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Legacy Standard Bible
Jeremiah 48
Word Against Moab
1 Concerning (C1)Moab. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel,
"Woe to (C2)Nebo, for it has been destroyed;
(C3)Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured;
The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and (F1)shattered.
2 "There is praise for Moab no longer;
In (C1)Heshbon they have devised calamity against her:
'Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!'
You too, (F1)Madmen, will be silenced;
The sword will follow after you.
3 "The sound of an outcry from (C1)Horonaim,
'(F1)Devastation and great destruction!'
4 "Moab is broken;
Her little ones have made their cry of distress heard.
5 "For by the ascent of (C1)Luhith
They will ascend with continual weeping;
For at the descent of Horonaim
They have heard the distressed cry of destruction.
6 "(C1)Flee, escape with your lives,
That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.
7 "For because of your (C1)trust in your own works and treasures,
Even you yourself will be captured;
And (C2)Chemosh will go off into exile
Together with his priests and his princes.
8 "A destroyer will come to every city,
So that no city will escape;
The valley also will perish,
And the (C1)plateau will be destroyed,
As Yahweh has said.
9 "Give (F1)(C1)wings to Moab,
For she will (F2)flee away;
And her cities will become a (C2)desolation,
Without inhabitants in them.
10 "(C1)Cursed be the one who does the work of Yahweh (C2)with a slack hand,
And cursed be the one who restrains his (C3)sword from blood.
11 "Moab has been (C1)at ease since his youth;
He has also had (C2)quiet, like wine on (F1)its dregs,
And he has not been (C3)emptied from vessel to vessel,
Nor has he gone into exile.
Therefore (F2)he retains his flavor,
And his aroma has not changed.
14 "How can you say, 'We are (C1)mighty warriors,
And men valiant for battle'?
15 "Moab has been destroyed, and (F1)men have gone up to (F2)his cities;
His choicest (F3)(C1)young men have also gone down to the slaughter,"
Declares the (C2)King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts.
16 "The disaster of Moab will (C1)soon come,
And his calamity has quickly hastened.
17 "Mourn for him, all you who live around him,
Even all of you who know his name;
Say, 'How has the strong (F1)(C1)scepter been broken,
A staff of beauty!'
18 "(C1)Come down from your glory
And inhabit (F1)the parched ground,
O inhabitant of the (C2)daughter of (C3)Dibon;
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,
He has ruined your strongholds.
19 "Stand by the road and keep watch,
O inhabitant of (C1)Aroer;
(C2)Ask him who flees and her who escapes
And say, 'What has happened?'
20 "Moab has been put to shame, for it has been (F1)shattered.
Wail and cry out;
Declare by the (C1)Arnon
That Moab has been destroyed.
21 "Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, upon (C1)Jahzah, and against (C2)Mephaath,22 and against Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,23 and against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and (C1)Beth-meon,24 and against (C1)Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.25 "The (C1)horn of Moab has been cut in pieces and his (C2)arm broken," declares Yahweh.26 "(C1)Make him drunk, for he has (C2)magnified himself against Yahweh; so Moab will (F1)wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock.27 "Now was not Israel a (C1)laughingstock to you? Or was he (F1)(C2)caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you (C3)shake your head in scorn.
28 "Leave the cities and dwell among the (C1)crags,
O inhabitants of Moab,
And be like a (C2)dove that nests
Beyond the mouth of the chasm.
29 "(C1)We have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud—
Of his haughtiness, his (C2)pride, his arrogance, and the exaltedness of his heart.
30 "I know his (C1)fury," declares Yahweh,
"But it is nothing;
His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.
31 "Therefore I will (C1)wail for Moab,
Even for all Moab will I cry out;
(F1)I will moan for the men of (C2)Kir-heres.
32 "More than the (C1)weeping for (C2)Jazer
I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah!
Your branches stretched across the sea,
They reached to the sea of Jazer;
Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest
The destroyer has fallen.
33 "So (C1)gladness and joy are gathered up
From the fruitful orchard, even from the land of Moab.
And I have made the wine to (C2)cease from the wine presses;
No one will tread them with shouting,
The shouting will not be shouts of joy.
36 "Therefore My (C1)heart moans for Moab like flutes; My heart also moans like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have (C2)lost the abundance it produced.37 "For (C1)every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and (C2)sackcloth on the loins.38 "On all the (C1)rooftops of Moab and in its open squares (F1)there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable (C2)vessel," declares Yahweh.39 "How (F1)shattered it is! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back—he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an (C1)object of terror to all around him."
40 For thus says Yahweh:
"Behold, one will (C1)swoop like an eagle
And (C2)spread out his wings against Moab.
41 "Kerioth has been captured,
And the strongholds have been seized,
So the (C1)hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day
Will be like the heart of a (C2)woman in labor.
42 "Moab will be (C1)destroyed from being a people
Because he has (C2)magnified himself against Yahweh.
43 "(C1)Panic and pit and pitfall are coming upon you,
O inhabitant of Moab," declares Yahweh.
44 "The one who (C1)flees from the panic
Will fall into the pit,
And the one who climbs up out of the pit
Will be caught in the pitfall;
For I shall bring upon her, even upon Moab,
The year of their (C2)punishment," declares Yahweh.
45 "In the shadow of Heshbon
Those who flee stand without strength;
For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon
And a (C1)flame from the midst of (C2)Sihon,
And it has devoured the (C3)top of the head of Moab
And the scalps of (F1)those who rumble.
46 "(C1)Woe to you, Moab!
The people of (C2)Chemosh have perished;
For your sons have been taken away captive
And your daughters into captivity.
47 "Yet I will (F1)(C1)return the (F2)fortunes of Moab
In the last days," declares Yahweh.
