New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1This message was given concerning Moab. This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “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.

1Concerning Moab. Thus says the LORD 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.

2No 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, too, will be silenced; the sword will follow you there.

2"There 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.

3Listen to the cries from Horonaim, cries of devastation and great destruction.

3"The sound of an outcry from Horonaim, 'Devastation and great destruction!'

4All Moab is destroyed. Her little ones will cry out.

4"Moab is broken, Her little ones have sounded out a cry of distress.

5Her refugees weep bitterly, climbing the slope to Luhith. They cry out in terror, descending the slope to Horonaim.

5"For by the ascent of Luhith They will ascend with continual weeping; For at the descent of Horonaim They have heard the anguished cry of destruction.

6Flee for your lives! Hide in the wilderness!

6"Flee, save your lives, That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.

7Because 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!

7"For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures, Even you yourself will be captured; And Chemosh will go off into exile Together with his priests and his princes.

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.

8"A destroyer will come to every city, So that no city will escape; The valley also will be ruined And the plateau will be destroyed, As the LORD has said.

9Oh, that Moab had wings so she could fly away, for her towns will be left empty, with no one living in them.

9"Give wings to Moab, For she will flee away; And her cities will become a desolation, Without inhabitants in them.

10Cursed are those who refuse to do the LORD’s work, who hold back their swords from shedding blood!

10"Cursed be the one who does the LORD'S work negligently, And cursed be the one who restrains his sword from 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.

11"Moab has been at ease since his youth; He has also been undisturbed, 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.

12But 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!

12"Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "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.

13At last Moab will be ashamed of his idol Chemosh, as the people of Israel were ashamed of their gold calf at Bethel.

13"And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

14“You used to boast, ‘We are heroes, mighty men of war.’

14"How can you say, 'We are mighty warriors, And men valiant for battle '?

15But 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.

15"Moab 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 the LORD of hosts.

16“Destruction is coming fast for Moab; calamity threatens ominously.

16"The disaster of Moab will soon come, And his calamity has swiftly hastened.

17You friends of Moab, weep for him and cry! See how the strong scepter is broken, how the beautiful staff is shattered!

17"Mourn for him, all you who live around him, Even all of you who know his name; Say, 'How has the mighty scepter been broken, A staff of splendor!'

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.

18"Come down from your glory And sit on the parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, He has ruined your strongholds.

19You people of Aroer, stand beside the road and watch. Shout to those who flee from Moab, ‘What has happened there?’

19"Stand by the road and keep watch, O inhabitant of Aroer; Ask him who flees and her who escapes And say, 'What has happened?'

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!’

20"Moab has been put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out; Declare by the Arnon That Moab has been destroyed.

21Judgment has been poured out on the towns of the plateau— on Holon and Jahaz and Mephaath,

21"Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, Jahzah and against Mephaath,

22on Dibon and Nebo and Beth-diblathaim,

22against Dibon, Nebo and Beth-diblathaim,

23on Kiriathaim and Beth-gamul and Beth-meon,

23against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul and Beth-meon,

24on Kerioth and Bozrah— all the towns of Moab, far and near.

24against Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.

25“The strength of Moab has ended. His arm has been broken,” says the LORD.

25"The horn of Moab has been cut off and his arm broken," declares 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.

26"Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant toward the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock.

27Did you not ridicule the people of Israel? Were they caught in the company of thieves that you should despise them as you do?

27"Now 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.

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.

28"Leave 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 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.

29"We have heard of the pride of Moab-- he is very proud-- Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation.

30I know about his insolence,” says the LORD, “but his boasts are empty— as empty as his deeds.

30"I know his fury," declares the LORD, "But it is futile; His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.

31So now I wail for Moab; yes, I will mourn for Moab. My heart is broken for the men of Kir-hareseth.

31"Therefore I will wail for Moab, Even for all Moab will I cry out; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

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, but the destroyer has stripped you bare! He has harvested your grapes and summer fruits.

32"More than the weeping for Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your tendrils stretched across the sea, They reached to the sea of Jazer; Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest The destroyer has fallen.

33Joy 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.

33"So gladness and joy are taken away From the fruitful field, 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.

34“Instead, their awful cries of terror can be heard from Heshbon clear across to Elealeh and Jahaz; from Zoar all the way to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up now.

34"From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate.

35“I will put an end to Moab,” says the LORD, “for the people offer sacrifices at the pagan shrines and burn incense to their false gods.

35"I will make an end of Moab," declares the LORD, "the one who offers sacrifice on the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.

36My heart moans like a flute for Moab and Kir-hareseth, for all their wealth has disappeared.

36"Therefore My heart wails for Moab like flutes; My heart also wails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced.

37The people shave their heads and beards in mourning. They slash their hands and put on clothes made of burlap.

37"For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins.

38There is crying and sorrow in every Moabite home and on every street. For I have smashed Moab like an old, unwanted jar.

38"On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel," declares the LORD.

39How it is shattered! Hear the wailing! See the shame of Moab! It has become an object of ridicule, an example of ruin to all its neighbors.”

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."

40This is what the LORD says: “Look! The enemy swoops down like an eagle, spreading his wings over Moab.

40For thus says the LORD: "Behold, one will fly swiftly like an eagle And spread out his wings against Moab.

41Its cities will fall, and its strongholds will be seized. Even the mightiest warriors will be in anguish like a woman in labor.

41"Kerioth 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 no longer be a nation, for it has boasted against the LORD.

42"Moab will be destroyed from being a people Because he has become arrogant toward the LORD.

43“Terror and traps and snares will be your lot, O Moab,” says the LORD.

43"Terror, pit and snare are coming upon you, O inhabitant of Moab," declares 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.

44"The one who flees from the terror Will fall into the pit, And the one who climbs up out of the pit Will be caught in the snare; For I shall bring upon her, even upon Moab, The year of their punishment," declares 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.

45"In the shadow of Heshbon The fugitives stand without strength; For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon And a flame from the midst of Sihon, And it has devoured the forehead of Moab And the scalps of the riotous revelers.

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.

46"Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; For your sons have been taken away captive And your daughters into captivity.

47But I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come. I, the LORD, have spoken!” This is the end of Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning Moab.

47"Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab In the latter days," declares the LORD. Thus far the judgment on Moab.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org