy.
34 (BC)From the outcry at Heshbon to (BD)Elealeh, to Jahaz they have [s]raised their voice, from (BE)Zoar to Horonaim, and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate. 35 And I will put an end to Moab,” declares the Lord, “the one who offers sacrifice on the (BF)high place and the one who [t](BG)burns incense to his gods.
36 “Therefore My (BH)heart makes a sound like flutes for Moab; My heart also makes a sound like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have (BI)lost the abundance it produced. 37 For (BJ)every head is shaved bald, and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands, and (BK)sackcloth around the waists. 38 On all the (BL)housetops of Moab and in its public squares [u]there is mourning everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable (BM)vessel,” declares the Lord. 39 “How [v]shattered it is! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back—he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an (BN)object of terror to all around him.”
40 For this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, one will (BO)fly swiftly like an eagle
And (BP)spread out his wings against Moab.
41 Kerioth has been captured
And the strongholds have been seized,
So the (BQ)hearts of the warriors of Moab on that day
Will be like the heart of a (BR)woman in labor.
42 Moab will be (BS)destroyed from being a people
Because he has [w]become (BT)arrogant toward the Lord.
43 (BU)Terror, pit, and snare are coming upon you,
Inhabitant of Moab,” declares the Lord.
44 “The one who (BV)flees from the terror
Will fall into the pit,
And the one who climbs up out of the pit
Will be caught in the snare;
For I will bring upon her, upon Moab,
The year of their (BW)punishment,” declares the Lord.
45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
The fugitives stand without strength;
For a fire has spread out from Heshbon
And a (BX)flame from the midst of (BY)Sihon,
And it has devoured the (BZ)forehead of Moab
And the scalps of the [x]loud revelers.
46 (CA)Woe to you, Moab!
The people of (CB)Chemosh have perished;
For your sons have been taken away captive,
And your daughters into captivity.
47 Yet I will (CC)restore the fortunes of Moab
In the [y]latter days,” declares the Lord.
This is the extent of the judgment on Moab.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 48:1 Or dismayed
- Jeremiah 48:2 Heb Madmen; i.e., a city of Moab
- Jeremiah 48:5 Lit distresses of outcry
- Jeremiah 48:9 Or salt
- Jeremiah 48:9 Or fall in ruins
- Jeremiah 48:11 Lit his
- Jeremiah 48:11 Lit his flavor has stayed in him
- Jeremiah 48:12 Lit their
- Jeremiah 48:15 Lit one has
- Jeremiah 48:15 Lit her
- Jeremiah 48:15 I.e., warriors
- Jeremiah 48:17 Or rod
- Jeremiah 48:20 Or dismayed
- Jeremiah 48:26 Or magnified himself against
- Jeremiah 48:26 Lit vomit in his vomit
- Jeremiah 48:27 Or found
- Jeremiah 48:29 Lit elevation of his heart
- Jeremiah 48:31 Another reading is He
- Jeremiah 48:34 Lit given forth
- Jeremiah 48:35 Or offers up in smoke
- Jeremiah 48:38 Lit all of it is mourning
- Jeremiah 48:39 Or terrified
- Jeremiah 48:42 Or magnified himself against
- Jeremiah 48:45 Lit sons of uproar
- Jeremiah 48:47 Lit end of the days
Jeremiah 48
Common English Bible
Prophecy against Moab
48 Concerning Moab:
The Lord of heavenly forces,
the God of Israel, proclaims:
How awful for Nebo;
it lies in ruins.
Kirathaim is captured and shamed;
the fortress is disgraced,
reduced to rubble.
2 No one sings Moab’s praise any longer!
In Heshbon they are hatching
a plot against her:
“Come, let’s bring down the nation!”
You too, Madmen, will be silenced;
the sword will pursue you.
3 Listen to the cries for help from Horonaim:
“Destruction and massive devastation!”
4 Moab is shattered;
its young cry for help.
5 On the way up to Luhith,
there is uncontrollable weeping.
On the way down to Horonaim,
they hear sobs of anguish.
6 Run for your lives!
Be like Aroer[a] in the desert.
7 Because you have relied
on your own strength and treasures,
you also will be captured.
Chemosh will go into exile,
together with his priests and officials.
8 The destroyer will sweep through every town;
no town will escape.
The valleys will be ravaged;
the plateaus will be destroyed,
because the Lord has declared it so.
9 Give wings to Moab,
and it would fly away[b]
because its towns lie in ruins,
with no one left in them.
10 Cursed is the one who is halfhearted
in doing the Lord’s work.
Cursed is the one who restrains
the sword from bloodshed.
11 From early on Moab has been at ease,
like wine[c] left to settle on its sediment.
It hasn’t been poured into jars;
nor has Moab been taken into exile.
Therefore, its taste is still pleasant,
and its aroma is the same.
12 But the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will send to him someone to spill it—to pour out his wine and to smash his jars. 13 And Moab will be put to shame on account of Chemosh, just as the people of Israel were put to shame on account of Bethel, in which they trusted.[d]
14 How can you claim,
“We’re soldiers; we’re war heroes”?
15 Moab is doomed;
its towns will surrender;[e]
its elite forces will go down in defeat,
declares the king whose name is the Lord of heavenly forces.
16 Moab’s destruction is near;
its downfall approaches rapidly.
17 Grieve for this nation,
you neighbors of Moab,
all you who know his name.
Proclaim how its mighty scepter
and magnificent staff are shattered!
18 Come down from your lofty place
and sit in the dust,[f]
you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon;[g]
because Moab’s destroyer
has arrived to level your fortresses.
19 Stand by the roads and watch,
you inhabitants of Aroer.
Ask the men who flee
and the women who run off,
“What’s happened?”
20 Moab is shamed and shocked;
weep and wail!
Tell it by the Arnon River:
Moab’s been destroyed!
21 Judgment has come to the towns of the plateau—
to Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
22 to Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
23 to Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
24 to Kerioth and Bozrah,
to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
25 Moab’s horn is cut off;
its arm is broken,
declares the Lord.
26 Get Moab drunk,
because it has exalted itself above the Lord.
Moab will collapse in its vomit
and become the butt of every joke.
27 Wasn’t Israel the butt of your jokes?
Didn’t you shake your head
as if they were thieves
caught in the act?
28 Leave your towns, head for the cliffs,
you people of Moab.
Hide like a dove
that nests in the mouth of a cave.
29 We have heard of Moab’s pride:
arrogant, puffed up, exalted,
high and mighty, boastful!
30 I myself know about its arrogance,
declares the Lord,
the idle talk, the empty deeds.
31 But I’ll still wail for Moab;
I’ll cry out for all Moab;
I’ll[h] sob for the people of Kir-heres.
32 I’ll weep for you, vine of Sibmah,
more than I would for Jazer.
Though your branches extended to the sea
and reached the coast of Jazer,
now the destroyer has come
to harvest your grapes and summer fruits.
33 Joy and gladness have been taken
from the orchards and farms of Moab.
I have stopped making wine in the presses.
No one shouts with joy
while treading the grapes.
Though there are shouts,
they are not shouts of joy![i]
34 Screams are heard from Heshbon
to Elealeh and Jahaz;
their cries resound from Zoar
to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah.
Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
35 I’ll put an end to Moab,
declares the Lord,
for making offerings on the shrines,
and worshipping their gods.
36 Therefore, my heart wails for Moab
like a mournful[j] flute that plays the dirge;
my heart wails for the people of Kir-heres,
like a mournful flute.
Their abundance is now gone.
37 Every head is shaved,
every beard is cut off,
every hand is slashed,
and everyone wears mourning clothes.
38 On every housetop of Moab
and in all its streets,
there’s nothing but mourning.
I have shattered Moab
like a pottery vessel no one wants,
declares the Lord.
39 How it’s shattered! Go wail!
How Moab turns away!
What shame!
Moab has become the butt of every joke,
horrific to all its neighbors.
40 The Lord proclaims:
Look! One who soars like an eagle
and spreads its wings over Moab.
41 The towns will be captured;
the strongholds will be seized.
On that day, the heart of every soldier from Moab
will be like that of a woman in the throes of labor.
42 Moab will be destroyed once and for all
because it has exalted itself above the Lord.
43 Terror, traps, and trackers[k]
are upon you, people of Moab,
declares the Lord.
44 Those who flee from terror
will fall into a pit;
those who escape the pit
will be captured by the trap.
I will bring upon Moab
the year of its punishment,
declares the Lord.
45 In Heshbon tired refugees seek shelter.
But fire is raging in Heshbon,
flames from the house[l] of Sihon.
It has burned up part of Moab,
including the leader of this rebellious nation.[m]
46 How terrible for you, Moab;
the people of Chemosh have perished.
Your sons have been carried off;
your daughters have been taken captive.
47 But in the days to come
I’ll bring back Moab from captivity,
declares the Lord.
Such is the judgment on Moab.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 48:6 Heb uncertain
- Jeremiah 48:9 Heb uncertain
- Jeremiah 48:11 Heb lacks like wine.
- Jeremiah 48:13 Or And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh just as the people of Israel were ashamed of Bethel, in which they trusted.
- Jeremiah 48:15 Heb uncertain
- Jeremiah 48:18 Or thirst
- Jeremiah 48:18 Heb uncertain, or residing Daughter Dibon
- Jeremiah 48:31 Or He
- Jeremiah 48:33 Heb uncertain
- Jeremiah 48:36 Heb lacks mournful.
- Jeremiah 48:43 Or terror, pit, and trap
- Jeremiah 48:45 Heb manuscripts; MT from among
- Jeremiah 48:45 Heb uncertain
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