The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah

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- Chapter 48 -

(Isaiah 15:1–9)

This is a message about Moab. Yahweh, Commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, says, “Terrible things will happen to the city of Nebo; it will soon be ruined. the city of Kiriathaim will be put to shame. It is taken! The defended fortress will be ruined, and its people will become ashamed.

No one will boast about Moab again; the enemies of Moab will plan to destroy the capital city, Heshbon. They will say, ‘Come, let us cause Moab to no longer be a nation.’ You also, You Madmen! you also will be silenced; enemy armies will pursue you to kill you.

Listen to the people of Horonaim screaming; they will be wailing because their town was completely destroyed.

All of Moab will be ruined; even the little children will cry loudly.

They will cry bitterly as they climb up Luhith hill. Others will wail on the road down to Horonaim. They were so very sad because their town was completely destroyed.

Someone will say to them, ’Flee! Hide in the desert!’

But you trusted that because you were rich and powerful, you would be safe; so you will be captured. Your god Chemosh and all his priests and officials will be taken away to distant lands.

All the towns in Moab will be destroyed; none of them will escape. Towns in the valleys and on the plateau will all be destroyed, because Yahweh has said that is what will happen.

Someone should help all the people in Moab to run away, so that their land will be empty, so that no one will live in it any longer.”

May Yahweh punish anyone who will not eagerly do what he desires; may he curse anyone who refrains from using his sword to kill the people in Moab.

The people of Moab have always felt secure; they have never been exiled. They are like wine that has been left undisturbed in a container for many days to give it good flavor, so now it smells good, and it tastes good.

But Yahweh says that there will be a time when he will send enemies to attack them; they will get rid of the people of Moab like people pour out wine on the ground and then smash the wine jar.

Then the people of Moab will be ashamed of their god Chemosh that they had trusted in, because it did not help them, like the Israelite people were ashamed because their gold statue of a calf was smashed at Bethel.

The soldiers of Moab previously said, “We are warriors; we have fought bravely in battles!”

But now our king, who is called Yahweh, Commander of the angel armies, says that the country of Moab and all the towns in it will be destroyed. Their fine young men will all be slaughtered.

Moab will very soon be destroyed. They will soon experience disaster.

You people who live in nations near Moab, who know that it is very famous, should mourn for Moab, and say, “Its glorious power is completely ended.”

You people of the city of Dibon, stop being proud because of being honored, and sit in the dust where you will thirst for water, because those who will destroy other places in Moab will attack your city and destroy your fortifications.

You people of the city of Aroer, stand along the road and watch. Shout to the men and women who will be fleeing from Moab, “What has happened there?”

They will reply, “Moab is ruined and we are disgraced!” So weep and wail. Proclaim to Amon that Moab has been destroyed.

Yahweh is punishing the towns of Moab that are on the plateau: Holon and Jahaz and Mephaath,

Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,

Kiriathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,

Kerioth and Bozrah. He is punishing cities that are near each other and towns that are far away from each other.

Yahweh says, “The power of Moab will be finished; it is as though it will have a broken arm.

You people of Moab thought you were powerful enough to rebel against me, Yahweh; so now I will cause you all to stagger like drunken people. You people of Moab will wallow in your own vomit and be ridiculed.

Did you not ridicule the people of Israel? Did you think they were nothing but thieves, so that you shook your head at them with scorn, and despised them every time you spoke about them?

You people who live in Moab, you should abandon your towns and go and live in caves. Be like pigeons that make their nests in the entrances of caves.”

We have all heard that the people of Moab are very proud; they are extremely proud and conceited.

But Yahweh says, “I know about that, but it is useless for them to boast because it will accomplish nothing.

So now I will wail for Moab; I will cry about all its people. I will moan for the men of the city of Kir Hareseth, the old capital of Moab.

You people of the city of Sibmah, you have many vineyards, and I will be sad when they are destroyed. It is as though the branches of your vines extend across the Dead Sea to the city of Jazer, but the enemies of Moab will take your grapes and wine from you!

But no one will be joyful or happy in Moab now; your fruit and grapes that ripen in the summer will soon be destroyed. There will be no grape juice coming from the winepresses, so there will be no wine. People will not shout joyfully as they tread on the grapes; people will shout, but they will not be shouting joyfully.

Instead, the sound of their wailing will rise from the city of Heshbon to the town of Elealeh and the village of Jahaz, from the city of Zoar as far as the town of Horonaim Eglath Shelishiyah. Even the water in the stream of Nimrim will be dried up.

I, Yahweh, say that I will get rid of the people who offer sacrifices on the hilltops, those who burn incense to their gods.

I moan for the people of Moab and Kir Hareseth like someone playing a funeral song on a flute, because all their wealth will disappear.

The men will shave their heads and their beards to show that they are mourning. They all will slash their hands and wear rough cloth around their waists.

In every home and in the town plazas in Moab there will be people who are mourning, because I will have destroyed Moab like someone smashes an old jar that no one wants anymore.

Moab will be completely shattered with terror! And you will hear the people wailing loudly! They will be disgraced. Moab will become a nation that people ridicule. The people in nearby countries will be horrified about what has happened there.

This is what I, Yahweh, say: ’Look! Their enemies will be swooping down over Moab like an eagle swoops down to seize an animal.

Its cities will be captured, its fortresses will be seized. Even their warriors will be afraid, like a woman who is about to give birth.

Moab boasted against me, Yahweh, so it will be destroyed.

I, Yahweh, say that you people of Moab will be terrified, and fall into pits and traps.

Those who are terrified and try to run away will fall into deep pits. Whoever climbs out of a pit will be caught in a trap, because I will punish them at the time that I have appointed.’

The people will flee as far as the city of Heshbon, but they will not be able to go any further, because a fire will burn in Heshbon, which is the city where King Sihon lived long ago, and it will burn up all the people in Moab who noisily boasted very much.

You people of Moab, terrible things will happen to you! You people who worship your god Chemosh, you will be destroyed. Your sons and your daughters will be captured and taken away to other countries.

But some day, I will enable the people of Moab to return to their land again. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.” That is the end of what Jeremiah prophesied about Moab.

(Isaiah 15:1–9)

Of Moab. The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo! For it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is disappointed. It is taken. Misgab

(a)

is put to shame and broken down.

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.

The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction!

Moab is destroyed. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.

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.

Flee! Save your lives! Be like the juniper bush in the wilderness.

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.

The destroyer will come on every city, and no city will escape; the valley also will perish, and the plain will be destroyed, as the LORD has spoken.

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.

“Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD negligently; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.

“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.

Therefore behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I 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.

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

“How do you say, ‘We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war’?

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 the LORD of Armies.

“The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast.

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!’

“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.

Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch. Ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, ‘What has been done?’

Moab is disappointed; for it is broken down. Wail and cry! Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.

Judgment has come on the plain country— on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mephaath,

on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim,

on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon,

on Kerioth, on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.

The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken,” says the LORD.

“Make him drunk, for he magnified himself against the LORD. Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will be in derision.

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.

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.

“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.

I know his wrath,” says the LORD, “that it is nothing; his boastings have done nothing.

Therefore I will wail for Moab. Yes, I will cry out for all Moab. They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.

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.

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.

From the cry of Heshbon even to 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.

Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,” says the LORD, “him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods.

Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like flutes, and my heart sounds like flutes for the men of Kir Heres. Therefore the abundance that he has gotten has perished.

For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. There are cuttings on all the hands, and sackcloth on the waist.

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 the LORD.

“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.”

For the LORD says: “Behold, he will fly as an eagle, and will spread out his wings against Moab.

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.

Moab will be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against the LORD.

Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you, inhabitant of Moab,” says the LORD.

“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 the LORD.

“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.

Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity.

“Yet I will reverse the captivity of Moab in the latter days,” says the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

Footnotes

(a)48:1 or, The stronghold