48 Of Moab. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Woe unto Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; ^[a]Misgab is put to shame and ^[b]broken down. ² The praise of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. Thou also, O Madmen, shalt be brought to silence; the sword shall pursue thee. ³ The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction! ⁴ Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. ⁵ For by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping shall they go up; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction. ⁶ Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. ⁷ For, because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou also shalt be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together. ⁸ And the destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed; as Jehovah hath spoken. ⁹ Give wings unto Moab, ^[c]that she may fly and get her away: and her cities shall become a desolation, without any to dwell therein. ¹⁰ Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah ^[d]negligently; and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

¹¹ Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remaineth in him, and his scent is not changed. ¹² Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will send unto him them that ^[e]pour off, and they shall ^[f]pour him off; and they shall empty his vessels, and break their ^[g]bottles in pieces. ¹³ And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence. ¹⁴ How say ye, We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war? ¹⁵ Moab is laid waste, and ^[h]they are gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts. ¹⁶ The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. ¹⁷ All ye that are round about him, bemoan him, and all ye that know his name; say, How is the strong ^[i]staff broken, the beautiful rod! ¹⁸ O thou daughter that ^[j]dwellest in Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab is come up against thee, he hath destroyed thy strongholds. ¹⁹ O ^[k]inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and watch: ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth; say, What hath been done? ²⁰ Moab is put to shame; for it is ^[l]broken down: wail and cry; tell ye it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. ²¹ And judgment is come upon the plain country, upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath, ²² and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim, ²³ and upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon, ²⁴ and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. ²⁵ The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith Jehovah.

²⁶ Make ye him drunken; for he magnified himself against Jehovah: and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. ²⁷ For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for as often as thou speakest of him, thou waggest the head. ²⁸ O ye inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock; and be like the dove that maketh her nest over the mouth of the abyss. ²⁹ We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogancy, and the haughtiness of his heart. ³⁰ I know his wrath, saith Jehovah, that it is nought; his boastings have wrought nothing. ³¹ Therefore will I wail for Moab; yea, I will cry out for all Moab: for the men of Kir-heres shall they mourn. ³² With more than the weeping of Jazer will I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah: thy branches passed over the sea, they reached even to the sea of Jazer: upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage the destroyer is fallen. ³³ And gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to cease from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting. ³⁴ From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, even unto Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, ^[m]to Eglath-shelishiyah: for the waters of Nimrim also shall become ^[n]desolate. ³⁵ Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith Jehovah, him that offereth in the high place, and him that burneth incense to his gods.

³⁶ Therefore my heart soundeth for Moab like pipes, and my heart soundeth like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: therefore the abundance that he hath gotten is perished. ³⁷ For every head is bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. ³⁸ On all the housetops of Moab and in the streets thereof there is lamentation every where; for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein none delighteth, saith Jehovah. ³⁹ How is it broken down! ^[o]how do they wail! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab become a derision and a terror to all that are round about him. ⁴⁰ For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread out his wings against Moab. ^41 [p]Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. ⁴² And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against Jehovah. ⁴³ Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith Jehovah. ⁴⁴ He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon him, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith Jehovah.

^45 [q]They that fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; ^[r]for a fire is gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and hath devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. ⁴⁶ Woe unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh is undone; for thy sons are taken away captive, and thy daughters into captivity. ⁴⁷ Yet will I ^[s]bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith Jehovah. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.