1Concerning Moab. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste! Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; the fortress is put to shame and broken down; (Nu 32:3; Nu 32:37; Jos 13:19; 2Ki 24:2; Jer 25:21; Jer 48:20; Jer 48:22; Jer 48:23; Jer 48:39; Eze 25:8; Eze 25:9; Am 2:1; Zep 2:8)2the renown of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they planned disaster against her: ‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’ You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence; the sword shall pursue you. (Nu 32:37; Isa 10:31; Isa 15:4; Jer 31:36; Jer 48:34; Jer 48:45; Jer 49:3)3“A voice! A cry from Horonaim, ‘Desolation and great destruction!’ (Isa 15:5; Jer 48:34)4Moab is destroyed; her little ones have made a cry.5For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping;[1] for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distressed cry[2] of destruction. (Jer 48:3)6Flee! Save yourselves! You will be like a juniper in the desert! (Jer 17:6)7For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures, you also shall be taken; and Chemosh shall go into exile with his priests and his officials. (Nu 21:29; Isa 46:2; Jer 49:3; Jer 49:4)8The destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord has spoken. (De 3:10; Jos 13:9; Jos 13:17; Jos 13:21; Jer 6:26; Jer 48:21)9“Give wings to Moab, for she would fly away; her cities shall become a desolation, with no inhabitant in them.10“Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed. (Jud 5:23; 1Sa 15:3; 1Sa 15:9; 1Ki 20:42; 1Co 15:58)11“Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile; so his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed. (Zep 1:12)12“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his[3] jars in pieces.13Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. (Nu 21:29; 1Ki 12:29; Isa 16:14; Ho 10:6)14“How do you say, ‘We are heroes and mighty men of war’?15The destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up, and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts. (Isa 15:1; Jer 46:18; Jer 48:8; Jer 48:18; Jer 48:20; Jer 50:27)16The calamity of Moab is near at hand, and his affliction hastens swiftly.17Grieve for him, all you who are around him, and all who know his name; say, ‘How the mighty scepter is broken, the glorious staff.’ (Isa 9:4; Isa 14:5; Isa 15:4; Isa 16:7)18“Come down from your glory, and sit on the parched ground, O inhabitant of Dibon! For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you; he has destroyed your strongholds. (Nu 21:30; Isa 15:2; Isa 47:1)19Stand by the way and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer! Ask him who flees and her who escapes; say, ‘What has happened?’ (De 2:36; Jos 13:9; 1Sa 4:13; 1Sa 4:16; Na 2:1)20Moab is put to shame, for it is broken; wail and cry! Tell it beside the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. (Isa 16:2; Jer 48:15; Jer 48:17)21“Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath, (Nu 21:23; Jos 13:18; Jer 48:8)22and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, (Nu 33:46; Isa 15:2; Jer 48:18)23and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, (Jos 13:17; 1Ch 5:8; Jer 48:1)24and Kerioth, and Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. (Isa 63:1; Jer 49:13; Jer 49:22; Am 2:2)25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, declares the Lord. (Ps 75:10; Eze 30:21)26“Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he too shall be held in derision. (Isa 19:14; Jer 25:27; Jer 48:39; Jer 48:42; Jer 51:39)27Was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him you wagged your head? (Ps 64:8; Jer 2:26; La 2:15; Eze 25:8; Zep 2:8; Mt 27:39)28“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab! Be like the dove that nests in the sides of the mouth of a gorge. (Ps 55:6; So 2:14; Jer 48:9)29We have heard of the pride of Moab— he is very proud— of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart. (Isa 16:6)30I know his insolence, declares the Lord; his boasts are false, his deeds are false. (Jer 50:36)31Therefore I wail for Moab; I cry out for all Moab; for the men of Kir-hareseth I mourn. (2Ki 3:25; Isa 15:5; Isa 16:7; Isa 16:11)32More than for Jazer I weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your branches passed over the sea, reached to the Sea of Jazer; on your summer fruits and your grapes the destroyer has fallen. (Nu 21:32; Jos 13:19; Ps 80:11; Isa 16:8)33Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made the wine cease from the winepresses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is not the shout of joy. (Isa 16:10)34“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. (Isa 15:4; Jer 48:3)35And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in the high place and makes offerings to his god. (Isa 15:2; Isa 16:12; Eze 20:29)36Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of Kir-hareseth. Therefore the riches they gained have perished. (Isa 15:7; Jer 48:31)37“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. On all the hands are gashes, and around the waist is sackcloth. (Isa 15:2; Jer 4:8; Jer 47:5; Jer 49:3; La 2:10)38On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord. (Jer 22:28)39How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.” (Jer 48:6; Jer 48:26)40For thus says the Lord: “Behold, one shall fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab; (De 28:49; Isa 8:8; Jer 49:22; Eze 17:3)41the cities shall be taken and the strongholds seized. The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains; (Isa 13:7; Jer 6:24; Jer 48:24)42Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he magnified himself against the Lord. (Isa 7:8; Jer 48:26)43Terror, pit, and snare are before you, O inhabitant of Moab! declares the Lord. (Isa 24:17; La 3:47)44He who flees from the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For I will bring these things upon Moab, the year of their punishment, declares the Lord. (Jer 11:23)45“In the shadow of Heshbon fugitives stop without strength, for fire came out from Heshbon, flame from the house of Sihon; it has destroyed the forehead of Moab, the crown of the sons of tumult. (Nu 24:17)46Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are undone, for your sons have been taken captive, and your daughters into captivity. (Jer 48:1; Jer 48:13)47Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, declares the Lord.” Thus far is the judgment on Moab. (Jer 46:27; Jer 49:39)