Jeremiah 48

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1. 1This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says about Moab: "Disaster has come to Nebo — it lies in ruins! Kiriathaim has been captured and put to shame. Its fortress is shattered and disgraced."
2. 2Moab's glory is gone. In Heshbon, enemies plot against her: "Come, let's wipe her out as a nation." You too, Madmen, will be silenced — the sword is coming for you.
3. 3Listen — cries ring out from Horonaim: devastation and terrible destruction!
4. 4Moab is shattered. Her children cry out in anguish.
5. 5People climb the road to Luhith, weeping without end. On the descent to Horonaim, the enemy hears desperate cries of ruin.
6. 6Run, save your lives, and be like a bush in the wilderness.
7. 7Because you trusted in your achievements and your wealth, you too will be captured. Your god Chemosh will be hauled away into exile, along with his priests and officials.
8. 8The destroyer will sweep through every city — not one will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, just as the LORD has declared.
9. 9Give Moab wings so she can fly away, because her cities will become wastelands with no one left to live in them.
10. 10Cursed is anyone who carries out the LORD's work halfheartedly, and cursed is anyone who holds back his sword from bloodshed.
11. 11Moab has been comfortable since its youth, like wine left sitting on its sediment, never poured from one jar to another, never sent into exile. So its flavor has stayed the same, and its smell hasn't changed.
12. 12"But the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will send people to tip him over. They will pour him out, empty his jars, and smash his containers to pieces."
13. 13Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, the god they had relied on.
14. 14"How can you say, 'We are warriors — brave men ready for battle'?"
15. 15Moab is devastated. Enemies have marched into her cities, and her finest young men have gone down to the slaughter," says the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies.
16. 16"Moab's disaster is closing in fast. His downfall is rushing toward him."
17. 17All you who live near him, grieve for him. Everyone who knows his reputation, say: "How the mighty scepter is broken — that beautiful staff of power!"
18. 18"You people of Dibon, come down from your place of honor and sit in the dust, parched with thirst. The destroyer of Moab is coming against you, and he will tear down your fortresses."
19. 19People of Aroer, stand by the road and watch. Ask the man running away and the woman escaping, "What happened?"
20. 20Moab is humiliated — completely broken. Wail and cry out! Announce it along the Arnon River: Moab has been destroyed!
21. 21Judgment has fallen on the plateau — on Holon, Jahazah, and Mephaath,
22. 22on Dibon, Nebo, and Bethdiblathaim,
23. 23on Kiriathaim, Bethgamul, and Bethmeon,
24. 24on Kerioth, Bozrah, and every other city in the land of Moab, near and far.
25. 25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, declares the LORD.
26. 26"Make him drunk, because he defied the LORD! Moab will collapse in his own vomit and become an object of ridicule."
27. 27Didn't you mock Israel? Was he found among thieves? Every time you spoke of him, you skipped for joy.
28. 28You people of Moab, abandon your cities and go live among the rocks. Be like a dove that nests on the ledges over a deep gorge.
29. 29"We've all heard about Moab's pride — his incredible arrogance, his conceit, his swagger, and the haughtiness of his heart."
30. 30"I know his wrath," declares the LORD, "but it will not achieve anything; his lies will not make it happen."
31. 31So I will wail for Moab — I will cry out for all of Moab. My heart mourns for the men of Kirheres.
32. 32I weep for you, vine of Sibmah — more than I wept for Jazer. Your branches spread all the way to the sea; they reached as far as Jazer. But the destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and your grape harvest.
33. 33Joy and celebration have vanished from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses. No one treads the grapes with joyful shouts anymore — the shouting that remains is not the sound of joy.
34. 34The cries from Heshbon reach all the way to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim, like the bellowing of a three-year-old heifer. Even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.
35. 35"I will put an end to everyone in Moab who makes offerings at the high places and burns incense to his gods," declares the LORD.
36. 36My heart wails for Moab like a funeral flute, and it wails like a flute for the men of Kirheres, because all the wealth they accumulated is gone.
37. 37Every head is shaved and every beard is cut short. Everyone's hands are slashed, and sackcloth covers every waist.
38. 38On every rooftop in Moab and in every street, there is nothing but mourning, because I have smashed Moab like a pot that nobody wants," declares the LORD.
39. 39"How shattered it is! How they wail! Moab has turned away in disgrace!" Moab has become an object of mockery and horror to everyone around him.
40. 40For the LORD says: "Look — an enemy swoops down like an eagle, spreading his wings over Moab."
41. 41Kerioth is captured, and the fortresses are seized. On that day, the hearts of Moab's warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42. 42Moab will be wiped out as a nation because he defied the LORD.
43. 43"Terror, the pit, and the trap await you, people of Moab," declares the LORD.
44. 44"Anyone who runs from the terror will fall into the pit, and anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap. For I am bringing upon Moab the year of their punishment," declares the LORD.
45. 45Those who fled took refuge in the shadow of Heshbon because of the force, but a fire will come out of Heshbon, and a flame from the center of Sihon, and it will consume the corner of Moab and the top of the heads of the noisy ones.
46. 46Disaster has come to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh are finished — your sons are dragged away as captives and your daughters into exile.
47. 47"Yet in the days to come, I will restore the fortunes of Moab," declares the LORD. This concludes the judgment against Moab.