New Living Translation

English Standard Version

1This message was given concerning Moab. This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “What sorrow awaits the city of Nebo; it will soon lie in ruins. The city of Kiriathaim will be humiliated and captured; the fortress will be humiliated and broken down.

1Concerning Moab. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste! Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; the fortress is put to shame and broken down;

2No one will ever brag about Moab again, for in Heshbon there is a plot to destroy her. ‘Come,’ they say, ‘we will cut her off from being a nation.’ The town of Madmen, too, will be silenced; the sword will follow you there.

2the renown of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they planned disaster against her: ‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’ You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence; the sword shall pursue you.

3Listen to the cries from Horonaim, cries of devastation and great destruction.

3“A voice! A cry from Horonaim, ‘Desolation and great destruction!’

4All Moab is destroyed. Her little ones will cry out.

4Moab is destroyed; her little ones have made a cry.

5Her refugees weep bitterly, climbing the slope to Luhith. They cry out in terror, descending the slope to Horonaim.

5For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distressed cry of destruction.

6Flee for your lives! Hide in the wilderness!

6Flee! Save yourselves! You will be like a juniper in the desert!

7Because you have trusted in your wealth and skill, you will be taken captive. Your god Chemosh, with his priests and officials, will be hauled off to distant lands!

7For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures, you also shall be taken; and Chemosh shall go into exile with his priests and his officials.

8“All the towns will be destroyed, and no one will escape— either on the plateaus or in the valleys, for the LORD has spoken.

8The destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD has spoken.

9Oh, that Moab had wings so she could fly away, for her towns will be left empty, with no one living in them.

9“Give wings to Moab, for she would fly away; her cities shall become a desolation, with no inhabitant in them.

10Cursed are those who refuse to do the LORD’s work, who hold back their swords from shedding blood!

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

11“From his earliest history, Moab has lived in peace, never going into exile. He is like wine that has been allowed to settle. He has not been poured from flask to flask, and he is now fragrant and smooth.

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

12But the time is coming soon,” says the LORD, “when I will send men to pour him from his jar. They will pour him out, then shatter the jar!

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 jars in pieces.

13At last Moab will be ashamed of his idol Chemosh, as the people of Israel were ashamed of their gold calf at Bethel.

13Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

14“You used to boast, ‘We are heroes, mighty men of war.’

14“How do you say, ‘We are heroes and mighty men of war’?

15But now Moab and his towns will be destroyed. His most promising youth are doomed to slaughter,” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

15The destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up, and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

16“Destruction is coming fast for Moab; calamity threatens ominously.

16The calamity of Moab is near at hand, and his affliction hastens swiftly.

17You friends of Moab, weep for him and cry! See how the strong scepter is broken, how the beautiful staff is shattered!

17Grieve for him, all you who are around him, and all who know his name; say, ‘How the mighty scepter is broken, the glorious staff.’

18“Come down from your glory and sit in the dust, you people of Dibon, for those who destroy Moab will shatter Dibon, too. They will tear down all your towers.

18“Come down from your glory, and sit on the parched ground, O inhabitant of Dibon! For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you; he has destroyed your strongholds.

19You people of Aroer, stand beside the road and watch. Shout to those who flee from Moab, ‘What has happened there?’

19Stand by the way and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer! Ask him who flees and her who escapes; say, ‘What has happened?’

20“And the reply comes back, ‘Moab lies in ruins, disgraced; weep and wail! Tell it by the banks of the Arnon River: Moab has been destroyed!’

20Moab is put to shame, for it is broken; wail and cry! Tell it beside the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.

21Judgment has been poured out on the towns of the plateau— on Holon and Jahaz and Mephaath,

21“Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath,

22on Dibon and Nebo and Beth-diblathaim,

22and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,

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

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

24on Kerioth and Bozrah— all the towns of Moab, far and near.

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

25“The strength of Moab has ended. His arm has been broken,” says the LORD.

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

26“Let him stagger and fall like a drunkard, for he has rebelled against the LORD. Moab will wallow in his own vomit, ridiculed by all.

26“Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the LORD, so that Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he too shall be held in derision.

27Did you not ridicule the people of Israel? Were they caught in the company of thieves that you should despise them as you do?

27Was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him you wagged your head?

28“You people of Moab, flee from your towns and live in the caves. Hide like doves that nest in the clefts of the rocks.

28“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab! Be like the dove that nests in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.

29We have all heard of the pride of Moab, for his pride is very great. We know of his lofty pride, his arrogance, and his haughty heart.

29We 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 about his insolence,” says the LORD, “but his boasts are empty— as empty as his deeds.

30I know his insolence, declares the LORD; his boasts are false, his deeds are false.

31So now I wail for Moab; yes, I will mourn for Moab. My heart is broken for the men of Kir-hareseth.

31Therefore I wail for Moab; I cry out for all Moab; for the men of Kir-hareseth I mourn.

32“You people of Sibmah, rich in vineyards, I will weep for you even more than I did for Jazer. Your spreading vines once reached as far as the Dead Sea, but the destroyer has stripped you bare! He has harvested your grapes and summer fruits.

32More than for Jazer I weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your branches passed over the sea, reached to the Sea of Jazer; on your summer fruits and your grapes the destroyer has fallen.

33Joy and gladness are gone from fruitful Moab. The presses yield no wine. No one treads the grapes with shouts of joy. There is shouting, yes, but not of joy.

33Gladness 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“Instead, their awful cries of terror can be heard from Heshbon clear across to Elealeh and Jahaz; from Zoar all the way to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up now.

34“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate.

35“I will put an end to Moab,” says the LORD, “for the people offer sacrifices at the pagan shrines and burn incense to their false gods.

35And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the LORD, him who offers sacrifice in the high place and makes offerings to his god.

36My heart moans like a flute for Moab and Kir-hareseth, for all their wealth has disappeared.

36Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of Kir-hareseth. Therefore the riches they gained have perished.

37The people shave their heads and beards in mourning. They slash their hands and put on clothes made of burlap.

37“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. On all the hands are gashes, and around the waist is sackcloth.

38There is crying and sorrow in every Moabite home and on every street. For I have smashed Moab like an old, unwanted jar.

38On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a vessel for which no one cares, declares the LORD.

39How it is shattered! Hear the wailing! See the shame of Moab! It has become an object of ridicule, an example of ruin to all its neighbors.”

39How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”

40This is what the LORD says: “Look! The enemy swoops down like an eagle, spreading his wings over Moab.

40For thus says the LORD: “Behold, one shall fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab;

41Its cities will fall, and its strongholds will be seized. Even the mightiest warriors will be in anguish like a woman in labor.

41the cities shall be taken and the strongholds seized. The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains;

42Moab will no longer be a nation, for it has boasted against the LORD.

42Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he magnified himself against the LORD.

43“Terror and traps and snares will be your lot, O Moab,” says the LORD.

43Terror, pit, and snare are before you, O inhabitant of Moab! declares the LORD.

44“Those who flee in terror will fall into a trap, and those who escape the trap will step into a snare. I will see to it that you do not get away, for the time of your judgment has come,” says 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. For I will bring these things upon Moab, the year of their punishment, declares the LORD.

45“The people flee as far as Heshbon but are unable to go on. For a fire comes from Heshbon, King Sihon’s ancient home, to devour the entire land with all its rebellious people.

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 the forehead of Moab, the crown of the sons of tumult.

46“What sorrow awaits you, O people of Moab! The people of the god Chemosh are destroyed! Your sons and your daughters have been taken away as captives.

46Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are undone, for your sons have been taken captive, and your daughters into captivity.

47But I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come. I, the LORD, have spoken!” This is the end of Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning Moab.

47Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, declares the LORD.” Thus far is the judgment on Moab.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.