Berean Standard Bible

Jeremiah 48:1-23

1Concerning 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.2There is no longer praise for Moab;in Heshbon1 they devise evil against her:‘Come, let us cut her off from nationhood.’

You too, O people of Madmen,2 will be silenced;the sword will pursue you.3A voice cries out from Horonaim:‘Devastation and great destruction!’4Moab will be shattered;her little ones will cry out.3

5For on the ascent to Luhiththey weep bitterly as they go,and on the descent to Horonaimcries of distress resoundover the destruction:6‘Flee! Run for your lives!Become like a juniper in the desert.4’

7Because you trust in your works and treasures,you too will be captured,and Chemosh will go into exilewith his priests and officials.8The destroyer will move against every city,and not one town will escape.The valley will also be ruined,and the high plain will be destroyed,as the LORD has said.

9Put salt on Moab,for she will be laid waste;5her cities will become desolate,with no one to dwell in them.10Cursed is the one who is remissin doing the work of the LORD,and cursed is he who withholdshis sword from bloodshed.

11Moab has been at ease from youth,settled like wine on its dregs;he has not been poured from vessel to vesselor gone into exile.So his flavor has remained the same,and his aroma is unchanged.12Therefore behold, the days are coming,declares the LORD,when I will send to him wanderers,who will pour him out.They will empty his vesselsand shatter his jars.13Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,just as the house of Israel was ashamedwhen they trusted in Bethel.

14How can you say, ‘We are warriors,mighty men ready for battle’?15Moab has been destroyedand its towns have been invaded;the best of its young menhave gone down in the slaughter,declares the King,whose name is the LORD of Hosts.16Moab’s calamity is at hand,and his affliction is rushing swiftly.17Mourn for him, all you who surround him,everyone who knows his name;tell how the mighty scepter is shattered—the glorious staff!

18Come 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.19Stand by the road and watch,O dweller of Aroer!Ask the man fleeing or the woman escaping,‘What has happened?’20Moab is put to shame, for it has been shattered.Wail and cry out!Declare by the Arnonthat Moab is destroyed.

21Judgment has come upon the high plain—upon Holon, Jahzah,6 and Mephaath,22upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,23upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,

Read all of Jeremiah 48

Notes

1. Jeremiah 48:2 The Hebrew for Heshbon sounds like the Hebrew for plot. ↩
2. Jeremiah 48:2 The name of the Moabite town Madmen sounds like the Hebrew for silenced. ↩
3. Jeremiah 48:4 Hebrew; LXX her cries are heard as far away as Zoar ↩
4. Jeremiah 48:6 Or like a wild donkey or like Aroer ↩
5. Jeremiah 48:9 Or Give wings to Moab, for she would fly away ↩
6. Jeremiah 48:21 Jahzah is a variant of Jahaz; see verse 34. ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Jeremiah 48