Jeremiah 48 - Common English Bible (CEB)

Prophecy against Moab

48 Concerning Moab:

The Lord of heavenly forces,
the God of Israel, proclaims:
How awful for Nebo;
it lies in ruins.
Kirathaim is captured and shamed;
the fortress is disgraced,
reduced to rubble.
² No one sings Moab’s praise any longer!
In Heshbon they are hatching
a plot against her:
“Come, let’s bring down the nation!”
You too, Madmen, will be silenced;
the sword will pursue you.
³ Listen to the cries for help from Horonaim:
“Destruction and massive devastation!”
⁴ Moab is shattered;
its young cry for help.
⁵ On the way up to Luhith,
there is uncontrollable weeping.
On the way down to Horonaim,
they hear sobs of anguish.
⁶ Run for your lives!
Be like Aroer^[a] in the desert.
⁷ Because you have relied
on your own strength and treasures,
you also will be captured.
Chemosh will go into exile,
together with his priests and officials.
⁸ The destroyer will sweep through every town;
no town will escape.
The valleys will be ravaged;
the plateaus will be destroyed,
because the Lord has declared it so.
⁹ Give wings to Moab,
and it would fly away^[b]
because its towns lie in ruins,
with no one left in them.

¹⁰ Cursed is the one who is halfhearted
in doing the Lord’s work.
Cursed is the one who restrains
the sword from bloodshed.
¹¹ From early on Moab has been at ease,
like wine^[c] left to settle on its sediment.
It hasn’t been poured into jars;
nor has Moab been taken into exile.
Therefore, its taste is still pleasant,
and its aroma is the same.

¹² But the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will send to him someone to spill it—to pour out his wine and to smash his jars. ¹³ And Moab will be put to shame on account of Chemosh, just as the people of Israel were put to shame on account of Bethel, in which they trusted.^[d]

¹⁴ How can you claim,
“We’re soldiers; we’re war heroes”?
¹⁵ Moab is doomed;
its towns will surrender;^[e]
its elite forces will go down in defeat,
declares the king whose name is the Lord of heavenly forces.
¹⁶ Moab’s destruction is near;
its downfall approaches rapidly.
¹⁷ Grieve for this nation,
you neighbors of Moab,
all you who know his name.
Proclaim how its mighty scepter
and magnificent staff are shattered!

¹⁸ Come down from your lofty place
and sit in the dust,^[f]
you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon;^[g]
because Moab’s destroyer
has arrived to level your fortresses.
¹⁹ Stand by the roads and watch,
you inhabitants of Aroer.
Ask the men who flee
and the women who run off,
“What’s happened?”
²⁰ Moab is shamed and shocked;
weep and wail!
Tell it by the Arnon River:
Moab’s been destroyed!

²¹ Judgment has come to the towns of the plateau—
to Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
²² to Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
²³ to Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
²⁴ to Kerioth and Bozrah,
to all the towns of Moab, far and near.

²⁵ Moab’s horn is cut off;
its arm is broken,
declares the Lord.
²⁶ Get Moab drunk,
because it has exalted itself above the Lord.
Moab will collapse in its vomit
and become the butt of every joke.
²⁷ Wasn’t Israel the butt of your jokes?
Didn’t you shake your head
as if they were thieves
caught in the act?
²⁸ Leave your towns, head for the cliffs,
you people of Moab.
Hide like a dove
that nests in the mouth of a cave.

²⁹ We have heard of Moab’s pride:
arrogant, puffed up, exalted,
high and mighty, boastful!
³⁰ I myself know about its arrogance,
declares the Lord,
the idle talk, the empty deeds.
³¹ But I’ll still wail for Moab;
I’ll cry out for all Moab;
I’ll^[h] sob for the people of Kir-heres.
³² I’ll weep for you, vine of Sibmah,
more than I would for Jazer.
Though your branches extended to the sea
and reached the coast of Jazer,
now the destroyer has come
to harvest your grapes and summer fruits.
³³ Joy and gladness have been taken
from the orchards and farms of Moab.
I have stopped making wine in the presses.
No one shouts with joy
while treading the grapes.
Though there are shouts,
they are not shouts of joy!^[i]
34 Screams are heard from Heshbon
to Elealeh and Jahaz;
their cries resound from Zoar
to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah.
Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
³⁵ I’ll put an end to Moab,
declares the Lord,
for making offerings on the shrines,
and worshipping their gods.

³⁶ Therefore, my heart wails for Moab
like a mournful^[j] flute that plays the dirge;
my heart wails for the people of Kir-heres,
like a mournful flute.
Their abundance is now gone.
³⁷ Every head is shaved,
every beard is cut off,
every hand is slashed,
and everyone wears mourning clothes.
³⁸ On every housetop of Moab
and in all its streets,
there’s nothing but mourning.
I have shattered Moab
like a pottery vessel no one wants,
declares the Lord.
³⁹ How it’s shattered! Go wail!
How Moab turns away!
What shame!
Moab has become the butt of every joke,
horrific to all its neighbors.

⁴⁰ The Lord proclaims:
Look! One who soars like an eagle
and spreads its wings over Moab.
⁴¹ The towns will be captured;
the strongholds will be seized.
On that day, the heart of every soldier from Moab
will be like that of a woman in the throes of labor.
⁴² Moab will be destroyed once and for all
because it has exalted itself above the Lord.

⁴³ Terror, traps, and trackers^[k]
are upon you, people of Moab,
declares the Lord.
⁴⁴ Those who flee from terror
will fall into a pit;
those who escape the pit
will be captured by the trap.
I will bring upon Moab
the year of its punishment,
declares the Lord.
⁴⁵ In Heshbon tired refugees seek shelter.
But fire is raging in Heshbon,
flames from the house^[l] of Sihon.
It has burned up part of Moab,
including the leader of this rebellious nation.^[m]
46 How terrible for you, Moab;
the people of Chemosh have perished.
Your sons have been carried off;
your daughters have been taken captive.
⁴⁷ But in the days to come
I’ll bring back Moab from captivity,
declares the Lord.
Such is the judgment on Moab.

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 48:6 Heb uncertain
2. Jeremiah 48:9 Heb uncertain
3. Jeremiah 48:11 Heb lacks like wine.
4. Jeremiah 48:13 Or And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh just as the people of Israel were ashamed of Bethel, in which they trusted.
5. Jeremiah 48:15 Heb uncertain
6. Jeremiah 48:18 Or thirst
7. Jeremiah 48:18 Heb uncertain, or residing Daughter Dibon
8. Jeremiah 48:31 Or He
9. Jeremiah 48:33 Heb uncertain
10. Jeremiah 48:36 Heb lacks mournful.
11. Jeremiah 48:43 Or terror, pit, and trap
12. Jeremiah 48:45 Heb manuscripts; MT from among
13. Jeremiah 48:45 Heb uncertain