‏ Jeremiah 48Summary

Judgment on Moab

1 ^aConcerning Moab.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Woe to ^bNebo, for it is laid waste!
^cKiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame ^dand broken down;
2the renown of Moab is no more.
In ^eHeshbon they planned disaster against her:
‘Come, let us cut her off ^ffrom being a nation!’
You also, O ^gMadmen, shall be brought to silence;
the sword shall pursue you.
3“A voice! A cry from ^hHoronaim,
‘Desolation and great destruction!’
4Moab is destroyed;
her little ones have made a cry.
5 ⁱFor at the ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping; ▼

▼Hebrew weeping goes up with weeping

for ^kat the descent of Horonaim
they have heard the distressed cry ▼

▼Septuagint (compare Isaiah 15:5)  heard the cry

of destruction.
6Flee! Save yourselves!
You will be like ^ma juniper in the desert!
7For, ⁿbecause you trusted in your works and your treasures,
you also shall be taken;
and ^oChemosh ^pshall go into exile
with ^qhis priests and his officials.
8 ^rThe destroyer shall come upon every city,
and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
and ^sthe plain shall be destroyed,
as the Lord has spoken.
9“Give wings to Moab,
for she would fly away;
her cities shall become a desolation,
with no inhabitant in them.

10 ^t“Cursed is he who does ^uthe work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.

11“Moab has been at ease from his youth
and has ^vsettled 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.

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 ▼

▼Septuagint, Aquila; Hebrew their

jars in pieces. 13Then ^xMoab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as ^ythe house of Israel was ashamed of ^zBethel, their confidence.

14“How do you say, ‘We are heroes
and mighty men of war’?
15The destroyer of ^aaMoab and his cities has come up,
and the choicest of his young men have ^abgone down to slaughter,
declares ^acthe King, ^adwhose name is the Lord of hosts.
16The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
and his affliction hastens swiftly.
17 ^aeGrieve for him, all you who are around him,
and all who know his name;
say, ^af‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff.’
18 ^ag“Come down from your glory,
and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitant of ^ahDibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
19 ^aiStand by the way ^ajand watch,
O inhabitant of ^akAroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
say, ‘What has happened?’
20Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
^alwail and cry!
Tell it beside ^amthe Arnon,
that ^anMoab is laid waste.

21“Judgment has come upon ^aothe tableland, upon Holon, and ^apJahzah, and Mephaath, 22and ^aqDibon, and ^arNebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23and ^asKiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and ^atBeth-meon, 24and ^auKerioth, and ^avBozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 ^awThe horn of Moab is cut off, and ^axhis arm is broken, declares the Lord.

26 ^ay“Make him drunk, ^azbecause he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall ^bawallow in his vomit, ^bband he too shall be held in derision. 27 ^bcWas not Israel a derision to you? ^bdWas he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him ^beyou wagged your head?

28 ^bf“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab!
Be ^bglike the dove that nests
in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
29 ^bhWe 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.
30I know his insolence, declares the Lord;
^bihis boasts are false,
his deeds are false.
31 ^bjTherefore I wail for Moab;
I cry out for all Moab;
for the men of ^bkKir-hareseth I mourn.
32More than for ^blJazer I weep for you,
^bmO vine of ^bnSibmah!
^boYour branches passed over the sea,
reached to the Sea of ^bpJazer;
on your summer fruits and your grapes
the destroyer has fallen.
33 ^bqGladness 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.

34 ^br“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to ^bsHoronaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. 35And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in ^btthe high place and makes offerings to his god. 36Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of ^buKir-hareseth. ^bvTherefore the riches they gained have perished.

37 ^bw“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. ^bxOn all the hands are gashes, and ^byaround the waist is sackcloth. 38On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like ^bza vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord. 39How it is broken! How they wail! ^caHow Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab ^cbhas become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”

40For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, ^ccone shall fly swiftly like an eagle
^cdand spread his wings against Moab;
41 ^cethe cities shall be taken
and the strongholds seized.
^cfThe heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day
like the heart of ^cga woman in her birth pains;
42Moab shall be ^chdestroyed and be no longer a people,
because ^cihe magnified himself against the Lord.
43 ^cjTerror, pit, and snare
are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!

declares the Lord.
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.
^ckFor I will bring these things upon Moab,
the year of their punishment,

declares the Lord.
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 ^clthe forehead of Moab,
the crown of ^cmthe sons of tumult.
46 ^cnWoe to you, O Moab!
The people of ^coChemosh are undone,
for your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
47 ^cpYet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.