Berean Standard Bible

Jeremiah 48:14-47

14How can you say, ‘We are warriors, mighty men ready for battle’?15Moab has been destroyed and its towns have been invaded; the best of its young men have 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,1 and Mephaath,22upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,23upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,24upon Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of Moab,those far and near.

25The 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.27Was not Israel your object of ridicule?Was he ever found among thieves?For whenever you speak of himyou shake your head.

28Abandon the towns and settle among the rocks,O dwellers of Moab!Be like a dovethat nests at the mouth of a cave.29We have heard of Moab’s pomposity,his exceeding pride and conceit,his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.30I know his insolence,”declares the LORD,“but it is futile.His boasting is as empty as his deeds.

31Therefore I will wail for Moab;I will cry out for all of Moab;I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.232I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah,more than I weep for Jazer.Your tendrils have extended to the sea;3they reach even to Jazer.4The destroyer has descendedon your summer fruit and grape harvest.33Joy and gladness are removed from the orchardand from the fields of Moab.I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses;no one treads them with shouts of joy;their shouts are not for joy.

34There 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.

35In Moab, declares the LORD,I will bring an endto those who make offerings on the high placesand burn incense to their gods.36Therefore My heart laments like a flute for Moab;it laments like a flute for the men of Kir-heres,because the wealth they acquired has perished.

37For every head is shavedand every beard is clipped;on every hand is a gash,and around every waist is sackcloth.38On all the rooftops of Moaband 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 has become an object of ridicule and horrorto all those around him.”

40For this is what the LORD says:

“Behold, an eagle swoops downand spreads his wings against Moab.41Kirioth has been taken,and the strongholds seized.In that day the heart of Moab’s warriorswill be like the heart of a woman in labor.42Moab will be destroyed as a nationbecause he vaunted himself against the LORD.

43Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,”declares the LORD.44“Whoever flees the panicwill fall into the pit,and whoever climbs from the pitwill be caught in the snare.For I will bring upon Moabthe year of their punishment,”declares the LORD.45“Those who flee will stand helpless in Heshbon’s shadow,because fire has gone forth from Heshbonand a flame from within Sihon.It devours the foreheads of Moaband the skulls of the sons of tumult.46Woe to you, O Moab!The people of Chemosh have perished;for your sons have been taken into exileand your daughters have gone into captivity.47Yet in the latter days I will restore Moab from captivity,5”declares the LORD.

Here ends the judgment on Moab.

Read all of Jeremiah 48

Notes

1. Jeremiah 48:21 Jahzah is a variant of Jahaz; see verse 34. ↩
2. Jeremiah 48:31 Kir-heres is a variant of Kir-hareseth; also in verse 36; see Isaiah 16:7. ↩
3. Jeremiah 48:32 Probably the Dead Sea ↩
4. Jeremiah 48:32 Two Hebrew manuscripts and LXX; most Hebrew manuscripts to the Sea of Jazer ↩
5. Jeremiah 48:47 Or restore the fortunes of Moab ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Jeremiah 48