Jeremiah 48

The breaking of Moab

1Concerning Moab. This is what the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says:
“Woe to Nebo, for it is devastated!
Kiriathaim is disgraced and captured;
the stronghold is disgraced and shattered. 2Moab's praise is gone.
In Heshbon they plan her ruin:
‘Come, let us wipe her out as a nation.’
You too, Madmen, will fall silent;
the sword will pursue you. 3A cry sounds from Horonaim:
‘Devastation! Great destruction!’ 4Moab is broken;
her little ones raise a cry. 5Up the slope to Luhith
they go weeping, weeping.
On the descent from Horonaim
they hear anguished cries of destruction. 6Flee! Save your lives!
Be like a shrub in the wilderness. 7Because you trusted in your works and treasures,
you too will be captured.
Chemosh will go into exile,
his priests and officials together. 8A destroyer will come to every town;
not one town will escape.
The valley will perish
and the plateau be destroyed,
as the LORD has said. 9Give Moab wings,
for she must fly away.
Her towns will become a desolation,
with no one living in them. 10Cursed is the one who does the LORD's work carelessly;
cursed is the one who holds his sword back from blood.

Wine left undisturbed

11Moab has been at ease since youth,
settled on its lees.
It has not been poured from vessel to vessel
or gone into exile.
So its flavor remains
and its aroma has not changed. 12Therefore days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will send people to tip it out.
They will tip it out, empty its vessels,
and smash its jars. 13Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel,
the place it trusted. 14How can you say, ‘We are warriors,
men strong in battle’? 15Moab is devastated;
an attacker has gone up against its towns.
Its finest young men go down to slaughter,”
declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 16Moab's disaster is near;
its calamity is coming swiftly. 17Mourn for it, all you neighbors,
all who know its name.
Say, “How the mighty staff is broken,
the splendid rod!” 18Come down from your glory;
sit in thirst, daughter dwelling in Dibon.
Moab's destroyer has come against you;
he has ruined your fortifications. 19Stand by the road and watch,
you who live in Aroer.
Ask the fleeing man and escaping woman,
“What has happened?” 20“Moab is disgraced, for it is shattered!
Wail and cry out!
Announce beside the Arnon
that Moab is devastated.”

Judgment across the land

21Judgment has come to the plateau—to Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath, 22to Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23to Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24to Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of Moab, far and near. 25“Moab's horn is cut off;
its arm is broken,” declares the LORD. 26“Make it drunk,
for it has made itself great against the LORD.
Moab will wallow in its vomit
and become a laughingstock too. 27Wasn't Israel a laughingstock to you?
Was Israel found among thieves,
that whenever you spoke of it
you shook your head? 28Leave your towns and live among the rocks,
people of Moab.
Be like a dove that nests
at the mouth of a ravine.

Pride and mourning

29We have heard of Moab's pride—
so very proud!
Its loftiness, its pride, its arrogance,
its haughty heart. 30I know its fury,” declares the LORD,
“but it amounts to nothing.
Its empty boasts accomplish nothing. 31So I wail for Moab;
I cry out for all Moab.
There is mourning for the people of Kir-heres. 32More than the weeping for Jazer,
I weep for you, vine of Sibmah.
Your branches crossed the sea,
reaching the sea of Jazer.
A destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit
and your grape harvest. 33Joy and gladness are taken
from the orchards and the land of Moab.
I have stopped the wine in the presses.
No one treads grapes with a joyful shout;
the shouting is no shout of joy. 34From Heshbon to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz,
their cries ring out;
from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah.
Even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate. 35“I will put an end in Moab,” declares the LORD,
“to those who offer on the high place
and burn incense to their gods.” 36So my heart sounds like pipes for Moab;
my heart sounds like pipes for the people of Kir-heres.
The wealth they gained has perished. 37Every head is shaved,
every beard cut off.
Every hand is gashed,
every waist wrapped in sackcloth. 38On every rooftop of Moab
and in all its squares, nothing but mourning!
“For I have broken Moab
like a vessel no one wants,” declares the LORD. 39How it is shattered! Wail!
How Moab has turned its back in shame!
Moab has become a laughingstock
and a terror to all its neighbors.

Terror, pit, and trap

40For this is what the LORD says:
“Look! One swoops like an eagle,
spreading his wings over Moab. 41The towns are captured;
the strongholds seized.
On that day Moab's warriors will have hearts
like a woman in labor. 42Moab will be destroyed as a people,
for it made itself great against the LORD. 43Terror, pit, and trap await you,
inhabitant of Moab,” declares the LORD. 44“Whoever flees the terror falls into the pit;
whoever climbs from the pit is caught in the trap.
For I will bring upon Moab
the year of its reckoning,” declares the LORD. 45In Heshbon's shadow the fugitives stand exhausted.
But fire has gone out from Heshbon,
a flame from Sihon's midst.
It consumes Moab's forehead,
the crown of the noisy people's head. 46Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished.
Your sons are taken captive,
your daughters into captivity. 47“Yet in days to come I will restore Moab's fortunes,” declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.