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
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Judgment on Moab
48 Concerning Moab.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Alas for Nebo, it is laid waste!
Kiriathaim is put to shame; it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame and broken down;(A)
2 the renown of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they planned evil against her:
“Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!”
You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence;[a]
the sword shall pursue you.(B)
3 Listen! A cry goes up from Horonaim:
“Desolation and great destruction!”(C)
4 “Moab is destroyed!”
her little ones cry out.
5 For at the ascent of Luhith
they go[b] up weeping bitterly;
for at the descent of Horonaim
they have heard the distressing cry of anguish.(D)
6 Flee! Save yourselves!
Be like a wild ass[c] in the desert!(E)
7 Surely, because you trusted in your strongholds[d] and your treasures,
you also shall be taken;
Chemosh shall go out into exile,
with his priests and his attendants.(F)
8 The destroyer shall come upon every town,
and no town shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
and the plain shall be destroyed,
as the Lord has spoken.(G)
9 Set aside salt for Moab,
for she will surely fall;
her towns shall become a desolation,
with no inhabitant in them.(H)
10 Accursed is the one who is slack in doing the work of the Lord, and accursed is the one who keeps back the sword from bloodshed.(I)
11 Moab has been at ease from his youth,
settled like wine[e] on its dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
nor has he gone into exile;
therefore his flavor has remained,
and his aroma is unspoiled.(J)
12 Therefore, the time is surely coming, says the Lord, when I shall send to him decanters to decant him and empty his vessels and break his jars in pieces. 13 Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.(K)
14 How can you say, “We are heroes
and mighty warriors”?(L)
15 Moab is destroyed, and his towns have gone up,
and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter,
says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.(M)
16 The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
and his doom approaches swiftly.(N)
17 Mourn over him, all you his neighbors,
and all who know his name;
say, “How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff!”(O)
18 Come down from glory
and sit on the parched ground,
enthroned daughter Dibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.(P)
19 Stand by the road and watch,
you inhabitant of Aroer!
Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping;
say, “What has happened?”(Q)
20 Moab is put to shame, for it is broken down;
wail and cry!
Tell it by the Arnon
that Moab is laid waste.(R)
21 Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath, 22 and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24 and Kerioth, and Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, far and near.(S) 25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the Lord.(T)
26 Make him drunk because he magnified himself against the Lord; let Moab wallow in his vomit; he, too, shall become a laughingstock.(U) 27 Israel was a laughingstock for you, though he was not caught among thieves, but whenever you spoke of him you shook your head!(V)
28 Leave the towns, and live on the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab!
Be like the dove that nests
on the sides of the mouth of a gorge.(W)
29 We have heard of the pride of Moab—
he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.(X)
30 I myself know his insolence, says the Lord;
his boasts are false;
his deeds are false.(Y)
31 Therefore I wail for Moab;
I cry out for all Moab;
for the people of Kir-heres I mourn.(Z)
32 More than for Jazer I weep for you,
O vine of Sibmah!
Your branches crossed over the sea,
reached as far as Jazer;[f]
upon your summer fruits and your vintage
the destroyer has fallen.(AA)
33 Gladness and joy have been taken away
from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have stopped the wine from the winepresses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy;
the shouting is not the shout of joy.(AB)
34 From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate.(AC) 35 And I will bring to an end in Moab, says the Lord, those who offer sacrifice at a high place and make offerings to their gods.(AD) 36 Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the people of Kir-heres, for the riches they gained have perished.(AE)
37 For every head is shaved and every beard cut off; on all the hands there are gashes and on the loins sackcloth.(AF) 38 On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a vessel that no one wants, says the Lord.(AG) 39 How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all his neighbors.(AH)
40 For thus says the Lord:
Look, he shall swoop down like an eagle
and spread his wings against Moab;(AI)
41 the towns[g] shall be taken
and the strongholds seized.
The hearts of the warriors of Moab, on that day,
shall be like the heart of a woman in labor.(AJ)
42 Moab shall be destroyed as a people,
because he magnified himself against the Lord.(AK)
43 Terror, pit, and trap
are before you, O inhabitants of Moab!
says the Lord.(AL)
44 Everyone who flees from the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and everyone who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the trap.
For I will bring these things[h] upon Moab
in the year of their punishment,
says the Lord.(AM)
45 In the shadow of Heshbon
fugitives stop exhausted,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
a flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed the forehead[i] of Moab,
the scalp of the people of tumult.[j](AN)
46 Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished,
for your sons have been taken captive
and your daughters into captivity.(AO)
47 Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days, says the Lord.
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.(AP)
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.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.