“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.

“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!”

“Are there no descendants of Israel
    to inherit the land of Gad?
Why are you, who worship Molech,^[i]
    living in its towns?
² In the days to come,” says the Lord,
    “I will sound the battle cry against your city of Rabbah.
It will become a desolate heap of ruins,
    and the neighboring towns will be burned.
Then Israel will take back the land
    you took from her,” says the Lord.

³ “Cry out, O Heshbon,
    for the town of Ai is destroyed.
Weep, O people of Rabbah!
    Put on your clothes of mourning.
Weep and wail, hiding in the hedges,
    for your god Molech, with his priests and officials,
    will be hauled off to distant lands.
⁴ You are proud of your fertile valleys,
    but they will soon be ruined.
You trusted in your wealth,
    you rebellious daughter,
    and thought no one could ever harm you.
⁵ But look! I will bring terror upon you,”
    says the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Your neighbors will chase you from your land,
    and no one will help your exiles as they flee.
⁶ But I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites
    in days to come.
    I, the Lord, have spoken.”

“Is there no wisdom in Teman?
    Is no one left to give wise counsel?
⁸ Turn and flee!
    Hide in deep caves, you people of Dedan!
For when I bring disaster on Edom,^[j]
    I will punish you, too!
⁹ Those who harvest grapes
    always leave a few for the poor.
If thieves came at night,
    they would not take everything.
¹⁰ But I will strip bare the land of Edom,
    and there will be no place left to hide.
Its children, its brothers, and its neighbors
    will all be destroyed,
    and Edom itself will be no more.
¹¹ But I will protect the orphans who remain among you.
    Your widows, too, can depend on me for help.”

¹⁴ I have heard a message from the Lord
    that an ambassador was sent to the nations to say,
“Form a coalition against Edom,
    and prepare for battle!”

¹⁵ The Lord says to Edom,
“I will cut you down to size among the nations.
    You will be despised by all.
¹⁶ You have been deceived
    by the fear you inspire in others
    and by your own pride.
You live in a rock fortress
    and control the mountain heights.
But even if you make your nest among the peaks with the eagles,
    I will bring you crashing down,”
    says the Lord.

¹⁷ “Edom will be an object of horror.
    All who pass by will be appalled
    and will gasp at the destruction they see there.
¹⁸ It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
    and their neighboring towns,” says the Lord.
“No one will live there;
    no one will inhabit it.
¹⁹ I will come like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan,
    leaping on the sheep in the pasture.
I will chase Edom from its land,
    and I will appoint the leader of my choice.
For who is like me, and who can challenge me?
    What ruler can oppose my will?”

²⁰ Listen to the Lord’s plans against Edom
    and the people of Teman.
Even the little children will be dragged off like sheep,
    and their homes will be destroyed.
²¹ The earth will shake with the noise of Edom’s fall,
    and its cry of despair will be heard all the way to the Red Sea.^[k]
22 Look! The enemy swoops down like an eagle,
    spreading his wings over Bozrah.
Even the mightiest warriors will be in anguish
    like a woman in labor.

“The towns of Hamath and Arpad are struck with fear,
    for they have heard the news of their destruction.
Their hearts are troubled
    like a wild sea in a raging storm.
²⁴ Damascus has become feeble,
    and all her people turn to flee.
Fear, anguish, and pain have gripped her
    as they grip a woman in labor.
²⁵ That famous city, a city of joy,
    will be forsaken!
²⁶ Her young men will fall in the streets and die.
    Her soldiers will all be killed,”
    says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
²⁷ “And I will set fire to the walls of Damascus
    that will burn up the palaces of Ben-hadad.”

“Advance against Kedar!
    Destroy the warriors from the East!
²⁹ Their flocks and tents will be captured,
    and their household goods and camels will be taken away.
Everywhere shouts of panic will be heard:
    ‘We are terrorized at every turn!’
³⁰ Run for your lives,” says the Lord.
    “Hide yourselves in deep caves, you people of Hazor,
for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has plotted against you
    and is preparing to destroy you.

³¹ “Go up and attack that complacent nation,”
    says the Lord.
“Its people live alone in the desert
    without walls or gates.
³² Their camels and other livestock will all be yours.
    I will scatter to the winds these people
    who live in remote places.^[m]
I will bring calamity upon them
    from every direction,” says the Lord.
³³ “Hazor will be inhabited by jackals,
    and it will be desolate forever.
No one will live there;
    no one will inhabit it.”

“I will destroy the archers of Elam—
    the best of their forces.
³⁶ I will bring enemies from all directions,
    and I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds.
    They will be exiled to countries around the world.
³⁷ I myself will go with Elam’s enemies to shatter it.
    In my fierce anger, I will bring great disaster
    upon the people of Elam,” says the Lord.
“Their enemies will chase them with the sword
    until I have destroyed them completely.
³⁸ I will set my throne in Elam,” says the Lord,
    “and I will destroy its king and officials.
³⁹ But I will restore the fortunes of Elam
    in days to come.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!”

¹ May God be merciful and bless us.
    May his face smile with favor on us. Interlude

² May your ways be known throughout the earth,
    your saving power among people everywhere.
³ May the nations praise you, O God.
    Yes, may all the nations praise you.
⁴ Let the whole world sing for joy,
    because you govern the nations with justice
    and guide the people of the whole world. Interlude

⁵ May the nations praise you, O God.
    Yes, may all the nations praise you.
⁶ Then the earth will yield its harvests,
    and God, our God, will richly bless us.
⁷ Yes, God will bless us,
    and people all over the world will fear him.