Judgement on Moab

1Concerning Moab.

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:

Alas for Nebo, it is laid waste!

Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;

the fortress is put to shame and broken down;

2the renown of Moab is no more.

In Heshbon they planned evil against her:

‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’

You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence;48.2 The place-name Madmen sounds like the Hebrew verb to be silent

the sword shall pursue you.

3Hark! a cry from Horonaim,

‘Desolation and great destruction!’

4‘Moab is destroyed!’

her little ones cry out.

5For at the ascent of Luhith

they go48.5 Cn: Heb he goes up weeping bitterly;

for at the descent of Horonaim

they have heard the distressing cry of anguish.

6Flee! Save yourselves!

Be like a wild ass48.6 Gk Aquila: Heb like Aroer in the desert!

7Surely, because you trusted in your strongholds48.7 Gk: Heb works and your treasures,

you also shall be taken;

Chemosh shall go out into exile,

with his priests and his attendants.

8The destroyer shall come upon every town,

and no town shall escape;

the valley shall perish,

and the plain shall be destroyed,

as the LORD has spoken.

9Set aside salt for Moab,

for she will surely fall;

her towns shall become a desolation,

with no inhabitant in them.

10Accursed is the one who is slack in doing the work of the LORD; and accursed is the one who keeps back the sword from bloodshed.

11Moab has been at ease from his youth,

settled like wine48.11 Heb lacks like wine on its dregs;

he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,

nor has he gone into exile;

therefore his flavour has remained

and his aroma is unspoiled.

12Therefore, the time is surely coming, says the LORD, when I shall send to him decanters to decant him, and empty his vessels, and break his48.12 Gk Aquila: Heb their jars in pieces. 13Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

14How can you say, ‘We are heroes

and mighty warriors’?

15The destroyer of Moab and his towns has come up,

and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter,

says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

16The calamity of Moab is near at hand

and his doom approaches swiftly.

17Mourn over him, all you his neighbours,

and all who know his name;

say, ‘How the mighty sceptre is broken,

the glorious staff!’

18Come down from glory,

and sit on the parched ground,

enthroned daughter Dibon!

For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;

he has destroyed your strongholds.

19Stand by the road and watch,

you inhabitant of Aroer!

Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping;

say, ‘What has happened?’

20Moab is put to shame, for it is broken down;

wail and cry!

Tell it by the Arnon,

that Moab is laid waste.

21Judgement has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath, 22and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24and Kerioth, and Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, far and near. 25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the LORD.

26Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the LORD; let Moab wallow in his vomit; he too shall become a laughing-stock. 27Israel was a laughing-stock for you, though he was not caught among thieves; but whenever you spoke of him you shook your head!

28Leave the towns, and live on the rock,

O inhabitants of Moab!

Be like the dove that nests

on the sides of the mouth of a gorge.

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 myself know his insolence, says the LORD;

his boasts are false,

his deeds are false.

31Therefore I wail for Moab;

I cry out for all Moab;

for the people of Kir-heres I mourn.

32More than for Jazer I weep for you,

O vine of Sibmah!

Your branches crossed over the sea,

reached as far as Jazer;48.32 Two Mss and Isa 16.8: MT the sea of Jazer

upon your summer fruits and your vintage

the destroyer has fallen.

33Gladness and joy have been taken away

from the fruitful land of Moab;

I have stopped the wine from the wine presses;

no one treads them with shouts of joy;

the shouting is not the shout of joy.

34Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;48.34 Cn: Heb From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate. 35And I will bring to an end in Moab, says the LORD, those who offer sacrifice at a high place and make offerings to their gods. 36Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the people of Kir-heres; for the riches they gained have perished.

37For every head is shaved and every beard cut off; on all the hands there are gashes, and on the loins sackcloth. 38On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation; for I have broken Moab like a vessel that no one wants, says the LORD. 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 his neighbours.

40For thus says the LORD:

Look, he shall swoop down like an eagle,

and spread his wings against Moab;

41the towns48.41 Or Kerioth shall be taken

and the strongholds seized.

The hearts of the warriors of Moab, on that day,

shall be like the heart of a woman in labour.

42Moab shall be destroyed as a people,

because he magnified himself against the LORD.

43Terror, pit, and trap

are before you, O inhabitants of Moab!

says the LORD.

44Everyone who flees from the terror

shall fall into the pit,

and everyone who climbs out of the pit

shall be caught in the trap.

For I will bring these things48.44 Gk Syr: Heb bring upon it upon Moab

in the year of their punishment,

says the LORD.

45In the shadow of Heshbon

fugitives stop exhausted;

for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,

a flame from the house of Sihon;

it has destroyed the forehead of Moab,

the scalp of the people of tumult.48.45 Or of Shaon

46Woe to you, O Moab!

The people of Chemosh have perished,

for your sons have been taken captive,

and your daughters into captivity.

47Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab

in the latter days, says the LORD.

Thus far is the judgement on Moab.