| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1To Moab: This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "How terrible for Nebo, for it's laid waste. Kiriathaim is put to shame, it's captured. The fortress is put to shame, it's shattered. | 1The LORD God of Israel who rules over all spoke about Moab. "Sure to be judged is Nebo! Indeed, it will be destroyed! Kiriathaim will suffer disgrace. It will be captured! Its fortress will suffer disgrace. It will be torn down! |
| 2The pride of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they plotted evil against her: 'Come and let's eliminate her as a nation.' Madmen will also be silenced, and the sword will pursue you. | 2People will not praise Moab any more. The enemy will capture Heshbon and plot how to destroy Moab, saying, 'Come, let's put an end to that nation!' City of Madmen, you will also be destroyed. A destructive army will march against you. |
| 3The sound of crying will come from Horonaim, devastation and great destruction. | 3Cries of anguish will arise in Horonaim, 'Oh, the ruin and great destruction!' |
| 4Moab will be destroyed; her little ones will cry out. | 4"Moab will be crushed. Her children will cry out in distress. |
| 5Indeed, at the ascent of Luhith people will go up with bitter weeping. At the descent of Horonaim the anguished cries over the destruction will be heard. | 5Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith, weeping continually as they go. For on the road down to Horonaim they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction. |
| 6Flee, save your lives, and you will be like a wild donkey in the desert. | 6They will hear, 'Run! Save yourselves! Even if you must be like a lonely shrub in the desert!' |
| 7But, because you trust in your deeds and your riches, you will also be captured. Chemosh will go out into exile, along with his priests and officials. | 7"Moab, you trust in the things you do and in your riches. So you too will be conquered. Your god Chemosh will go into exile along with his priests and his officials. |
| 8A destroyer will come to every town and no town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed." This is what the LORD has said! | 8The destroyer will come against every town. Not one town will escape. The towns in the valley will be destroyed. The cities on the high plain will be laid waste. I, the LORD, have spoken! |
| 9"Put salt on Moab for she will surely fall. Her towns will become desolate places, without any inhabitants in them. | 9Set up a gravestone for Moab, for it will certainly be laid in ruins! Its cities will be laid waste and become uninhabited." |
| 10Cursed is the one who is slack in doing the LORD's work. Cursed is the one who holds back his sword from shedding blood. | 10A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the LORD's work! A curse on anyone who keeps from carrying out his destruction! |
| 11Moab has been at ease from his youth. He has been undisturbed like wine on its dregs and not poured from vessel to vessel. He has not gone into exile. Therefore, his flavor has remained, and his aroma has not changed. | 11"From its earliest days Moab has lived undisturbed. It has never been taken into exile. Its people are like wine allowed to settle undisturbed on its dregs, never poured out from one jar to another. They are like wine which tastes like it always did, whose aroma has remained unchanged. |
| 12"Therefore, look, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I'll send those who tip over vessels to him, and they'll tip him over. They'll empty his vessels and shatter his jars. | 12But the time is coming when I will send men against Moab who will empty it out. They will empty the towns of their people, then will lay those towns in ruins. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 13Moab will be ashamed because of Chemosh just as the house of Israel was ashamed because of Bethel, their confidence. | 13The people of Moab will be disappointed by their god Chemosh. They will be as disappointed as the people of Israel were when they put their trust in the calf god at Bethel. |
| 14"How can you say, 'We're strong warriors, and soldiers ready for battle'? | 14How can you men of Moab say, 'We are heroes, men who are mighty in battle?' |
| 15Moab will be destroyed, and the enemy will come up against her cities. Her finest young men will go down to slaughter," declares the King, whose name is the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. | 15Moab will be destroyed. Its towns will be invaded. Its finest young men will be slaughtered. I, the King, the LORD who rules over all, affirm it! |
| 16"Moab's disaster is near at hand, and his calamity is coming very quickly. | 16Moab's destruction is at hand. Disaster will come on it quickly. |
| 17Mourn for him, all who live around him, and all who know his name. Say, 'Oh how the mighty rod is broken, the glorious staff.' | 17Mourn for that nation, all you nations living around it, all of you nations that know of its fame. Mourn and say, 'Alas, its powerful influence has been broken! Its glory and power have been done away!' |
| 18"Come down from glory, and sit on parched ground, O woman who lives in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab will come up against you to destroy you. He will destroy your strongholds. | 18Come down from your place of honor; sit on the dry ground, you who live in Dibon. For the one who will destroy Moab will attack you; he will destroy your fortifications. |
| 19Stand by the road and keep watch, O woman who lives in Aroer. Ask the man who flees and the woman who escapes. Say, 'What happened'? | 19You who live in Aroer, stand by the road and watch. Question the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping. Ask them, 'What has happened?' |
| 20Moab will be put to shame, for it will be destroyed. Wail and cry out. Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed. | 20They will answer, 'Moab is disgraced, for it has fallen! Wail and cry out in mourning! Announce along the Arnon River that Moab has been destroyed.' |
| 21Judgment has come to the plateau: to Holon and Jahzah, and against Mephaath, | 21"Judgment will come on the cities on the high plain: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath, |
| 22Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, | 22on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim, |
| 23against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, | 23on Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon, |
| 24against Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns in the land of Moab, both far and near. | 24on Kerioth and Bozrah. It will come on all the towns of Moab, both far and near. |
| 25The strength of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken," declares the LORD. | 25Moab's might will be crushed. Its power will be broken. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 26"Make him drunk for he has exalted himself against the LORD. Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he will be the object of mocking. | 26"Moab has vaunted itself against me. So make him drunk with the wine of my wrath until he splashes around in his own vomit, until others treat him as a laughingstock. |
| 27Wasn't Israel an object of mocking for you? Wasn't he treated like a thief, so that whenever you spoke about him you shook your head in contempt? | 27For did not you people of Moab laugh at the people of Israel? Did you think that they were nothing but thieves, that you shook your head in contempt every time you talked about them? |
| 28Abandon the cities, and live on the cliffs, you inhabitants of Moab. Be like a dove that builds a nest by the mouth of a cave. | 28Leave your towns, you inhabitants of Moab. Go and live in the cliffs. Be like a dove that makes its nest high on the sides of a ravine. |
| 29We have heard about Moab's pride— he's very proud— his haughtiness, his arrogance, his insolence, and his conceit. | 29I have heard how proud the people of Moab are, I know how haughty they are. I have heard how arrogant, proud, and haughty they are, what a high opinion they have of themselves. |
| 30I know his gall," declares the LORD, "and it's futile; the boasting that they do is futile. | 30I, the LORD, affirm that I know how arrogant they are. But their pride is ill-founded. Their boastings will prove to be false. |
| 31Therefore, I'll wail for Moab, and for the whole of Moab I'll cry out, for the men of Kir-heres I'll moan. | 31So I will weep with sorrow for Moab. I will cry out in sadness for all of Moab. I will moan for the people of Kir Heres. |
| 32More than the weeping for Jazer, I'll weep for you, vine of Sibmah. Your branches spread out to the sea, and reached as far as the Sea of Jazer. On your summer fruit and grapes the destroyer will fall. | 32I will weep for the grapevines of Sibmah just like the town of Jazer weeps over them. Their branches once spread as far as the Dead Sea. They reached as far as the town of Jazer. The destroyer will ravage her fig, date, and grape crops. |
| 33Gladness and rejoicing will be taken away from the fruitful land. From the land of Moab I'll cause the wine in the wine presses to stop flowing. The workers won't tread the grapes with a loud shout. There will be no shout! | 33Joy and gladness will disappear from the fruitful land of Moab. I will stop the flow of wine from the winepresses. No one will stomp on the grapes there and shout for joy. The shouts there will be shouts of soldiers, not the shouts of those making wine. |
| 34"From the cry of Heshbon, to Elealeh, to Jahaz they have lifted up their voice. From Zoar to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah, even the waters of Nimrim will become a desolate place. | 34Cries of anguish raised from Heshbon and Elealeh will be sounded as far as Jahaz. They will be sounded from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. For even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up. |
| 35In Moab," declares the LORD, "I'll put an end to the one who offers a burnt offering on the high place and to the one who burns incense to his gods. | 35I will put an end in Moab to those who make offerings at her places of worship. I will put an end to those who sacrifice to other gods. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 36Therefore my heart wails for Moab like flutes and my heart wails for the men of Kir-heres like flutes. Therefore they'll lose the abundance they produced. | 36So my heart moans for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song. Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song, my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres. For the wealth they have gained will perish. |
| 37Indeed every head will be bald and every beard cut short. There will be gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins. | 37For all of them will shave their heads in mourning. They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow. They will all make gashes in their hands. They will all put on sackcloth. |
| 38On all the housetops of Moab and in the streets there will be nothing but mourning, for I'll break Moab like a vessel that no one wants," declares the LORD. | 38On all the housetops in Moab and in all its public squares there will be nothing but mourning. For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 39"How it will be shattered! How they'll wail! How Moab will turn his back in shame! Moab will be an object of ridicule and terror to all those around him." | 39Oh, how shattered Moab will be! Oh, how her people will wail! Oh, how she will turn away in shame! Moab will become an object of ridicule, a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her." |
| 40For this is what the LORD says: "Look, like an eagle one will fly swiftly and spread his wings against Moab. | 40For the LORD says, "Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings a nation will swoop down on Moab. |
| 41The towns will be captured and the strongholds seized. On that day the hearts of the warriors of Moab will be like the heart of a woman in labor. | 41Her towns will be captured. Her fortresses will be taken. At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightened like a woman in labor. |
| 42Moab will be destroyed as a nation because he exalted himself against the LORD. | 42Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation, because she has vaunted herself against the LORD. |
| 43Terror, pit, and trap will be used against you who live in Moab," declares the LORD. | 43Terror, pits, and traps are in store for the people who live in Moab. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 44"The one who flees from the terror will fall into a pit. And the one who comes up out of the pit will be caught in a trap. For I'll bring upon her, that is upon Moab, the time of her punishment," declares the LORD. | 44Anyone who flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit. Anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in a trap. For the time is coming when I will punish the people of Moab. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 45"The fugitives will stand without strength in the shadow of Heshbon, for fire will go out from Heshbon and a flame from the middle of Sihon. It will devour the forehead of Moab and the heads of the rebellious people. | 45In the shadows of the walls of Heshbon those trying to escape will stand helpless. For a fire will burst forth from Heshbon. Flames will shoot out from the former territory of Sihon. They will burn the foreheads of the people of Moab, the skulls of those war-loving people. |
| 46How terrible for you, Moab! The people of Chemosh will perish. Indeed, your sons will be taken into captivity, and your daughters as well. | 46Moab, you are doomed! You people who worship Chemosh will be destroyed. Your sons will be taken away captive. Your daughters will be carried away into exile. |
| 47But I'll restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days," declares the LORD. This concludes the judgment on Moab. | 47Yet in days to come I will reverse Moab's ill fortune." says the LORD. The judgment against Moab ends here. |
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