Jeremiah 48
New Living Translation
A Message about Moab
48 This message was given concerning Moab. This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:
“What sorrow awaits the city of Nebo;
it will soon lie in ruins.
The city of Kiriathaim will be humiliated and captured;
the fortress will be humiliated and broken down.
2 No one will ever brag about Moab again,
for in Heshbon there is a plot to destroy her.
‘Come,’ they say, ‘we will cut her off from being a nation.’
The town of Madmen,[a] too, will be silenced;
the sword will follow you there.
3 Listen to the cries from Horonaim,
cries of devastation and great destruction.
4 All Moab is destroyed.
Her little ones will cry out.[b]
5 Her refugees weep bitterly,
climbing the slope to Luhith.
They cry out in terror,
descending the slope to Horonaim.
6 Flee for your lives!
Hide[c] in the wilderness!
7 Because you have trusted in your wealth and skill,
you will be taken captive.
Your god Chemosh, with his priests and officials,
will be hauled off to distant lands!
8 “All the towns will be destroyed,
and no one will escape—
either on the plateaus or in the valleys,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 Oh, that Moab had wings
so she could fly away,[d]
for her towns will be left empty,
with no one living in them.
10 Cursed are those who refuse to do the Lord’s work,
who hold back their swords from shedding blood!
11 “From his earliest history, Moab has lived in peace,
never going into exile.
He is like wine that has been allowed to settle.
He has not been poured from flask to flask,
and he is now fragrant and smooth.
12 But the time is coming soon,” says the Lord,
“when I will send men to pour him from his jar.
They will pour him out,
then shatter the jar!
13 At last Moab will be ashamed of his idol Chemosh,
as the people of Israel were ashamed of their gold calf at Bethel.[e]
14 “You used to boast, ‘We are heroes,
mighty men of war.’
15 But now Moab and his towns will be destroyed.
His most promising youth are doomed to slaughter,”
says the King, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
16 “Destruction is coming fast for Moab;
calamity threatens ominously.
17 You friends of Moab,
weep for him and cry!
See how the strong scepter is broken,
how the beautiful staff is shattered!
18 “Come down from your glory
and sit in the dust, you people of Dibon,
for those who destroy Moab will shatter Dibon, too.
They will tear down all your towers.
19 You people of Aroer,
stand beside the road and watch.
Shout to those who flee from Moab,
‘What has happened there?’
20 “And the reply comes back,
‘Moab lies in ruins, disgraced;
weep and wail!
Tell it by the banks of the Arnon River:
Moab has been destroyed!’
21 Judgment has been poured out on the towns of the plateau—
on Holon and Jahaz[f] and Mephaath,
22 on Dibon and Nebo and Beth-diblathaim,
23 on Kiriathaim and Beth-gamul and Beth-meon,
24 on Kerioth and Bozrah—
all the towns of Moab, far and near.
25 “The strength of Moab has ended.
His arm has been broken,” says the Lord.
26 “Let him stagger and fall like a drunkard,
for he has rebelled against the Lord.
Moab will wallow in his own vomit,
ridiculed by all.
27 Did you not ridicule the people of Israel?
Were they caught in the company of thieves
that you should despise them as you do?
28 “You people of Moab,
flee from your towns and live in the caves.
Hide like doves that nest
in the clefts of the rocks.
29 We have all heard of the pride of Moab,
for his pride is very great.
We know of his lofty pride,
his arrogance, and his haughty heart.
30 I know about his insolence,”
says the Lord,
“but his boasts are empty—
as empty as his deeds.
31 So now I wail for Moab;
yes, I will mourn for Moab.
My heart is broken for the men of Kir-hareseth.[g]
32 “You people of Sibmah, rich in vineyards,
I will weep for you even more than I did for Jazer.
Your spreading vines once reached as far as the Dead Sea,[h]
but the destroyer has stripped you bare!
He has harvested your grapes and summer fruits.
33 Joy and gladness are gone from fruitful Moab.
The presses yield no wine.
No one treads the grapes with shouts of joy.
There is shouting, yes, but not of joy.
34 “Instead, their awful cries of terror can be heard from Heshbon clear across to Elealeh and Jahaz; from Zoar all the way to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up now.
35 “I will put an end to Moab,” says the Lord, “for the people offer sacrifices at the pagan shrines and burn incense to their false gods. 36 My heart moans like a flute for Moab and Kir-hareseth, for all their wealth has disappeared. 37 The people shave their heads and beards in mourning. They slash their hands and put on clothes made of burlap. 38 There is crying and sorrow in every Moabite home and on every street. For I have smashed Moab like an old, unwanted jar. 39 How it is shattered! Hear the wailing! See the shame of Moab! It has become an object of ridicule, an example of ruin to all its neighbors.”
40 This is what the Lord says:
“Look! The enemy swoops down like an eagle,
spreading his wings over Moab.
41 Its cities will fall,
and its strongholds will be seized.
Even the mightiest warriors will be in anguish
like a woman in labor.
42 Moab will no longer be a nation,
for it has boasted against the Lord.
43 “Terror and traps and snares will be your lot,
O Moab,” says the Lord.
44 “Those who flee in terror will fall into a trap,
and those who escape the trap will step into a snare.
I will see to it that you do not get away,
for the time of your judgment has come,”
says the Lord.
45 “The people flee as far as Heshbon
but are unable to go on.
For a fire comes from Heshbon,
King Sihon’s ancient home,
to devour the entire land
with all its rebellious people.
46 “What sorrow awaits you, O people of Moab!
The people of the god Chemosh are destroyed!
Your sons and your daughters
have been taken away as captives.
47 But I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in days to come.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
This is the end of Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning Moab.
Footnotes
- 48:2 Madmen sounds like the Hebrew word for “silence”; it should not be confused with the English word madmen.
- 48:4 Greek version reads Her cries are heard as far away as Zoar.
- 48:6 Or Hide like a wild donkey; or Hide like a juniper shrub; or Be like [the town of] Aroer. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 48:9 Or Put salt on Moab, / for she will be laid waste.
- 48:13 Hebrew ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.
- 48:21 Hebrew Jahzah, a variant spelling of Jahaz.
- 48:31 Hebrew Kir-heres, a variant spelling of Kir-hareseth; also in 48:36.
- 48:32 Hebrew the sea of Jazer.
Jeremiah 48
International Standard Version
A Prophecy against Moab
48 To Moab: This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says:
“How terrible for Nebo, for it’s laid waste.
Kiriathaim is put to shame, it’s captured.
The fortress is put to shame, it’s shattered.
2 The pride of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they plotted evil against her:
‘Come and let’s eliminate her as a nation.’
Madmen[a] will also be silenced,
and the sword will pursue you.
3 The sound of crying will come from Horonaim,
devastation and great destruction.
4 Moab will be destroyed;
her little ones will cry out.
5 Indeed, at the ascent of Luhith
people will go up with bitter weeping.
At the descent of Horonaim
the anguished cries over the destruction will be heard.
6 Flee, save your lives,
and you will be like a wild donkey[b] in the desert.
7 But, because you trust in your deeds and your riches,
you will also be captured.
Chemosh[c] will go out into exile,
along with his priests and officials.
8 A destroyer will come to every town
and no town will escape.
The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed.”
This[d] is what the Lord has said!
9 “Put salt[e] on Moab[f]
for she will surely fall.
Her towns will become desolate places,[g]
without any inhabitants in them.
10 Cursed is the one who is slack
in doing the Lord’s work.
Cursed is the one who holds back his sword
from shedding[h] blood.
11 Moab has been at ease from his youth.
He has been undisturbed like wine[i] on its dregs
and not poured from vessel to vessel.
He has not gone into exile.
Therefore, his flavor has remained,
and his aroma has not changed.
12 “Therefore, look, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I’ll send those who tip over vessels[j] to him, and they’ll tip him over. They’ll empty his vessels and shatter his jars. 13 Moab will be ashamed because of Chemosh just as the house of Israel was ashamed because of Bethel, their confidence.
14 “How can you say, ‘We’re strong warriors,
and soldiers ready[k] for battle’?
15 Moab will be destroyed,
and the enemy[l] will come up against her cities.
Her finest young men will go down to slaughter,”
declares the King,
whose name is the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
16 “Moab’s disaster is near at hand,
and his calamity is coming very quickly.
17 Mourn for him, all who live around him,
and all who know his name.
Say, ‘Oh how the mighty rod is broken,
the glorious staff.’
18 “Come down from glory, and sit on parched ground,
O woman who lives in Dibon,
for the destroyer of Moab will come up
against you to destroy you.
He will destroy your strongholds.
19 Stand by the road and keep watch,
O woman who lives in Aroer.
Ask the man who flees and the woman who escapes.
Say, ‘What happened’?
20 Moab will be put to shame,
for it will be destroyed.
Wail and cry out.
Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
21 Judgment has come to the plateau:[m]
to Holon and Jahzah,
and against Mephaath,
22 Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
23 against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
24 against Kerioth, Bozrah,
and all the towns in the land of Moab,
both far and near.
25 The strength[n] of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken,”
declares the Lord.
26 “Make him drunk for he has exalted himself
against the Lord.
Moab will wallow in his vomit,
and he will be the object of mocking.
27 Wasn’t Israel an object of mocking for you?
Wasn’t he treated like a thief,[o]
so that whenever you spoke about him
you shook your head in contempt?[p]
28 Abandon the cities, and live on the cliffs,[q]
you inhabitants of Moab.
Be like a dove that builds a nest
by the mouth of a cave.
29 We have heard about Moab’s pride—
he’s very proud—
his haughtiness, his arrogance,
his insolence, and his conceit.[r]
30 I know his gall,”
declares the Lord,
“and it’s futile;
the boasting that they do is futile.
31 Therefore, I’ll wail for Moab,
and for the whole of Moab I’ll cry out,
for the men of Kir-heres I’ll moan.
32 More than the weeping for Jazer,[s]
I’ll weep for you, vine of Sibmah.[t]
Your branches spread out to the sea,
and reached as far as the Sea of Jazer.[u]
On your summer fruit and grapes[v]
the destroyer will fall.
33 Gladness and rejoicing will be taken away
from the fruitful land.[w]
From the land of Moab I’ll cause the wine
in the wine presses to stop flowing.[x]
The workers won’t tread[y] the grapes with a loud shout.[z]
There will be no shout!
34 “From the cry of Heshbon, to Elealeh, to Jahaz they have lifted up their voice. From Zoar to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah, even the waters of Nimrim will become a desolate place. 35 In Moab,” declares the Lord, “I’ll put an end to the one who offers a burnt offering on the high place and to the one who burns incense to his gods. 36 Therefore my heart wails for Moab like flutes[aa] and my heart wails for the men of Kir-heres like flutes. Therefore they’ll lose the abundance they produced. 37 Indeed every head will be bald[ab] and every beard cut short.[ac] There will be gashes on all the hands[ad] and sackcloth on the loins. 38 On all the housetops of Moab and in the streets there will be nothing but mourning, for I’ll break Moab like a vessel that no one wants,” declares the Lord. 39 “How it will be shattered! How they’ll wail! How Moab will turn his back in shame! Moab will be an object of ridicule and terror to all those around him.”
40 For this is what the Lord says:
“Look, like an eagle one will fly swiftly
and spread his wings against Moab.
41 The towns[ae] will be captured
and the strongholds seized.
On that day the hearts of the warriors of Moab
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42 Moab will be destroyed as a nation[af]
because he exalted himself against the Lord.
43 Terror, pit, and trap will be used[ag] against you
who live in Moab,”
declares the Lord.
44 “The one who flees from the terror
will fall into a pit.
And the one who comes up out of the pit
will be caught in a trap.
For I’ll bring upon her, that is upon Moab,
the time of her[ah] punishment,”
declares the Lord.
45 “The fugitives will stand without strength
in the shadow of Heshbon,
for fire will go out from Heshbon
and a flame from the middle of Sihon.
It will devour the forehead of Moab
and the heads of the rebellious people.[ai]
46 How terrible for you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh[aj] will perish.
Indeed, your sons will be taken into captivity,
and your daughters as well.[ak]
47 But I’ll restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days,”
declares the Lord.
This concludes the judgment on Moab.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 48:2 Madmen was a town in Moab. The name sounds like the Heb. word silenced
- Jeremiah 48:6 So LXX; MT reads Aroer
- Jeremiah 48:7 Chemosh was the chief Moabite deity.
- Jeremiah 48:8 The Heb. lacks this.
- Jeremiah 48:9 Or take wing
- Jeremiah 48:9 I.e. as a sign of destruction
- Jeremiah 48:9 Lit. a desolation
- Jeremiah 48:10 The Heb. lacks shedding
- Jeremiah 48:11 The Heb. lacks like wine
- Jeremiah 48:12 The Heb. lacks vessels
- Jeremiah 48:14 The Heb. lacks ready
- Jeremiah 48:15 Lit. he
- Jeremiah 48:21 Moab was located on a plateau overlooking the Jordan River.
- Jeremiah 48:25 Lit. horn
- Jeremiah 48:27 Lit. found among thieves
- Jeremiah 48:27 The Heb. lacks in contempt
- Jeremiah 48:28 Or among the crags; i.e. on the face of a cliff
- Jeremiah 48:29 Lit. the elevation of his heart
- Jeremiah 48:32 Jazer was a town in Moab.
- Jeremiah 48:32 Sibmah was a town in Moab noted for its vineyards.
- Jeremiah 48:32 I.e. the Dead Sea
- Jeremiah 48:32 Lit. your vintage
- Jeremiah 48:33 Or from Carmel
- Jeremiah 48:33 The Heb. lacks flowing
- Jeremiah 48:33 Lit. He won’t tread
- Jeremiah 48:33 Lit. with a shout, shout
- Jeremiah 48:36 I.e. flutes were played as a part of mourning for the dead
- Jeremiah 48:37 I.e. heads were shaved as a sign of mourning
- Jeremiah 48:37 I.e. beards were cut short as a sign of mourning
- Jeremiah 48:37 I.e. people cut themselves as a sign of mourning
- Jeremiah 48:41 Or Kerioth
- Jeremiah 48:42 Lit. from being a nation
- Jeremiah 48:43 The Heb. lacks used
- Jeremiah 48:44 Lit. their
- Jeremiah 48:45 Lit. sons of tumult
- Jeremiah 48:46 Chemosh was the chief deity of Moab.
- Jeremiah 48:46 Lit. daughters into captivity
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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