The Judgment on Moab
1 Of Moab. the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says,
“Woe to Nebo!
For it is laid waste.
Kiriathaim is shamed.
It is captured.
Misgab is put to shame
and broken down.
2 The praise of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they have devised destruction against her.
‘Come! Let us cut her off from being a nation.’
You also, Madmen, will be brought to silence.
The sword will pursue you.
3 The sound of a cry from Horonaim,
desolation and great destruction!
4 Moab is destroyed.
Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5 In their the ascent of Luhith
they go up with continual weeping.
And in their descent of Horonaim
their cry of distress is heard.
6 Flee! Save your lives!
Be like the juniper bush in the wilderness.
7 Because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures,
you also will be taken captive.
Chemosh will go out into captivity,
his priests and his leaders together.
8 The destroyer will come on every city,
and no city will escape.
The valley will also perish,
and the plain will be destroyed,
as the Lord has spoken.
9 Give wings to Moab,
that she may fly and escape.
For her cities will become a desolation,
without anyone to dwell in them.
10 Cursed is he who is negligent
in doing the work of the Lord,
and cursed is he who refrains
from executing judgement.
11 Moab has been at ease from his youth,
like wine settled on its dregs
and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
nor has he gone into captivity.
Therefore his taste remains the same
and his aroma is not changed.
12 Therefore, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will send to him those who will pour him out.
They will pour him out,
empty his vessels,
and break their containers in pieces.
13 Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
14 How do you say, ‘We are mighty men,
and valiant men of war’?
15 Moab is laid waste,
and they have gone up into his cities,
and his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,
says the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab is near,
and his affliction is imminent.
17 All you who are around him, mourn him,
and all you who know his name, say,
‘How the mighty staff is broken,
the beautiful rod!’
18 You daughter who dwells in Dibon,
come down from your glory
and sit in thirst,
for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you.
He has destroyed your strongholds.
19 Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch.
Ask him who flees and her who escapes say,
‘What has been done?’
20 Moab has been put to shame,
for it is broken down.
Wail and cry!
Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.
21 Judgment has come on the plain country,
on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mephaath,
22 on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim,
23 on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon,
24 on Kerioth, on Bozrah,
and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25 The horn of Moab is cut off,
and his arm is broken,” says the Lord.
26 “Make him drunken,
for he exalted himself against the Lord.
Moab will wallow in his vomit,
and he also will be an object of scorn.
27 For was Israel not an object of scorn to you?
Was he found among thieves?
For as often as you speak of him,
you shake your head.
28 You inhabitants of Moab,
leave the cities and dwell among the rocks.
Be like the dove
that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss.
29 We have heard of the pride of Moab.
He is very proud in his loftiness:
his pride, his arrogance, and the arrogance of his heart.
30 I know his wrath,” says the Lord, “that it is futile.
His boasting has accomplished nothing.
31 Therefore I will wail for Moab.
Yes, I will cry out for all of Moab.
They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.
32 With more than the weeping of Jazer
I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah.
Your branches passed over the sea.
They reached to the sea of Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruits
and on your vintage.
33 Gladness and joy are gone from the fruitful field
and from the land of Moab.
I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses.
No one will tread with joyful shouting.
The shouting is not joyful shouting.
34 From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh,
to Jahaz they have uttered their voice,
from Zoar to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah,
for the waters of Nimrim will also become desolate.
35 Moreover, in Moab, says the Lord,
“I will put a stop to the one who offers sacrifices in the high place
and the one who burns incense to his gods.
36 Therefore my heart cries for Moab like mourners’ pipes,
and my heart moans like pipes for the men of Kir Heres.
Therefore the abundance that he has gotten has perished.
37 For every head is shaved bare,
and every beard clipped.
There are cuttings on all their hands
and sackcloth on their waists.
38 On all the housetops of Moab,
and in its streets, there is lamenting everywhere,
for I have broken Moab like a vessel
in which no one delights,” says the Lord.
39 “How broken down it is!
How they wail!
How Moab has turned his back in shame!
Moab has become an object of scorn
and horror to all who are around him.”
40 For the Lord says:
“He will fly like an eagle,
and will spread out his wings against Moab.
41 Kerioth is taken,
and the strongholds are seized.
On that day, the heart of Moab’s mighty warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42 Moab will be destroyed from being a people,
because he has magnified himself against the Lord.
43 Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you,
inhabitant of Moab,” says the Lord.
44 “He who flees from the terror will fall into the pit,
and he who gets up out of the pit will be taken in the snare.
For I will bring on him, on Moab,
the year of their visitation,” says the Lord.
45 “Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
and a flame from the midst of Sihon,
and has devoured every corner of Moab,
and the crown of the head of the tumultuous boasters.
46 Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh are undone,
for your sons and your daughters have been taken captive.
47 Yet I will reverse the captivity of Moab in the latter days,” says the Lord.
Thus ends the judgment on Moab.