NET Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1The LORD God of Israel who rules over all spoke about Moab. "Sure to be judged is Nebo! Indeed, it will be destroyed! Kiriathaim will suffer disgrace. It will be captured! Its fortress will suffer disgrace. It will be torn down!

1Concerning Moab. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed; Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured; The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and shattered.

2People will not praise Moab any more. The enemy will capture Heshbon and plot how to destroy Moab, saying, 'Come, let's put an end to that nation!' City of Madmen, you will also be destroyed. A destructive army will march against you.

2"There is praise for Moab no longer; In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her: 'Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!' You too, Madmen, will be silenced; The sword will follow after you.

3Cries of anguish will arise in Horonaim, 'Oh, the ruin and great destruction!'

3"The sound of an outcry from Horonaim, 'Devastation and great destruction!'

4"Moab will be crushed. Her children will cry out in distress.

4"Moab is broken, Her little ones have sounded out a cry of distress.

5Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith, weeping continually as they go. For on the road down to Horonaim they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction.

5"For by the ascent of Luhith They will ascend with continual weeping; For at the descent of Horonaim They have heard the anguished cry of destruction.

6They will hear, 'Run! Save yourselves! Even if you must be like a lonely shrub in the desert!'

6"Flee, save your lives, That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.

7"Moab, you trust in the things you do and in your riches. So you too will be conquered. Your god Chemosh will go into exile along with his priests and his officials.

7"For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures, Even you yourself will be captured; And Chemosh will go off into exile Together with his priests and his princes.

8The destroyer will come against every town. Not one town will escape. The towns in the valley will be destroyed. The cities on the high plain will be laid waste. I, the LORD, have spoken!

8"A destroyer will come to every city, So that no city will escape; The valley also will be ruined And the plateau will be destroyed, As the LORD has said.

9Set up a gravestone for Moab, for it will certainly be laid in ruins! Its cities will be laid waste and become uninhabited."

9"Give wings to Moab, For she will flee away; And her cities will become a desolation, Without inhabitants in them.

10A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the LORD's work! A curse on anyone who keeps from carrying out his destruction!

10"Cursed be the one who does the LORD'S work negligently, And cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood.

11"From its earliest days Moab has lived undisturbed. It has never been taken into exile. Its people are like wine allowed to settle undisturbed on its dregs, never poured out from one jar to another. They are like wine which tastes like it always did, whose aroma has remained unchanged.

11"Moab has been at ease since his youth; He has also been undisturbed, like wine on its dregs, And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, And his aroma has not changed.

12But the time is coming when I will send men against Moab who will empty it out. They will empty the towns of their people, then will lay those towns in ruins. I, the LORD, affirm it!

12"Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.

13The people of Moab will be disappointed by their god Chemosh. They will be as disappointed as the people of Israel were when they put their trust in the calf god at Bethel.

13"And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

14How can you men of Moab say, 'We are heroes, men who are mighty in battle?'

14"How can you say, 'We are mighty warriors, And men valiant for battle '?

15Moab will be destroyed. Its towns will be invaded. Its finest young men will be slaughtered. I, the King, the LORD who rules over all, affirm it!

15"Moab has been destroyed and men have gone up to his cities; His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter," Declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

16Moab's destruction is at hand. Disaster will come on it quickly.

16"The disaster of Moab will soon come, And his calamity has swiftly hastened.

17Mourn for that nation, all you nations living around it, all of you nations that know of its fame. Mourn and say, 'Alas, its powerful influence has been broken! Its glory and power have been done away!'

17"Mourn for him, all you who live around him, Even all of you who know his name; Say, 'How has the mighty scepter been broken, A staff of splendor!'

18Come down from your place of honor; sit on the dry ground, you who live in Dibon. For the one who will destroy Moab will attack you; he will destroy your fortifications.

18"Come down from your glory And sit on the parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, He has ruined your strongholds.

19You who live in Aroer, stand by the road and watch. Question the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping. Ask them, 'What has happened?'

19"Stand by the road and keep watch, O inhabitant of Aroer; Ask him who flees and her who escapes And say, 'What has happened?'

20They will answer, 'Moab is disgraced, for it has fallen! Wail and cry out in mourning! Announce along the Arnon River that Moab has been destroyed.'

20"Moab has been put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out; Declare by the Arnon That Moab has been destroyed.

21"Judgment will come on the cities on the high plain: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,

21"Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, Jahzah and against Mephaath,

22on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim,

22against Dibon, Nebo and Beth-diblathaim,

23on Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon,

23against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul and Beth-meon,

24on Kerioth and Bozrah. It will come on all the towns of Moab, both far and near.

24against Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.

25Moab's might will be crushed. Its power will be broken. I, the LORD, affirm it!

25"The horn of Moab has been cut off and his arm broken," declares the LORD.

26"Moab has vaunted itself against me. So make him drunk with the wine of my wrath until he splashes around in his own vomit, until others treat him as a laughingstock.

26"Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant toward the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock.

27For did not you people of Moab laugh at the people of Israel? Did you think that they were nothing but thieves, that you shook your head in contempt every time you talked about them?

27"Now was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Or was he caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you shake your head in scorn.

28Leave your towns, you inhabitants of Moab. Go and live in the cliffs. Be like a dove that makes its nest high on the sides of a ravine.

28"Leave the cities and dwell among the crags, O inhabitants of Moab, And be like a dove that nests Beyond the mouth of the chasm.

29I have heard how proud the people of Moab are, I know how haughty they are. I have heard how arrogant, proud, and haughty they are, what a high opinion they have of themselves.

29"We have heard of the pride of Moab-- he is very proud-- Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation.

30I, the LORD, affirm that I know how arrogant they are. But their pride is ill-founded. Their boastings will prove to be false.

30"I know his fury," declares the LORD, "But it is futile; His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.

31So I will weep with sorrow for Moab. I will cry out in sadness for all of Moab. I will moan for the people of Kir Heres.

31"Therefore I will wail for Moab, Even for all Moab will I cry out; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.

32I will weep for the grapevines of Sibmah just like the town of Jazer weeps over them. Their branches once spread as far as the Dead Sea. They reached as far as the town of Jazer. The destroyer will ravage her fig, date, and grape crops.

32"More than the weeping for Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your tendrils stretched across the sea, They reached to the sea of Jazer; Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest The destroyer has fallen.

33Joy and gladness will disappear from the fruitful land of Moab. I will stop the flow of wine from the winepresses. No one will stomp on the grapes there and shout for joy. The shouts there will be shouts of soldiers, not the shouts of those making wine.

33"So gladness and joy are taken away From the fruitful field, even from the land of Moab. And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses; No one will tread them with shouting, The shouting will not be shouts of joy.

34Cries of anguish raised from Heshbon and Elealeh will be sounded as far as Jahaz. They will be sounded from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. For even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up.

34"From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate.

35I will put an end in Moab to those who make offerings at her places of worship. I will put an end to those who sacrifice to other gods. I, the LORD, affirm it!

35"I will make an end of Moab," declares the LORD, "the one who offers sacrifice on the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.

36So my heart moans for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song. Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song, my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres. For the wealth they have gained will perish.

36"Therefore My heart wails for Moab like flutes; My heart also wails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced.

37For all of them will shave their heads in mourning. They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow. They will all make gashes in their hands. They will all put on sackcloth.

37"For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins.

38On all the housetops in Moab and in all its public squares there will be nothing but mourning. For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar. I, the LORD, affirm it!

38"On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel," declares the LORD.

39Oh, how shattered Moab will be! Oh, how her people will wail! Oh, how she will turn away in shame! Moab will become an object of ridicule, a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her."

39"How shattered it is! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back-- he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an object of terror to all around him."

40For the LORD says, "Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings a nation will swoop down on Moab.

40For thus says the LORD: "Behold, one will fly swiftly like an eagle And spread out his wings against Moab.

41Her towns will be captured. Her fortresses will be taken. At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightened like a woman in labor.

41"Kerioth has been captured And the strongholds have been seized, So the hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day Will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

42Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation, because she has vaunted herself against the LORD.

42"Moab will be destroyed from being a people Because he has become arrogant toward the LORD.

43Terror, pits, and traps are in store for the people who live in Moab. I, the LORD, affirm it!

43"Terror, pit and snare are coming upon you, O inhabitant of Moab," declares the LORD.

44Anyone who flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit. Anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in a trap. For the time is coming when I will punish the people of Moab. I, the LORD, affirm it!

44"The one who flees from the terror Will fall into the pit, And the one who climbs up out of the pit Will be caught in the snare; For I shall bring upon her, even upon Moab, The year of their punishment," declares the LORD.

45In the shadows of the walls of Heshbon those trying to escape will stand helpless. For a fire will burst forth from Heshbon. Flames will shoot out from the former territory of Sihon. They will burn the foreheads of the people of Moab, the skulls of those war-loving people.

45"In the shadow of Heshbon The fugitives stand without strength; For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon And a flame from the midst of Sihon, And it has devoured the forehead of Moab And the scalps of the riotous revelers.

46Moab, you are doomed! You people who worship Chemosh will be destroyed. Your sons will be taken away captive. Your daughters will be carried away into exile.

46"Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; For your sons have been taken away captive And your daughters into captivity.

47Yet in days to come I will reverse Moab's ill fortune." says the LORD. The judgment against Moab ends here.

47"Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab In the latter days," declares the LORD. Thus far the judgment on Moab.

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