Jeremiah 48 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

A message about Moab

1 Here is what the LORD says about Moab. The LORD who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, ‘How terrible it will be for the city of Nebo! It will be destroyed. Kiriathaim will be captured. It will be put to shame. Its fort will be broken down. It will be put to shame. 2 Moab will not be praised anymore. In Heshbon people will plan its fall from power. They will say, “Come. Let’s put an end to that nation.” City of Madmen, you too will be silent. My sword will hunt you down. 3 Cries of sorrow come from Horonaim. The town is being completely destroyed. 4 Moab will be broken. Her little ones will cry out. 5 The people go up the hill to Luhith. They are weeping bitterly as they go. Loud cries are heard on the road down to Horonaim. People cry out because the town is being destroyed. 6 People of Moab, run away! Run for your lives! Become like a lonely bush in the desert. 7 You trust in the things you can do. You trust in your riches. So you too will be taken away as prisoners. Your god named Chemosh will be carried away. So will its priests and officials. 8 The one who is going to destroy you will come against every town. Not even one of them will escape. The valley and the high plain will be destroyed. The LORD has spoken. 9 Sprinkle salt all over Moab. It will be completely destroyed. Its towns will be a dry and empty desert. No one will live in them. 10 ‘May anyone who is lazy when they do the LORD’s work be under my curse! May anyone who keeps their sword from killing be under my curse! 11 ‘Moab has been at peace and rest from its earliest days. It is like wine that has not been shaken up. It has not been poured from one jar to another. Moab’s people have not been taken away from their land. They are like wine that tastes as it always did. Its smell has not changed at all. 12 But other days are coming,’ announces the LORD. ‘At that time I will send people who pour wine from pitchers. They will pour Moab out like wine. They will empty its pitchers. They will smash its jars. 13 Then Moab’s people will be ashamed of their god named Chemosh. They will be ashamed just as the people of Israel were when they trusted in their false god at Bethel. 14 ‘How can you say, “We are soldiers. We are men who are brave in battle”? 15 Moab will be destroyed. Its enemies will march into its towns. Its finest young men will die in battle,’ announces the King. His name is the LORD Who Rules Over All. 16 ‘The fall of Moab is near. Its time of trouble will come quickly. 17 All you who live around it, mourn for its people. Be sad, you who know how famous Moab is. Say, “Its powerful ruler’s sceptre is broken! His glorious sceptre is smashed.” 18 ‘Come down from your glorious city, you who live in Dibon. Come and sit on the thirsty ground. The one who destroys Moab will come up and attack you. Your enemies will destroy your cities that have high walls around them. 19 Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the men who are running away. Ask the women who are escaping. Ask them, “What has happened?” 20 Moab has been put to shame. It has been destroyed. Weep and cry out! Tell everyone Moab has been destroyed. Announce it by the River Arnon. 21 The high plain has been judged. So have Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath. 22 Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim have been judged. 23 So have Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon. 24 Kerioth and Bozrah have also been judged. And so have all the towns of Moab, far and near alike. 25 Moab’s power is gone. Its strength is broken,’ announces the LORD. 26 ‘Moab’s people think they are better than I am. So let their enemies make them drunk. Let the people get ill and throw up. Let them roll around in the mess they have made. Let people laugh at them. 27 Moab, you laughed at Israel, didn’t you? Were Israel’s people caught among robbers? Is that why you shake your head at them? Is that why you make fun of them every time you talk about them? 28 Leave your towns, you who live in Moab. Go and live among the rocks. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the entrance of a cave. 29 ‘We have heard all about Moab’s pride. We have heard how very proud they are. They think they are so much better than others. Their pride reaches deep down inside their hearts. 30 I know how rude they are. But it will not get them anywhere,’ announces the LORD. ‘Their boasting does not accomplish anything. 31 So I weep over Moab. I cry for all Moab’s people. I groan for the people of Kir Hareseth. 32 I weep for you as Jazer weeps, you vines of Sibmah. Your branches used to spread out. They went all the way down to the Dead Sea. They reached as far as the sea of Jazer. The one who destroys your country has taken away your grapes and ripe fruit. 33 Joy has left your orchards. Gladness is gone from your fields. I have stopped the flow of juice from your winepresses. No one treads your grapes with shouts of joy. There are shouts. But they are not shouts of joy. 34 ‘The sound of their cry rises from Heshbon. It rises as far as Elealeh and Jahaz. It rises from Zoar. It goes all the way to Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. Even the waters at Nimrim are dried up. 35 In Moab people sacrifice offerings on the high places. They burn incense to their gods. But I will put an end to those people,’ announces the LORD. 36 ‘Like a flute my heart sings a song of sadness for Moab. It sings like a flute for the people of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they had acquired is gone. 37 Every head is shaved. Every beard is cut off. Every hand is cut. And every waist is covered with the clothes of sadness. 38 Weeping is the only sound in Moab. It is heard on all its roofs. It is heard in the market. I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,’ announces the LORD. 39 ‘How broken Moab is! How the people weep! They turn away from others because they are so ashamed. All those around them laugh at them. They are shocked at them.’ 40 The LORD says, ‘Look! Nebuchadnezzar is like an eagle diving down. He is spreading his wings over Moab. 41 Kerioth will be captured. Its forts will be taken. At that time the hearts of Moab’s soldiers will tremble in fear. They will be like the heart of a woman having a baby. 42 Moab will be destroyed as a nation. That is because its people thought they were better than the LORD. 43 You people of Moab,’ announces the LORD, ‘terror, a pit and a trap are waiting for you. 44 Anyone who runs away from the terror will fall into the pit. Anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap. The time is coming when I will punish Moab,’ announces the LORD. 45 ‘In the shadow of Heshbon those who are trying to escape stand helpless. A fire has blazed out from Heshbon. Flames have come out from Sihon’s city. It burns the foreheads of Moab’s people. It burns the skulls of those who boast loudly. 46 How terrible it will be for you, Moab! Those who worship Chemosh are destroyed. Your sons are being taken to another country. Your daughters are taken away as prisoners. 47 ‘But in days to come I will bless Moab with great success again,’ announces the LORD. This ends the report about how the LORD would judge Moab.

King James Version

1 Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed. 2 There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee. 3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction. 4 Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. 5 For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction. 6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. 7 For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together. 8 And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken. 9 Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein. 10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. 11 Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. 12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles. 13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence. 14 How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war? 15 Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. 17 All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod! 18 Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds. 19 O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done? 20 Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, 21 And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath, 22 And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim, 23 And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon, 24 And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. 25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD. 26 Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. 27 For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy. 28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole' mouth. 29 We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. 30 I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it . 31 Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres. 32 O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. 33 And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting. 34 From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate. 35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods. 36 Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished. 37 For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. 38 There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD. 39 They shall howl, saying , How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him. 40 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab. 41 Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men' hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. 42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD. 43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD. 44 He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. 45 They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. 46 Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives. 47 Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.