The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Jeremiah 48
1 Of Moab. Yahweh of Armies, the God of
Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo!
For it is laid waste.
Kiriathaim is disappointed.
It is taken. Misgab† is put to shame
and broken down.
2 The praise of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they have devised evil
against her: ‘Come! Let’s cut her off from being a
nation.’ You also, Madmen, will be brought to silence.
The sword will pursue you.
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 they will go up by the ascent of Luhith
with continual weeping. For at the descent of Horonaim they
have heard the distress of the cry of
destruction.
6 Flee! Save your lives! Be like the juniper
bush in the wilderness.
7 For, because you have trusted in your
works and in your treasures,
you also will be taken.
Chemosh will go out into captivity,
his priests and his princes together.
8 The destroyer will come on every city,
and no city will escape;
the valley also will perish,
and the plain will be destroyed, as
Yahweh has spoken.
9 Give wings to Moab, that she may fly and get herself away:
and her cities will become a desolation,
without anyone to dwell in them.
10 “Cursed is he who does the work of Yahweh negligently;
and cursed is he who keeps back his
sword from blood.
11 “Moab has been at ease from his youth,
and he has settled on his dregs,
and has not been emptied from vessel to
vessel, neither has he gone into captivity;
therefore his taste remains in him,
and his scent is not changed.
12 Therefore behold, the days come,” says
Yahweh, “thatI will send to him those who pour
off, and they will pour him off;
and they will empty his vessels,
and break their containers in pieces.
13 Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
as the house of Israel was ashamed of
Bethel, their confidence.
14 “How do you say, ‘We are mighty men,
and valiant men for the war’?
15 Moab is laid waste,
and they have gone up into his cities,
and his chosen young men have gone
down to the slaughter,”
says the King, whose name is Yahweh
of Armies.
16 “The calamity of Moab is near to come,
and his affliction hurries fast.
17 All you who are around him, bemoan
him; and all you who know his name, say,
‘How the strong staff is broken,
the beautiful rod!’
18 “You daughter who dwells in Dibon,
come down from your glory,
and sit in thirst;
for the destroyer of Moab has come up
against you. He has destroyed your strongholds.
19 Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way
and watch. Ask him who flees, and her who escapes;
say, ‘What has been done?’
20 Moab is disappointed; for it is broken down.
Wail and cry! Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid
waste.
21 Judgment has come on the plain country—
on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mephaath,
22 on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim,
23 on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on
Beth Meon,
24 on Kerioth, on Bozrah,
and on all the cities of the land of
Moab, far or near.
25 The horn of Moab is cut off,
and his arm is broken,” says Yahweh.
26 “Make him drunk,
for he magnified himself against Yahweh.
Moab will wallow in his vomit,
and he also will be in derision.
27 For wasn’t Israel a derision to you?
Was he found among thieves?
For as often as you speak of him,
you shake your head.
28 You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities,
and dwell in the rock Be like the dove that makes her nest
over the mouth of the abyss.
29 “We have heard of the pride of Moab.
He is very proud in his loftiness, his
pride, his arrogance, and the arrogance of
his heart.
30 I know his wrath,” says Yahweh, “that it
is nothing; his boastings have done nothing.
31 Therefore I will wail for Moab.
Yes, I will cry out for all Moab.
They will mourn for the men of Kir
Heres.
32 With more than the weeping of Jazer
I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah.
Your branches passed over the sea.
They reached even to the sea of Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen on your summer
fruits and on your vintage.
33 Gladness and joy is taken away from the
fruitful field and from the land of Moab.
I have caused wine to cease from the wine
presses. No one will tread with shouting.
The shouting will be no shouting.
34 Fromthe cry ofHeshbonevento Elealeh,
even to Jahaz they have uttered their
voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim,to Eglath
Shelishiyah; for the waters of Nimrim will also become desolate.
35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,”
says Yahweh, “him who offers in the high place,
and him who burns incense to his
gods.
36 Therefore my heart sounds forMoablike
flutes, and my heart sounds like flutes for the
men of Kir Heres. Therefore the abundance that he has
gotten has perished.
37 For every head is bald,
and every beard clipped.
There are cuttings on all the hands,
and sackcloth on the waist.
38 On all the housetops of Moab,
and in its streets, there is lamentation
everywhere; for I have broken Moab like a vessel
in which no one delights,” says Yahweh.
39 “How it is broken down!
How they wail! How Moab has turned the back with
shame! So will Moab become a derision
and a terror to all who are around
him.”
40 For Yahweh says: “Behold, he will fly as
an eagle, and will spread out his wings against
Moab.
41 Kerioth is taken,
and the strongholds are seized.
The heart of the mighty men of Moab at
that day will be as the heart of a woman in her
pangs.
42 Moab will be destroyed from being a
people, because he has magnified himself
against Yahweh.
43 Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you,
inhabitant of Moab,” says Yahweh.
44 “He who flees from the terror will fall
into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit will
be taken in the snare, for I will bring on him, even on Moab,
the year of their visitation,” says Yahweh.
45 “Those who fled stand without strength
under the shadow of Heshbon;
for a fire has gone out of Heshbon,
and a flame from the middle of Sihon,
and has devoured the corner of Moab,
and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46 Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh are undone;
for your sons are taken away captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
47 “Yet I will reverse the captivity of Moab
in the latter days,” says Yahweh.
Thus far is the judgment of Moab.