Word Against Moab

1Concerning Moab. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,

“Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed;

Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured;

The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and [†]shattered.

2There is praise for Moab no longer;

In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her:

‘Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!’

You too, [†]Madmen, will be silenced;

The sword will follow after you.

3The sound of an outcry from Horonaim,

‘[†]Devastation and great destruction!’

4Moab is broken;

Her little ones have made their cry of distress heard.

5For by the ascent of Luhith

They will ascend with continual weeping;

For at the descent of Horonaim

They have heard the distressed cry of destruction.

6Flee, escape with your lives,

That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.

7For because of your trust in your own works and treasures,

Even you yourself will be captured;

And Chemosh will go off into exile

Together with his priests and his princes.

8A destroyer will come to every city,

So that no city will escape;

The valley also will perish,

And the plateau will be destroyed,

As Yahweh has said.

9Give [†]wings to Moab,

For she will [†]flee away;

And her cities will become a desolation,

Without inhabitants in them.

10Cursed be the one who does the work of Yahweh with a slack hand,

And cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood.

11“Moab has been at ease since his youth;

He has also had quiet, like wine on [†]its dregs,

And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,

Nor has he gone into exile.

Therefore [†]he retains his flavor,

And his aroma has not changed.

12Therefore 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 [†]his jars. 13And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their trust.

14How can you say, ‘We are mighty warriors,

And men valiant for battle’?

15Moab has been destroyed, and [†]men have gone up to [†]his cities;

His choicest [†]young men have also gone down to the slaughter,”

Declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts.

16“The disaster of Moab will soon come,

And his calamity has quickly hastened.

17Mourn for him, all you who live around him,

Even all of you who know his name;

Say, ‘How has the strong [†]scepter been broken,

A staff of beauty!’

18Come down from your glory

And inhabit [†]the parched ground,

O inhabitant of the daughter of Dibon;

For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,

He has ruined your strongholds.

19Stand by the road and keep watch,

O inhabitant of Aroer;

Ask him who flees and her who escapes

And say, ‘What has happened?’

20Moab has been put to shame, for it has been [†]shattered.

Wail and cry out;

Declare by the Arnon

That Moab has been destroyed.

21“Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, upon Jahzah, and against Mephaath, 22and against Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23and against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24and against Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25The horn of Moab has been cut in pieces and his arm broken,” declares Yahweh. 26“Make him drunk, for he has magnified himself against Yahweh; so Moab will [†]wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock. 27Now was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Or was he [†]caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you shake your head in scorn.

28Leave the cities and dwell among the crags,

O inhabitants of Moab,

And be like a dove that nests

Beyond the mouth of the chasm.

29We have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud—

Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance, and the exaltedness of his heart.

30I know his fury,” declares Yahweh,

“But it is nothing;

His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.

31Therefore I will wail for Moab,

Even for all Moab will I cry out;

[†]I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

32More than the weeping for 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.

33So gladness and joy are gathered up

From the fruitful orchard, even from the land of Moab.

And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses;

No one will tread them with shouting,

The shouting will not be shouts of joy.

34From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have given forth their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate. 35I will make Moab cease,” declares Yahweh, “the one who offers offerings on the high place and the one who offers offerings in smoke to his gods.

36“Therefore My heart moans for Moab like flutes; My heart also moans like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced. 37For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins. 38On all the rooftops of Moab and in its open squares [†]there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel,” declares Yahweh. 39“How [†]shattered it is! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back—he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an object of terror to all around him.”

40For thus says Yahweh:

“Behold, one will swoop like an eagle

And spread out his wings against Moab.

41Kerioth has been captured,

And the strongholds have been seized,

So the hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day

Will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

42Moab will be destroyed from being a people

Because he has magnified himself against Yahweh.

43Panic and pit and pitfall are coming upon you,

O inhabitant of Moab,” declares Yahweh.

44“The one who 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 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 flame from the midst of Sihon,

And it has devoured the top of the head of Moab

And the scalps of [†]those who rumble.

46Woe to you, Moab!

The people of Chemosh have perished;

For your sons have been taken away captive

And your daughters into captivity.

47Yet I will [†]return the [†]fortunes of Moab

In the last days,” declares Yahweh.

Thus far the judgment on Moab.