Shared Word Translation
Jeremiah 48
Concerning Moab
Concerning Moab.
Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel:
“Woe to Nebo, for it is devastated!
Kiriathaim is put to shame and captured;
the stronghold is put to shame
and shattered.
The praise of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they have devised evil against her:
‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation.’
You also, Madmen, will be silenced;
the sword will go after you.
A sound of crying from Horonaim:
devastation and great breaking!
Moab is broken;
her little ones make their cry heard.
For on the ascent to Luhith
weeping goes up with weeping,
and on the descent to Horonaim
they hear the distressing cry of breaking.
Flee and Save Your Lives
Flee! Save your lives!
Become like a shrub
in the wilderness.
For because you trusted
in your works and in your treasures,
you also will be captured.
Chemosh will go out into exile,
his priests and his officials together.
The destroyer will come
against every city,
and no city will escape.
The valley will perish,
and the plain will be destroyed,
as the LORD has spoken.
Give wings to Moab,
for she will surely fly away.
Her cities will become a desolation,
without anyone living in them.
Cursed is the one
who does the work of the LORD negligently,
and cursed is the one
who keeps the sword from blood.
Moab Has Been at Ease
Moab has been at ease from his youth
and has settled on his dregs.
He has not been poured
from vessel to vessel,
nor has he gone into exile.
Therefore his taste remains in him,
and his scent has not changed.
Therefore look, days are coming,”
says the LORD,
“when I will send pourers to him,
and they will pour him out.
They will empty his vessels
and smash his jars.
Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
just as the house of Israel
was ashamed of Bethel,
their confidence.
The Horn of Moab Is Cut Off
How can you say,
‘We are warriors,
mighty men for battle’?
Moab is devastated,
and they have gone up against her cities.
Her choice young men
have gone down to slaughter,”
says the King,
whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
The disaster of Moab is near to come,
and her calamity hurries greatly.
Mourn for her,
all you who are around her,
all who know her name.
Say,
‘How the strong staff is broken,
the beautiful rod!’
Come down from glory
and sit in thirst,
inhabitant daughter Dibon,
for the destroyer of Moab
has come up against you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
Stand by the road and watch,
inhabitant of Aroer.
Ask the fleeing man
and the escaping woman;
say, ‘What has happened?’
Moab is put to shame,
for she is broken.
Wail and cry out!
Declare by the Arnon
that Moab is devastated.
Judgment Has Come upon the Plain
Judgment has come upon the land of the plain: upon Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath;
upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-Diblathaim;
upon Kiriathaim, Beth-Gamul, and Beth-Meon;
upon Kerioth and Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
The horn of Moab is cut off,
and his arm is broken,”
says the LORD.
Moab Magnified Himself Against the LORD
“Make him drunk,
for he magnified himself against the LORD.
Moab will wallow in his vomit,
and he also will become a laughingstock.
Was Israel not a laughingstock to you?
Was he found among thieves,
that whenever you spoke of him
you shook your head?
Leave the cities
and dwell in the rock,
inhabitants of Moab.
Be like a dove
that nests on the sides
of the mouth of a gorge.
We Have Heard the Pride of Moab
We have heard of the pride of Moab—
he is exceedingly proud—
his loftiness, his pride,
his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
“I know his fury,”
says the LORD,
“but his boasts are false;
his deeds are false.
Therefore I will wail over Moab;
for all Moab I will cry out.
For the people of Kir-Heres
they will moan.
More than the weeping for Jazer
I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah.
Your branches crossed the sea;
they reached as far as Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen
upon your summer fruit
and upon your grape harvest.
Joy and gladness are taken away
from the fruitful field
and from the land of Moab.
I have caused wine to cease from the presses;
no one treads with the shout of joy.
The shouting will not be
a shout of joy.
The Cry of Moab
From the cry of Heshbon
as far as Elealeh, as far as Jahaz,
they have raised their voice;
from Zoar as far as Horonaim
and Eglath-Shelishiyah.
For even the waters of Nimrim
will become desolate.
“I will cause to cease in Moab,”
says the LORD,
“the one who offers on the high place
and the one who burns incense
to his gods.
Therefore my heart moans for Moab
like flutes,
and my heart moans
like flutes for the people of Kir-Heres.
Therefore the abundance they acquired
has perished.
For every head is bald,
and every beard is clipped.
On all hands are cuts,
and sackcloth is on the waist.
On all the roofs of Moab
and in its public squares
there is lamentation,
for I have broken Moab
like a vessel no one desires,”
says the LORD.
“How she is broken!
How they wail!
How Moab has turned his back in shame!
Moab has become a laughingstock
and a terror to all around him.”
Like an Eagle over Moab
For thus says the LORD:
“Look, one will fly like an eagle
and spread his wings over Moab.
The cities are captured,
and the strongholds are seized.
The heart of Moab’s warriors on that day
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
Moab will be destroyed from being a people
because he magnified himself
against the LORD.
Terror, Pit, and Snare
Terror and pit and snare
are upon you,
inhabitant of Moab,”
says the LORD.
“The one who flees from the terror
will fall into the pit;
the one who climbs out of the pit
will be caught in the snare.
For I will bring upon Moab
the year of their visitation,”
says the LORD.
“In the shadow of Heshbon
the fugitives stand without strength,
for fire has gone out from Heshbon
and flame from the midst of Sihon.
It has devoured the forehead of Moab
and the crown of the sons of tumult.
Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished,
for your sons have been taken captive
and your daughters into captivity.
Yet I will restore
the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days,”
says the LORD.
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.