The Destruction of Moab
1 This is what the Lord Almighty said about Moab:
“Pity the people of Nebo—
their town is destroyed!
Kiriathaim is captured,
its mighty fortress torn down,
and its people put to shame;
2 the splendor of Moab is gone.
The enemy have captured Heshbon
and plot to destroy the nation of Moab.
The town of Madmen will be silenced;
armies will march against it.
3 The people of Horonaim cry out,
‘Violence! Destruction!’
4 “Moab has been destroyed;
listen to the children crying.
5 Hear the sound of their sobs
along the road up to Luhith,
the cries of distress
on the way down to Horonaim.
6 ‘Quick, run for your lives!’ they say.
‘Run like a wild desert donkey!’
7 “Moab, you trusted in your strength and your wealth,
but now even you will be conquered;
your god Chemosh will go into exile,
along with his princes and priests.
8 Not a town will escape the destruction;
both valley and plain will be ruined.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
9 Set up a tombstone for Moab;
it will soon be destroyed.
Its towns will be left in ruins,
and no one will live there again.”
( 10 Curse those who do not do the Lord's work with all their heart! Curse those who do not slash and kill!)
The Cities of Moab Are Destroyed
11 The Lord said, “Moab has always lived secure and has never been taken into exile. Moab is like wine left to settle undisturbed and never poured from jar to jar. Its flavor has never been ruined, and it tastes as good as ever.
12 “So now, the time is coming when I will send people to pour Moab out like wine. They will empty its wine jars and break them in pieces. 13 Then the Moabites will be disillusioned with their god Chemosh, just as the Israelites were disillusioned with Bethel, a god in whom they trusted.
14 “Men of Moab, why do you claim to be heroes,
brave soldiers tested in war?
15 Moab and its cities are destroyed;
its finest young men have been slaughtered.
I am the king, the Lord Almighty,
and I have spoken.
16 Moab's doom approaches;
its ruin is coming soon.
17 “Mourn for that nation, you that live nearby,
all of you that know its fame.
Say, ‘Its powerful rule has been broken;
its glory and might are no more.’
18 You that live in Dibon,
come down from your place of honor
and sit on the ground in the dust;
Moab's destroyer is here
and has left its forts in ruins.
19 You that live in Aroer,
stand by the road and wait;
ask those who are running away,
find out from them what has happened.
20 ‘Moab has fallen,’ they will answer,
‘weep for it; it is disgraced.
Announce along the Arnon River
that Moab is destroyed!’
21 “Judgment has come on the cities of the plateau: on Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, 22 Dibon, Nebo, Beth Diblathaim, 23 Kiriathaim, Bethgamul, Bethmeon, 24 Kerioth, and Bozrah. Judgment has come on all the cities of Moab, far and near. 25 Moab's might has been crushed; its power has been destroyed. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Moab Will Be Humbled
26 The Lord said, “Make Moab drunk, because it has rebelled against me. Moab will roll in its own vomit, and people will laugh. 27 Moab, remember how you made fun of the people of Israel? You treated them as though they had been caught with a gang of robbers.
28 “You people who live in Moab, leave your towns! Go and live on the cliffs! Be like the dove that makes its nest in the sides of a ravine. 29 Moab is very proud! I have heard how proud, arrogant, and conceited the people are, how much they think of themselves. 30 I, the Lord, know of their arrogance. Their boasts amount to nothing, and the things they do will not last. 31 And so I will weep for everyone in Moab and for the people of Kir Heres. 32 I will cry for the people of Sibmah, even more than for the people of Jazer. City of Sibmah, you are like a vine whose branches reach across the Dead Sea and go as far as Jazer. But now your summer fruits and your grapes have been destroyed. 33 Happiness and joy have been taken away from the fertile land of Moab. I have made the wine stop flowing from the wine presses; there is no one to make the wine and shout for joy.
34 “The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, and their cry can be heard as far as Jahaz; it can be heard by the people in Zoar, and it is heard as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. Even Nimrim Brook has dried up. 35 I will stop the people of Moab from making burnt offerings at their places of worship and from offering sacrifices to their gods. I, the Lord, have spoken.
36 “So my heart mourns for Moab and for the people of Kir Heres, like someone playing a funeral song on a flute, because everything they owned is gone. 37 All of them have shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth. 38 On all the housetops of Moab and in all its public squares there is nothing but mourning, because I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants. 39 Moab has been shattered! Cry out! Moab has been disgraced. It is in ruins, and all the surrounding nations make fun of it. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
No Escape for Moab
40 The Lord has promised that a nation will swoop down on Moab like an eagle with its outspread wings, 41 and the towns and fortresses will be captured. On that day Moab's soldiers will be as frightened as a woman in labor. 42 Moab will be destroyed and will no longer be a nation, because it rebelled against me. 43 Terror, pits, and traps are waiting for the people of Moab. The Lord has spoken. 44 Whoever tries to escape the terror will fall into the pits, and whoever climbs out of the pits will be caught in the traps, because the Lord has set the time for Moab's destruction. 45 Helpless refugees try to find protection in Heshbon, the city that King Sihon once ruled, but it is in flames. Fire has burned up the frontiers and the mountain heights of the war-loving people of Moab. 46 Pity the people of Moab! The people who worshiped Chemosh have been destroyed, and their sons and daughters have been taken away as prisoners.
47 But in days to come the Lord will make Moab prosperous again. All of this is what the Lord has said will happen to Moab.
1 Concerning Moab, thus saith ye Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Woe vnto Nebo: for it is wasted: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and afraide. 2 Moab shall boast no more of Heshbon: for they haue deuised euill against it. Come, and let vs destroy it, that it be no more a nation: also thou shalt be destroyed, O Madmen, and the sworde shall pursue thee. 3 A voyce of crying shall be from Horonaim with desolation and great destruction. 4 Moab is destroyed: her litle ones haue caused their crie to be heard. 5 For at the going vp of Luhith, the mourner shall goe vp with weeping: for in the going downe of Horonaim, the enemies haue heard a cry of destruction, 6 Flee and saue your liues, and be like vnto the heath in the wildernesse. 7 For because thou hast trusted in thy workes and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken, and Chemosh shall goe forth into captiuitie with his Priestes and his princes together. 8 And the destroyer shall come vpon all cities, and no citie shall escape: the valley also shall perish and the plaine shalbe destroyed as the Lord hath spoken. 9 Giue wings vnto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shalbe desolate, without any to dwell therein. 10 Cursed be he that doeth the worke of the Lord negligently, and cursed be he that keepeth backe his sword from blood. 11 Moab hath bene at rest from his youth, and he hath setled on his lees, and hath not bene powred from vessell to vessell, neither hath he gone into captiuitie: therefore his taste remained in him and his sent is not changed. 12 Therefore beholde, the dayes come, saith the Lord, that I will send vnto him such as shall carie him away, and shall emptie his vessels, and breake their bottels. 13 And Moab shalbe ashamed of Chemosh as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence. 14 Howe thinke you thus, We are mightie and strong men of warre? 15 Moab is destroyed, and his cities burnt vp, and his chose yong men are gone downe to slaughter, saith ye King, whose name is ye Lord of hostes. 16 The destruction of Moab is ready to come, and his plague hasteth fast. 17 All ye that are about him, mourne for him, and all ye that knowe his name, say, Howe is the strong staffe broken, and the beautifull rod! 18 Thou daughter that doest inhabite Dibon, come downe from thy glory, and sit in thirst: for the destroyer of Moab shall come vpon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holdes. 19 Thou that dwellest in Aroer, stand by the way, and beholde: aske him that fleeth and that escapeth, and say, What is done? 20 Moab is cofouded: for it is destroied: howle, and cry, tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is made waste, 21 And iudgement is come vpon the plaine countrey, vpon Holon and vpon Iahazah, and vpon Mephaath, 22 And vpon Dibon, and vpon Nebo, and vpon the house of Diblathaim, 23 And vpon Kiriathaim, and vpon Beth-gamul, and vpon Beth-meon, 24 And vpon Kerioth, and vpon Bozrah, and vpon all the cities of ye land of Moab farre or neere. 25 The horne of Moab is cut off, and his arme is broken, saith the Lord. 26 Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himselfe against the Lord: Moab shall wallowe in his vomite, and he also shalbe in derision. 27 For diddest not thou deride Israel, as though he had bene found among theeues? for when thou speakest of him, thou art moued. 28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leaue the cities, and dwell in the rockes, and be like the doue, that maketh her nest in the sides of the holes mouth. 29 We haue heard the pride of Moab (hee is exceeding proude) his stoutnesse, and his arrogancie, and his pride, and the hautinesse of his heart. 30 I know his wrath, saith ye Lord, but it shall not be so: and his dissimulatios, for they do not right. 31 Therefore will I howle for Moab, and I will crie out for all Moab: mine heart shall mourne for the men of Kir-heres. 32 O vine of Sibmah, I will weepe for thee, as I wept for Iazer: thy plants are gone ouer the sea, they are come to the sea of Iazer: ye destroyer is fallen vpon thy somer fruites, and vpon thy vintage, 33 And ioye, and gladnesse is taken from the plentifull fielde, and from the land of Moab: and I haue caused wine to faile from the winepresse: none shall treade with shouting: their shouting shall be no shouting. 34 From the cry of Heshbon vnto Elaleh and vnto Iahaz haue they made their noyse from Zoar vnto Horonaim, ye heiffer of three yere old shall go lowing: for ye waters also of Nimrim shalbe wasted. 35 Moreouer, I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the Lord, him that offered in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods. 36 Therefore mine heart shall sounde for Moab like a shaume, and mine heart shall sound like a shaume for the men of Ker-heres, because the riches that he hath gotten, is perished. 37 For euery head shalbe balde, and euery beard plucked: vpon all the handes shall be cuttings, and vpon the loynes sackecloth. 38 And mourning shall be vpon all the house toppes of Moab and in all the streetes thereof: for I haue broken Moab like a vessell wherein is no pleasure, sayeth the Lord. 39 They shall howle, saying, How is he destroyed? howe hath Moab turned the backe with shame? so shall Moab be a derision, and a feare to all them about him. 40 For thus saith the Lord, Beholde, he shall flee as an eagle, and shall spread his wings ouer Moab. 41 The cities are taken, and the strong holdes are wonne, and ye mightie mens hearts in Moab at that day shalbe as ye heart of a woman in trauaile. 42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath set vp himselfe against the Lord. 43 Feare, and pit and snare shall be vpon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord. 44 He that escapeth from the feare, shall fall in the pit, and he that getteth vp out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring vpon it, euen vpon Moab, the yeere of their visitation, sayeth the Lord. 45 They that fled, stoode vnder the shadowe of Heshbon, because of the force: for the fire came out of Heshbon, and a flame from Sihon, and deuoured the corner of Moab, and the top of the seditious children. 46 Wo be vnto thee, O Moab: the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sonnes are taken captiues, and thy daughters led into captiuitie. 47 Yet will I bring againe the captiuitie of Moab in the latter dayes, sayeth the Lord. Thus farre of the iudgement of Moab.