Judgment on Moab

1The LORD said:2.1-3: Is 15.1—16.14; 25.10-12; Jr 48.1-47; Ez 25.8-11; Zep 2.8-11.

I will punish Moab

for countless crimes,

and I won't change my mind.

They made lime from the bones2.1 They…bones: They dug up the bodies of kings and made lime out of them to use as whitewash on their houses and walls.

of the king of Edom.

2Now I will send fire to destroy

the fortresses of Kerioth.2.2 Kerioth: A leading city of Moab and a centre for the worship of Chemosh, the chief god of Moab.

Battle shouts and trumpet blasts

will be heard as I destroy Moab

3with its king and leaders.

I, the LORD, have spoken!

Judgment on Judah

4The LORD said:

I will punish Judah

for countless crimes,

and I won't change my mind.

They have rejected my teachings

and refused to obey me.

They were led astray

by the same false gods

their ancestors worshipped.

5Now I will send fire on Judah

and destroy the fortresses

of Jerusalem.

Judgment on Israel

6The LORD said:

I will punish Israel

for countless crimes,

and I won't change my mind.

They sell honest people for money,

and the needy are sold

for the price of sandals.

7They throw the poor to the ground

and push aside

those who are helpless.

My holy name is dishonoured,

because fathers and sons sleep

with the same young women.

8They lie down beside altars

on clothes taken

as security for loans.

And they drink wine in my temple,

wine bought with the money

they received from fines.

9Israel, the Amorites2.9 Amorites: This word is used for all the people who lived in Canaan at the time Israel took over the land. were there2.9: Dt 3.8-11.

when you entered Canaan.

They were tall as cedars

and strong as oaks.

But I wiped them out—

I destroyed their branches

and their roots.

10I had rescued you from Egypt,

and for forty years I had led you

through the desert.

Then I gave you the land

of the Amorites.

11I chose some of you2.11: Nu 6.1-8.

to be prophets

and others to be Nazirites.2.11 Nazirites: People who promised the LORD that they would never drink wine or cut their hair or come in contact with a dead body.

People of Israel,

you know this is true.

I, the LORD, have spoken!

12But you commanded the prophets

not to speak their message,

and you pressured the Nazirites

into drinking wine.

13And so I will crush you,

just as a wagon full of grain

crushes the ground.2.13 ground: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.

14No matter how fast you run,

you won't escape.

No matter how strong you are,

you will lose your strength

and your life.

15Even if you are an expert

with a bow and arrow,

you will retreat.

And you won't get away alive,

not even if you run fast

or ride a horse.

16You may be brave and strong,

but you will run away,

stripped naked.

I, the LORD, have spoken!