1 A gainst Moab. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe to Nebo! For it is plundered, Kirjathaim is shamed and taken; The high stronghold is shamed and dismayed—

Concerning Moab: `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Wo unto Nebo, for it is spoiled, Put to shame, captured hath been Kiriathaim, Put to shame hath been the high tower, Yea, it hath been broken down.

2 N o more praise of Moab. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her: ‘Come, and let us cut her off as a nation.’ You also shall be cut down, O Madmen! The sword shall pursue you;

There is no more praise of Moab, In Heshbon they devised against it evil: Come, and we cut it off from a nation, Also, O Madmen, thou art cut off, After thee goeth a sword.

3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim: ‘Plundering and great destruction!’

A voice of a cry from Horonaim, Spoiling and great destruction.

4 “ Moab is destroyed; Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard;

Destroyed hath been Moab, Caused a cry to be heard have her little ones.

5 F or in the Ascent of Luhith they ascend with continual weeping; For in the descent of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.

For the ascent of Luhith with weeping, Go up doth weeping, For in the descent of Horonaim Adversaries a cry of desolation have heard.

6 “ Flee, save your lives! And be like the juniper in the wilderness.

Flee ye, deliver yourselves, Ye are as a naked thing in a wilderness.

7 F or because you have trusted in your works and your treasures, You also shall be taken. And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, His priests and his princes together.

For, because of thy trusting in thy works, And in thy treasures, even thou art captured, And gone out hath Chemosh in a removal, His priests and his heads together.

8 A nd the plunderer shall come against every city; No one shall escape. The valley also shall perish, And the plain shall be destroyed, As the Lord has spoken.

And come in doth a spoiler unto every city, And no city doth escape, And perished hath the valley, And destroyed been the plain, as Jehovah said.

9 “ Give wings to Moab, That she may flee and get away; For her cities shall be desolate, Without any to dwell in them.

Give wings to Moab, for she utterly goeth out, And her cities are for a desolation, Without an inhabitant in them.

10 C ursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully, And cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.

Cursed he who is doing the work of Jehovah slothfully, And cursed he Who is withholding his sword from blood.

11 “ Moab has been at ease from his youth; He has settled on his dregs, And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained in him, And his scent has not changed.

Secure is Moab from his youth, And at rest he for his preserved things, And he hath not been emptied out from vessel unto vessel, And into captivity he hath not gone, Therefore hath his taste remained in him, And his fragrance hath not been changed.

12 “ Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I shall send him wine-workers Who will tip him over And empty his vessels And break the bottles.

Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sent to him wanderers, And they have caused him to wander, And his vessels they empty out, And his bottles they dash in pieces.

13 M oab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, As the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

And ashamed hath been Moab because of Chemosh, As the house of Israel have been ashamed Because of Beth-El their confidence.

14 “ How can you say, ‘We are mighty And strong men for the war’?

How do ye say, We mighty, And men of strength for battle?

15 M oab is plundered and gone up from her cities; Her chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King, Whose name is the Lord of hosts.

Spoiled is Moab, and her cities hath one gone up, And the choice of its young men Have gone down to slaughter, An affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts His name.

16 “ The calamity of Moab is near at hand, And his affliction comes quickly.

Near is the calamity of Moab to come, And his affliction hath hasted exceedingly.

17 B emoan him, all you who are around him; And all you who know his name, Say, ‘How the strong staff is broken, The beautiful rod!’

Bemoan for him, all ye round about him, And all knowing his name, say ye: How hath it been broken, the staff of strength, The rod of beauty.

18 “ O daughter inhabiting Dibon, Come down from your glory, And sit in thirst; For the plunderer of Moab has come against you, He has destroyed your strongholds.

Come down from honour, sit in thirst, O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon, For a spoiler of Moab hath come up to thee, He hath destroyed thy fenced places.

19 O inhabitant of Aroer, Stand by the way and watch; Ask him who flees And her who escapes; Say, ‘What has happened?’

On the way stand, and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer, Ask the fugitive and escaped, Say, What hath happened?

20 M oab is shamed, for he is broken down. Wail and cry! Tell it in Arnon, that Moab is plundered.

Put to shame hath been Moab, For it hath been broken down, Howl and cry, declare ye in Arnon, For spoiled is Moab,

21 “ And judgment has come on the plain country: On Holon and Jahzah and Mephaath,

And judgment hath come in unto the land of the plain -- unto Holon, And unto Jahazah, and on Mephaath,

22 O n Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,

And on Dibon, and on Nebo, And on Beth-Diblathaim, and on Kirathaim,

23 O n Kirjathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,

And on Beth-Gamul, and on Beth-Meon,

24 O n Kerioth and Bozrah, On all the cities of the land of Moab, Far or near.

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

25 T he horn of Moab is cut off, And his arm is broken,” says the Lord.

Cut down hath been the horn of Moab, And his arm hath been broken, An affirmation of Jehovah.

26 “ Make him drunk, Because he exalted himself against the Lord. Moab shall wallow in his vomit, And he shall also be in derision.

Declare ye him drunk, For against Jehovah he made himself great And Moab hath stricken in his vomit, And he hath been for a derision -- even he.

27 F or was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him, You shake your head in scorn.

And was not Israel the derision to thee? Among thieves was he found? For since thy words concerning him, Thou dost bemoan thyself.

28 Y ou who dwell in Moab, Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, And be like the dove which makes her nest In the sides of the cave’s mouth.

Forsake cities, and dwell in a rock, Ye inhabitants of Moab, And be as a dove making a nest in the passages of a pit's mouth.

29 “ We have heard the pride of Moab (He is exceedingly proud), Of his loftiness and arrogance and pride, And of the haughtiness of his heart.”

We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, Exceeding proud! His haughtiness, and his arrogance, And his pride, and the height of his heart,

30 “ I know his wrath,” says the Lord, “But it is not right; His lies have made nothing right.

I -- I have known, an affirmation of Jehovah, His wrath, and not right, His devices -- not right they have done.

31 T herefore I will wail for Moab, And I will cry out for all Moab; I will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.

Therefore for Moab I howl, even for Moab -- all of it, I cry for men of Kir-Heres, it doth mourn,

32 O vine of Sibmah! I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer. Your plants have gone over the sea, They reach to the sea of Jazer. The plunderer has fallen on your summer fruit and your vintage.

With the weeping of Jazer, I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah, Thy branches have passed over a sea, Unto the sea of Jazer they have come, On thy summer fruits, and on thy harvest, A spoiler hath fallen.

33 J oy and gladness are taken From the plentiful field And from the land of Moab; I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses; No one will tread with joyous shouting— Not joyous shouting!

And removed hath been joy and gladness From the fruitful field, Even from the land of Moab, And wine from wine-presses I have caused to cease, Shouting doth not proceed, The shouting no shouting!

34 “ From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh and to Jahaz They have uttered their voice, From Zoar to Horonaim, Like a three-year-old heifer; For the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate.

Because of the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh, Unto Jahaz they have given their voice, From Zoar unto Horonaim, A heifer of the third, For even waters of Nimrim become desolations.

35 “ Moreover,” says the Lord, “I will cause to cease in Moab The one who offers sacrifices in the high places And burns incense to his gods.

And I have caused to cease to Moab, An affirmation of Jehovah, Him who is offering in a high place, And him who is making perfume to his god.

36 T herefore My heart shall wail like flutes for Moab, And like flutes My heart shall wail For the men of Kir Heres. Therefore the riches they have acquired have perished.

Therefore my heart for Moab as pipes doth sound, And my heart for men of Kir-Heres As pipes doth sound, Therefore the abundance he made did perish.

37 “ For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped; On all the hands shall be cuts, and on the loins sackcloth—

For every head bald, and every beard diminished, On all hands cuttings, and on the loins -- sackcloth.

38 A general lamentation On all the housetops of Moab, And in its streets; For I have broken Moab like a vessel in which is no pleasure,” says the Lord.

On all roofs of Moab, and in her broad-places, All of it -- lamentation, For I have broken Moab as a vessel in which there is no pleasure, An affirmation of Jehovah.

39 “ They shall wail: ‘How she is broken down! How Moab has turned her back with shame!’ So Moab shall be a derision And a dismay to all those about her.”

How hath it been broken down! they have howled, How hath Moab turned the neck ashamed, And Moab hath been for a derision. And for a terror to all round about her.

40 F or thus says the Lord: “Behold, one shall fly like an eagle, And spread his wings over Moab.

For thus said Jehovah: Lo, as an eagle he doth flee, And hath spread his wings unto Moab.

41 K erioth is taken, And the strongholds are surprised; The mighty men’s hearts in Moab on that day shall be Like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.

Captured have been the cities, And the strongholds are caught, And the heart of the mighty of Moab Hath been in that day as the heart of a distressed woman.

42 A nd Moab shall be destroyed as a people, Because he exalted himself against the Lord.

And Moab hath been destroyed from a people, For against Jehovah he exerted himself.

43 F ear and the pit and the snare shall be upon you, O inhabitant of Moab,” says the Lord.

Fear, and a snare, and a gin, for thee, O inhabitant of Moab -- an affirmation of Jehovah,

44 “ He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, And he who gets out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For upon Moab, upon it I will bring The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.

Whoso is fleeing because of the fear falleth into the snare, And whoso is coming up from the snare is captured by the gin, For I bring in unto her -- unto Moab -- The year of their inspection, An affirmation of Jehovah.

45 “ Those who fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon Because of exhaustion. But a fire shall come out of Heshbon, A flame from the midst of Sihon, And shall devour the brow of Moab, The crown of the head of the sons of tumult.

In the shadow of Heshbon stood powerless have fugitives, For fire hath gone forth from Heshbon, And a flame from within Sihon, And it consumeth the corner of Moab, And the crown of the sons of Shaon.

46 W oe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perish; For your sons have been taken captive, And your daughters captive.

Wo to thee, O Moab, Perished hath the people of Chemosh, For thy sons were taken with the captives, And thy daughters with the captivity.

47 “ Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab In the latter days,” says the Lord. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

And I have turned back the captivity of Moab, In the latter end of the days, An affirmation of Jehovah! Hitherto the judgment of Moab.