Study Desk

After all, Isra'el was a laughingstock for you. He didn't associate with thieves; nevertheless, whenever you spoke of him, you shook your head.

"I know what meager ground he has for his arrogance," says Adonai . "His boasting has nothing behind it, and it hasn't accomplished a thing."

Therefore I wail for Mo'av; for all Mo'av I cry; for the people of Kir-Heres I lament.

I will weep for you, vineyard of Sivmah, more than I wept for Ya‘zer. Your branches spread to the sea, reaching as far as the sea of Ya‘zer. On your summer fruits and on your vintage the destroyer has fallen.

The cries from Heshbon to El‘aleh are heard as far away as Yachatz; those from Tzo‘ar to Horonayim are heard in ‘Eglat-Shlishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim have become a desolate waste.

This is why my heart is moaning for Mo'av like funeral flutes, why my heart moans for the men of Kir-Heres like funeral flutes; for the wealth they produced has vanished.

On all the housetops of Mo'av and in its open places — lamentation everywhere! "For I have broken Mo'av like a pot that nobody wants," says Adonai .

For here is what Adonai says: "Look! Down he swoops like a vulture, spreading his wings against Mo'av —

"Whoever flees from the terror will fall into the pit; and he who climbs up out of the pit will be caught in the trap. For I will bring on her, on Mo'av, the year for her punishment," says Adonai .

"In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stop, exhausted. For fire breaks out from Heshbon, a flame from inside Sichon, consuming the sides and tops of the heads of Mo'av's noisy boasters.

Woe to you, Mo'av! K'mosh's people are doomed! For your sons have been taken captive, and your daughters led into captivity.

"Wail, Heshbon, for ‘Ai is doomed! Cry out, daughters of Rabbah! Wear sackcloth and mourn, running here and there among the sheep pens. For Malkam will go into exile, together with his priests and officers.

Flee! Turn back! Hide yourselves well, you who live in D'dan; for I am bringing calamity on ‘Esav, when the time for me to punish him comes.

If grape-pickers came to you, they would leave no grapes for gleaning. If thieves came at night, they would destroy until they were satisfied.

So I, for my part, have stripped ‘Esav bare, I have exposed his hiding-places; he will not be able to hide himself. He is doomed — sons, brothers and neighbors — so that he is no more.

For this is what Adonai says: "Those who do not deserve to drink from this cup will have to drink it anyway, so should you go unpunished? No, you will not go unpunished; you will certainly drink it.

For I have sworn by myself," says Adonai , "that Botzrah will become a ruin and an object of astonishment, reproach and cursing; all its cities will be ruins forever."

I have heard a message from Adonai : "A messenger is sent among the nations, saying: ‘Gather together, and march against her! Prepare for battle!'

It will be like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Yarden against a strong settlement: in an instant I will chase him away and appoint over it whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who can call me to account? What shepherd can stand up to me?"

They will seize their tents and their flocks, their tent curtains and all their equipment; their camels too they will take for themselves and shout at them, ‘Terror in every direction!'