Jeremiah

¹ Concerning Moab: This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered.

² in Heshbon men will plot her downfall: ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’ You too, O Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.

³ cries of great havoc and destruction.

⁴ her little ones will cry out.

⁵ weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard.

⁶ become like a bush in the desert.

⁷ you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.

⁸ and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the Lord has spoken.

⁹ for she will be laid waste; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them.

¹⁰ A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed!

¹¹ like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another— she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged.

¹² declares the Lord, “when I will send men who pour from jars, and they will pour her out; they will empty her jars and smash her jugs.

¹³ as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.

¹⁴ men valiant in battle’?

¹⁵ her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,” declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.

¹⁶ her calamity will come quickly.

¹⁷ all who know her fame; say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff!’

¹⁸ and sit on the parched ground, O inhabitants of the Daughter of Dibon, for he who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities.

¹⁹ you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, ‘What has happened?’

²⁰ Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.

²¹ to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,

²² to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,

²³ to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,

²⁴ to all the towns of Moab, far and near.

²⁵ her arm is broken,” declares the Lord.

²⁶ for she has defied the Lord. Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule.

²⁷ Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her?

²⁸ you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.

²⁹ her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart.

³⁰ declares the Lord, “and her boasts accomplish nothing.

³¹ for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the men of Kir Hareseth.

³² O vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea; they reached as far as the sea of Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes.

³³ from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy.

³⁴ from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.

³⁵ to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods,” declares the Lord.

³⁶ it laments like a flute for the men of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone.

³⁷ and every beard cut off; every hand is slashed and every waist is covered with sackcloth.

³⁸ and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,” declares the Lord.

³⁹ How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her.”

⁴⁰ “Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab.

⁴¹ and the strongholds taken. In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

⁴² because she defied the Lord.

⁴³ O people of Moab,” declares the Lord.

⁴⁴ will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring upon Moab the year of her punishment,” declares the Lord.

⁴⁵ the fugitives stand helpless, for a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a blaze from the midst of Sihon; it burns the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the noisy boasters.

⁴⁶ The people of Chemosh are destroyed; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity.

⁴⁷ in days to come,” declares the Lord. Here ends the judgment on Moab.