Jeremiah 48
Legacy Standard Bible
Word Against Moab
48 Concerning (A)Moab. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Woe to (B)Nebo, for it has been destroyed;
(C)Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured;
The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and [a]shattered.
2 There is praise for Moab no longer;
In (D)Heshbon they have devised calamity against her:
‘Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!’
You too, [b]Madmen, will be silenced;
The sword will follow after you.
3 The sound of an outcry from (E)Horonaim,
‘[c]Devastation and great destruction!’
4 Moab is broken;
Her little ones have made their cry of distress heard.
5 For by the ascent of (F)Luhith
They will ascend with continual weeping;
For at the descent of Horonaim
They have heard the distressed cry of destruction.
6 (G)Flee, escape with your lives,
That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.
7 For because of your (H)trust in your own works and treasures,
Even you yourself will be captured;
And (I)Chemosh will go off into exile
Together with his priests and his princes.
8 A destroyer will come to every city,
So that no city will escape;
The valley also will perish,
And the (J)plateau will be destroyed,
As Yahweh 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 be the one who does the work of Yahweh (N)with a slack hand,
And cursed be the one who restrains his (O)sword from blood.
11 “Moab has been (P)at ease since his youth;
He has also had (Q)quiet, like wine on [f]its dregs,
And he has not been (R)emptied 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 Yahweh, “when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter [h]his jars. 13 And Moab will be (S)ashamed of (T)Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of (U)Bethel, their trust.
14 How can you say, ‘We are (V)mighty warriors,
And men valiant 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 Yahweh of hosts.
16 “The disaster of Moab will (Y)soon come,
And his calamity has quickly hastened.
17 Mourn for him, all you who live around him,
Even all of you who know his name;
Say, ‘How has the strong [l](Z)scepter been broken,
A staff of beauty!’
18 (AA)Come down from your glory
And inhabit [m]the parched ground,
O inhabitant of the (AB)daughter of (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,
O 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 [n]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, upon (AG)Jahzah, and against (AH)Mephaath, 22 and against Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 and against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and (AI)Beth-meon, 24 and 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 in pieces and his (AL)arm broken,” declares Yahweh. 26 “(AM)Make him drunk, for he has (AN)magnified himself against Yahweh; so Moab will [o]wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock. 27 Now was not Israel a (AO)laughingstock to you? Or was he [p](AP)caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you (AQ)shake your head in scorn.
28 Leave the cities and dwell among the (AR)crags,
O 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 the exaltedness of his heart.
30 I know his (AV)fury,” declares Yahweh,
“But it is nothing;
His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.
31 Therefore I will (AW)wail for Moab,
Even for all Moab will I cry out;
[q]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 branches 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)gladness and joy are gathered up
From the fruitful orchard, even from the land of Moab.
And I have made the wine to (BB)cease 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 even to (BD)Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have given forth their voice, from (BE)Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate. 35 I will make Moab cease,” declares Yahweh, “the one who offers offerings on the (BF)high place and the one who (BG)offers offerings in smoke to his gods.
36 “Therefore My (BH)heart moans for Moab like flutes; My heart also moans like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have (BI)lost the abundance it produced. 37 For (BJ)every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and (BK)sackcloth on the loins. 38 On all the (BL)rooftops of Moab and in its open squares [r]there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable (BM)vessel,” declares Yahweh. 39 “How [s]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 thus says Yahweh:
“Behold, one will (BO)swoop 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 mighty men of Moab in 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 (BT)magnified himself against Yahweh.
43 (BU)Panic and pit and pitfall are coming upon you,
O inhabitant of Moab,” declares Yahweh.
44 “The one who (BV)flees from the panic
Will fall into the pit,
And the one who climbs up out of the pit
Will be caught in the pitfall;
For I shall bring upon her, even upon Moab,
The year of their (BW)punishment,” declares Yahweh.
45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
Those who flee stand without strength;
For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon
And a (BX)flame from the midst of (BY)Sihon,
And it has devoured the (BZ)top of the head of Moab
And the scalps of [t]those who rumble.
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 [u](CC)return the [v]fortunes of Moab
In the last days,” declares Yahweh.
Thus far the judgment on Moab.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Jeremiah 48:1 Or dismayed
- Jeremiah 48:2 A city of Moab
- Jeremiah 48:3 Or destruction, cf. 48:1
- 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 Warriors
- Jeremiah 48:17 Or rod
- Jeremiah 48:18 Lit in thirst
- Jeremiah 48:20 Or dismayed
- Jeremiah 48:26 Or splash into
- Jeremiah 48:27 Or found
- Jeremiah 48:31 Or He
- Jeremiah 48:38 Lit all of it is lamentation
- Jeremiah 48:39 Or dismayed
- Jeremiah 48:45 Lit sons of tumult
- Jeremiah 48:47 Or restore
- Jeremiah 48:47 Or captivity
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
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible