1 ARST This is a message about Moab. Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, says,“Terrible things will happen to the city of Nebo; it will soon be ruined. the city of Kiriathaim will be put to shame. It is taken! The defended fortress will be ruined, and its people will become ashamed. BSB BSB: Concerning 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.
2 ARST No one will boast about Moab again; the enemies of Moab will plan to destroy the capital city, Heshbon. They will say,‘Come, let us cause Moab to no longer be a nation.’ You also, You Madmen! you also will be silenced; enemy armies will pursue you to kill you. BSB BSB: There is no longer praise for Moab; in Heshbon they devise evil against her: ‘Come, let us cut her off from nationhood.’ You too, O people of Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.
3 ARST Listen to the people of Horonaim screaming; they will be wailing because their town was completely destroyed. BSB BSB: A voice cries out from Horonaim: ‘Devastation and great destruction!’
4 ARST All of Moab will be ruined; even the little children will cry loudly. BSB BSB: Moab will be shattered; her little ones will cry out.
5 ARST They will cry bitterly as they climb up Luhith hill. Others will wail on the road down to Horonaim. They were so very sad because their town was completely destroyed. BSB BSB: For on the ascent to Luhith they weep bitterly as they go, and on the descent to Horonaim cries of distress resound over the destruction:
6 ARST Someone will say to them,‘Flee! Hide in the desert!’ BSB BSB: ‘Flee! Run for your lives! Become like a juniper in the desert.’
7 ARST But you trusted that because you were rich and powerful, you would be safe; so you will be captured. Your god Chemosh and all his priests and officials will be taken away to distant lands. BSB BSB: Because you trust in your works and treasures, you too will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials.
8 ARST All the towns in Moab will be destroyed; none of them will escape. Towns in the valleys and on the plateau will all be destroyed, because Yahweh has said that is what will happen. BSB BSB: The 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.
9 ARST Someone should help all the people in Moab to run away, so that their land will be empty, so that no one will live in it any longer.” BSB BSB: Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her cities will become desolate, with no one to dwell in them.
10 ARST May Yahweh punish anyone who will not eagerly do what he desires; may he curse anyone who refrains from using his sword to kill the people in Moab. BSB BSB: Cursed is the one who is remiss in doing the work of the LORD, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from bloodshed.
11 ARST The people of Moab have always felt secure; they have never been exiled. They are like wine that has been left undisturbed in a container for many days to give it good flavor, so now it is smells good, and it tastes good. BSB BSB: Moab has been at ease from youth, settled like wine on its dregs; he has not been poured from vessel to vessel or gone into exile. So his flavor has remained the same, and his aroma is unchanged.
12 ARST But Yahweh says that there will be a time when he will send enemies to attack them; they will get rid of the people of Moab like people pour out wine on the ground and then smash the wine jar. BSB BSB: Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will send to him wanderers, who will pour him out. They will empty his vessels and shatter his jars.
13 ARST Then the people of Moab will be ashamed of their god Chemosh that they had trusted in, because it did not help them, like the Israelite people were ashamed because their gold statue of a calf was smashed at Bethel. BSB BSB: Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.
14 ARST The soldiers of Moab previously said,“We are warriors; we have fought bravely in battles!” BSB BSB: How can you say, ‘We are warriors, mighty men ready for battle’?
15 ARST But now our king, who is called Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, says that the country of Moab and all the towns in it will be destroyed. Their fine young men will all be slaughtered. BSB BSB: Moab 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.
16 ARST Moab will very soon be destroyed. They will soon experience disaster. BSB BSB: Moab’s calamity is at hand, and his affliction is rushing swiftly.
17 ARST You people who live in nations near Moab, who know that it is very famous, should mourn for Moab, and say,“Its glorious power is completely ended.” BSB BSB: Mourn for him, all you who surround him, everyone who knows his name; tell how the mighty scepter is shattered—the glorious staff!
18 ARST You people of the city of Dibon, stop being proud because of being honored, and sit in the dust where you will thirst for water, because those who will destroy other places in Moab will attack your city and destroy your fortifications. BSB BSB: Come 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.
19 ARST You people of the city of Aroer, stand along the road and watch. Shout to the men and women who will be fleeing from Moab,“What has happened there?” BSB BSB: Stand by the road and watch, O dweller of Aroer! Ask the man fleeing or the woman escaping, ‘What has happened?’
20 ARST They will reply,“Moab is ruined and we are disgraced!” So weep and wail. Proclaim to Amon that Moab has been destroyed. BSB BSB: Moab is put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out! Declare by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
21 ARST Yahweh is punishing the towns of Moab that are on the plateau: Holon and Jahaz and Mephaath, BSB BSB: Judgment has come upon the high plain—upon Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,
22 ARST Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim, BSB BSB: upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim,
23 ARST Kiriathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon, BSB BSB: upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
24 ARST Kerioth and Bozrah. He is punishing cities that are near each other and towns that are far away from each other. BSB BSB: upon Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of Moab, those far and near.
25 ARST Yahweh says,“The power of Moab will be finished; it is as though it will have a broken arm. BSB BSB: The horn of Moab has been cut off, and his arm is broken,” declares the LORD.
26 ARST You people of Moab thought you were powerful enough to rebel against me, Yahweh; so now I will cause you all to stagger like drunken people. You people of Moab will wallow in your own vomit and be ridiculed. BSB BSB: “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.
27 ARST Did you not ridicule the people of Israel? Did you think they were nothing but thieves, so that you shook your head at them with scorn, and despised them every time you spoke about them? BSB BSB: Was not Israel your object of ridicule? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.
28 ARST You people who live in Moab, you should abandon your towns and go and live in caves. Be like pigeons that make their nests in the entrances of caves.” BSB BSB: Abandon the towns and settle among the rocks, O dwellers of Moab! Be like a dove that nests at the mouth of a cave.
29 ARST We have all heard that the people of Moab are very proud; they are extremely proud and conceited. BSB BSB: We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.
30 ARST But Yahweh says,“I know about that, but it is useless for them to boast because it will accomplish nothing. BSB BSB: I know his insolence,” declares the LORD, “but it is futile. His boasting is as empty as his deeds.
31 ARST So now I will wail for Moab; I will cry about all its people. I will moan for the men of the city of Kir Hareseth, the old capital of Moab. BSB BSB: Therefore I will wail for Moab; I will cry out for all of Moab; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
32 ARST You people of the city of Sibmah, you have many vineyards, and I will be sad when they are destroyed. It is as though the branches of your vines extend across the Dead Sea to the city of Jazer, but the enemies of Moab will take your grapes and wine from you! BSB BSB: I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah, more than I weep for Jazer. Your tendrils have extended to the sea; they reach even to Jazer. The destroyer has descended on your summer fruit and grape harvest.
33 ARST But no one will be joyful or happy in Moab now; your fruit and grapes that ripen in the summer will soon be destroyed. There will be no grape juice coming from the winepresses, so there will be no wine. People will not shout joyfully as they tread on the grapes; people will shout, but they will not be shouting joyfully. BSB BSB: Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard and 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.
34 ARST Instead, the sound of their wailing will rise from the city of Heshbon to the town of Elealeh and the village of Jahaz, from the city of Zoar as far as the town of Horonaim Eglath Shelishiyah. Even the water in the stream of Nimrim will be dried up. BSB BSB: There 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.
35 ARST I, Yahweh, say that I will get rid of the people who offer sacrifices on the hilltops, those who burn incense to their gods. BSB BSB: In Moab, declares the LORD, I will bring an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods.
36 ARST I moan for the people of Moab and Kir Hareseth like someone playing a funeral song on a flute, because all their wealth will disappear. BSB BSB: Therefore 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.
37 ARST The men will shave their heads and their beards to show that they are mourning. They all will slash their hands and wear rough cloth around their waists. BSB BSB: For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.
38 ARST In every home and in the town plazas in Moab there will be people who are mourning, because I will have destroyed Moab like someone smashes an old jar that no one wants anymore. BSB BSB: On all the rooftops of Moab and in the public squares, everyone is mourning; for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar,” declares the LORD.
39 ARST Moab will be completely shattered with terror! And you will hear the people wailing loudly! They will be disgraced. Moab will become a nation that people ridicule. The people in nearby countries will be horrified about what has happened there. BSB BSB: “How shattered it is! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule and horror to all those around him.”
40 ARST This is what I, Yahweh, say:‘Look! Their enemies will be swooping down over Moab like an eagle swoops down to seize an animal. BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, an eagle swoops down and spreads his wings against Moab.
41 ARST Its cities will be captured, its fortresses will be seized. Even their warriors will be afraid, like a woman who is about to give birth. BSB BSB: Kirioth has been taken, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42 ARST Moab boasted against me, Yahweh, so it will be destroyed. BSB BSB: Moab will be destroyed as a nation because he vaunted himself against the LORD.
43 ARST I, Yahweh, say that you people of Moab will be terrified, and fall into pits and traps. BSB BSB: Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,” declares the LORD.
44 ARST Those who are terrified and try to run away will fall into deep pits. Whoever climbs out of a pit will be caught in a trap, because I will punish them at the time that I have appointed.’ BSB BSB: “Whoever flees the panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For I will bring upon Moab the year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.
45 ARST The people will flee as far as the city of Heshbon, but they will not be able to go any further, because a fire will burn in Heshbon, which is the city where King Sihon lived long ago, and it will burn up all the people in Moab who noisily boasted very much. BSB BSB: “Those who flee will stand helpless in Heshbon’s shadow, because fire has gone forth from Heshbon and a flame from within Sihon. It devours the foreheads of Moab and the skulls of the sons of tumult.
46 ARST You people of Moab, terrible things will happen to you! You people who worship your god Chemosh, you will be destroyed. Your sons and your daughters will be captured and taken away to other countries. BSB BSB: Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; for your sons have been taken into exile and your daughters have gone into captivity.
47 ARST But some day, I will enable the people of Moab to return to their land again. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.” That is the end of what Jeremiah prophesied about Moab. BSB BSB: Yet in the latter days I will restore Moab from captivity,” declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.