Prophecies against Moab
1About Moab, this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says:
Woe to Nebo, because it is about to be destroyed;
Kiriathaim will be put to shame; it will be taken captive.
The fortress will be put to shame and dismayed!
2There is no longer praise for Moab;
they plan harm against her in Heshbon:
Come, let’s cut her off from nationhood.
Also, Madmen, you will be silenced;
the sword will follow you.
3A voice cries out from Horonaim,
“devastation and a crushing blow!”
4Moab will be shattered;
her little ones will cry out.
5For on the Ascent to Luhith
they will be weeping continually,
and on the descent to Horonaim
will be heard cries of distress over the destruction:
6Flee! Save your lives!
Be like a juniper bush in the wilderness.
7Because you trust in your works and treasures,
you will be captured also.
Chemosh will go into exile
with his priests and officials.
8The destroyer will move against every town;
not one town will escape.
The valley will perish,
and the plain will be annihilated,
as the Lord has said.
9Make Moab a salt marsh,
for she will run away;
her towns will become a desolation,
without inhabitant.
10The one who does
the Lord’s business deceitfully is cursed,
and the one who withholds
his sword from bloodshed is cursed.
11Moab has been left quiet since his youth,
settled like wine on its dregs.
He hasn’t been poured from one container to another
or gone into exile.
So his taste has remained the same,
and his aroma hasn’t changed.
12Therefore look, the days are coming —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
when I will send pourers to him, who will pour him out.
They will empty his containers
and smash his jars.
13Moab will be put to shame because of Chemosh,
just as the house of Israel was put to shame
because of Bethel that they trusted in.
14How can you say, “We are warriors —
valiant men for battle”?
15The destroyer of Moab and its towns
has come up,
and the best of its young men
have gone down to slaughter.
This is the King’s declaration;
the Lord of Armies is his name.
16Moab’s calamity is near at hand;
his disaster is rushing swiftly.
17Mourn for him, all you surrounding nations,
everyone who knows his name.
Say, “How the mighty scepter is shattered,
the glorious staff!”
18Come down from glory; sit on parched ground,
resident of the daughter of Dibon,
for the destroyer of Moab has come against you;
he has destroyed your fortresses.
19Stand by the highway and watch,
resident of Aroer!
Ask him who is fleeing or her who is escaping,
“What happened?”
20Moab is put to shame, indeed dismayed.
Wail and cry out!
Declare by the Arnon
that Moab is destroyed.
21“Judgment has come to the land of the plateau — to Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, 22Dibon, Nebo, Beth-diblathaim, 23Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, Beth-meon, 24Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of the land of Moab, those far and near. 25Moab’s horn is chopped off; his arm is shattered.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
26“Make him drunk, because he has exalted himself against the Lord. Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock. 27Wasn’t Israel a laughingstock to you? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.”
28Abandon the towns! Live in the cliffs,
residents of Moab!
Be like a dove
that nests inside the mouth of a cave.
29We have heard of Moab’s pride,
great pride, indeed —
his insolence, arrogance, pride,
and haughty heart.
30I know his outburst.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is empty.
His boast is empty.
31Therefore, I will wail over Moab.
I will cry out for Moab, all of it;
he will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
32I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah,
with more than the weeping for Jazer.
Your tendrils have extended to the sea;
they have reached to the sea and to Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and grape harvest.
33Gladness and celebration are taken from the fertile field
and from the land of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses;
no one will tread with shouts of joy.
The shouting is not a shout of joy.
34“There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they make their voices heard as far as Jahaz — from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah — because even the Waters of Nimrim have become desolate. 35In Moab, I will stop” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “the one who offers sacrifices on the high place and burns incense to his gods. 36Therefore, my heart moans like flutes for Moab, and my heart moans like flutes for the people of Kir-heres. And therefore, the wealth he has gained has perished. 37Indeed, every head is bald and every beard is chopped short. On every hand is a gash and sackcloth around the waist. 38On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants.” This is the Lord’s declaration. 39“How broken it is! They wail! How Moab has turned his back! He is ashamed. Moab will become a laughingstock and a shock to all those around him.”
40For this is what the Lord says:
Look! He will swoop down like an eagle
and spread his wings against Moab.
41The towns have been captured,
and the strongholds seized.
In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.
42Moab will be destroyed as a people
because he has exalted himself against the Lord.
43Panic, pit, and trap
await you, resident of Moab.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
44He who flees from the panic will fall in the pit,
and he who climbs from the pit
will be captured in the trap,
for I will bring against Moab
the year of their punishment.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
45Those who flee will stand exhausted in Heshbon’s shadow
because fire has come out from Heshbon
and a flame from within Sihon.
It will devour Moab’s forehead
and the skull of the noisemakers.
46Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished
because your sons have been taken captive
and your daughters have gone into captivity.
47Yet, I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the last days.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
The judgment on Moab ends here.