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The Judgment on Moab

(Isaiah 16:1-12; Zephaniah 2:8-11)

¹ Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be devastated. Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced; the fortress will be shattered and dismantled.² There is no longer praise for Moab; in Heshbon^(a) they devise evil against her: ‘Come, let us cut her off from nationhood.’ You too, O people of Madmen^(a), will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.³ A voice cries out from Horonaim, ‘Devastation and great destruction!’⁴ Moab will be shattered; her little ones will cry out^(a).⁵ For on the Ascent to Luhith they weep bitterly as they go, and on the descent to Horonaim cries of distress resound over the destruction:⁶ ‘Flee! Run for your lives! Become like a juniper in the desert^(a).’⁷ Because you trust in your works and treasures, you too will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials.⁸ The destroyer will move against every city, and not one town will escape. The valley also will be ruined, and the high plain will be destroyed, as the LORD has said.^{9 (a)}Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her cities will become desolate, with no one to dwell in them.¹⁰ Cursed be the one who is negligent in doing the work of the LORD, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from bloodshed.¹¹ Moab has been at ease from youth, settled like wine on its dregs; he has not been poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile. So his taste has remained the same, and his aroma is unchanged.¹² Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will send to him wanderers, who will pour him out. They will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.¹³ Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.

¹⁴ How can you say, ‘We are warriors, mighty men ready for battle’?¹⁵ Moab has been destroyed and its towns invaded; the best of its young men have gone down in the slaughter, declares the King whose name is the LORD of Hosts.¹⁶ Moab’s calamity is at hand, and his affliction is rushing swiftly.¹⁷ Mourn for him, all you who surround him, everyone who knows his name; tell how the mighty scepter is shattered—the glorious staff!¹⁸ Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground, O daughter dwelling in Dibon, for the destroyer of Moab has come against you; he has destroyed your fortresses.¹⁹ Stand by the road and watch, O resident of Aroer! Ask the man fleeing or the woman escaping, ‘What has happened?’²⁰ Moab is put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out! Declare by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.²¹ Judgment has come upon the high plain—upon Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,²² upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,²³ upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, Beth-meon,²⁴ upon Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of Moab, those far and near.²⁵ The horn of Moab has been cut off; and his arm is broken, declares the LORD.²⁶ Make him drunk, because he has magnified himself against the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock.²⁷ Was not Israel your object of ridicule? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.”²⁸ Abandon the towns and dwell among the rocks, O residents of Moab! Be like a dove that nests at the mouth of a cave.²⁹ We have heard of Moab’s pride, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.³⁰ I know his fury, declares the LORD, but it is futile. His boasting is as empty as his deeds.³¹ Therefore I will wail for Moab; I will cry out for all of Moab; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.³² I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah, more than I weep for Jazer^(a). Your tendrils have extended to the sea^(a); they reach even to Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and grape harvest.³³ Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard and from the fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one will tread with shouts of joy; their shouts are not for joy.³⁴ There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices to Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.³⁵ In Moab, declares the LORD, I will bring an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods.³⁶ Therefore My heart laments for Moab like a flute; it laments like a flute for the men of Kir-heres, because the wealth they acquired has perished.³⁷ For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash and around every waist is sackcloth.³⁸ On all the rooftops of Moab and in the public squares, everyone is mourning; for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar, declares the LORD.³⁹ How shattered it is! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! Moab will become an object of ridicule and horror to all those around him.”⁴⁰ For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, an eagle swoops down and spreads his wings against Moab.⁴¹ Kirioth has been taken, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.⁴² Moab will be destroyed as a nation because he vaunted himself against the LORD.⁴³ Terror, pit, and snare await you, O resident of Moab, declares the LORD.⁴⁴ He who flees the panic will fall into the pit, and he who climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare, for I will bring against Moab the year of their punishment, declares the LORD.⁴⁵ Those who flee will stand helpless in Heshbon’s shadow, because fire has gone forth from Heshbon and a flame from within Sihon. It will devour the foreheads of Moab and the skulls of the noisemakers.⁴⁶ Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; for your sons have been taken into exile and your daughters have gone into captivity.⁴⁷ Yet in the latter days I will restore Moab from captivity^(a), declares the LORD.” Here ends the judgment on Moab.