Study Desk

So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, against Moab: Woe to Nebo, for it is ravaged! Kiriathaim is put to shame and captured. The fortress is put to shame and razed.

Moab shall not still be praised. In Heshbon they have plotted evil against it, saying, Come and let us cut it off as a nation. And you shall be silenced, O madmen; a sword will go after you,

a voice of crying from Horonaim, plundering and great ruin!

Moab is broken up; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.

For in the ascent to Luhith, they shall go up with great weeping. For in the descent to Horonaim, the enemies have heard a cry of ruin.

Flee! Save your lives, and be like a naked thing in the wilderness.

For because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you shall also be captured. And Chemosh shall go into exile; both his priests and his rulers.

And a plunderer shall come on every city, and no city shall escape. Also the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as Jehovah has spoken.

Give wings to Moab, for it will fly away; and its cities shall be a desert, without an inhabitant in them.

Cursed is he who does the work of Jehovah deceitfully, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.

Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel. He has not gone into captivity. So his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.

So, behold, the days come, declares Jehovah, that I will send pourers to him, who shall pour him off, and shall empty his vessels, and break their jars in pieces.

And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of their confidence in Bethel.

How do you say, We are mighty and strong men for war?

Moab is ravaged, and her cities have come up. And his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter, says the King whose name is Jehovah of Hosts.

The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his evil hurries fast.

All who are around him mourn for him. And all who know his name, say, How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!

O dweller, daughter of Dibon, come down from glory and sit in thirst. For a ravager of Moab shall come on you; he has ruined your strongholds.

O dweller of Aroer, stand by the way and watch. Ask him who flees and her who escapes; say, What has happened?

Moab is put to shame, for it is torn down. Wail and cry! Tell it in Arnon that Moab is ravaged.

And judgment has come to the plain country, on Holon, and on Jahazah, and on Mephaath,

and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-diblathaim,

and on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon,

and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.

The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says Jehovah.

Make Him drunk, for he magnified himself against Jehovah. Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be a mockery.

For was not Israel a mockery to you? Was he found among thieves? For ever since you spoke of him, you lamented.

Dwellers of Moab, leave the cities, and live in the rock, and be like the dove who makes her nest in the sides of the mouth of the pit.

We have heard the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud; his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and his elevated heart.

I have known, declares Jehovah, his wrath, and it is not so; his lie, they have not done so.

On account of this I will wail for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab, and he shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.

O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for you more than the weeping of Jazer. Your plants have crossed the sea; they reach to the sea of Jazer. A ravager has fallen on your harvest, and on your grape crop.

And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab. And I have caused wine to cease from the winepresses. None shall tread the grapes with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.

From the city of Heshbon to Elealeh, to Jahaz, they have given their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, like a heifer three years old. For the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate.

Also I will cause him who offers in the high places to cease in Moab, says Jehovah, and he who burns incense to his gods.

On account of this my heart shall mourn for Moab, like flutes; and my heart shall sound like flutes for the men of Kirheres, because the riches that he has gotten have perished.

For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped. On all the hands shall be cuttings, and sackcloth on the loins.

On all Moab's housetops, and in its streets, is wailing for all. For I have broken Moab like a vessel; no pleasure is in it, says Jehovah.

They shall howl, saying , How it is broken down! How has Moab turned his back in shame! So Moab shall be a mockery, and a terror to all those around him.

For so says Jehovah: Behold, he shall fly like an eagle, and shall spread his wings toward Moab.

Kerioth is captured, and the strongholds are seized. And the mighty men's hearts in Moab shall be at that day like the heart of a woman being distressed.

And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Jehovah.

Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be on you, O one living in Moab, declares Jehovah.

He who flees from the dread shall fall into the pit. And he who goes up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare. For I will bring it on Moab, the year of their punishment, declares Jehovah.

Those who fled stood powerless in the shadow of Heshbon, for a fire shall come out of Heshbon, and a flame out of the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult.

Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished. For your sons are taken away into exile, and your daughters into exile.

But I will restore the prisoners of Moab in the end of the days, declares Jehovah. So far is the judgment of Moab.