Against Moab
1Concerning Moab. Yahweh the God of Israel, says this:
“Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is captured and disgraced; the fortress is shattered and abased.
2No more will Moab be praised;
men in Heshbon are plotting her down fall: ‘Let us put an end to that nation!’ You, too, Madmen, will be subdued; behind you stalks the sword.
3Listen, a cry from Horonaim –
a cry of ruin and destruction!
4Moab is destroyed;
her cry is heard as far as Zoar.
5Her little ones go up the way to Lihit, weeping bitterly as they make the ascent. On the descent to Horonaim the cry of destruction is still heard. 6Flee, run for your lives,
like the wild asses in the desert.
7Since you trusted in your deeds and riches,
you also will be captured. Chemosh will go into exile, together with her priests and officials.
8Upon every city the destroyer comes, and not a single city escapes.
The valley is despoiled, the plain plundered, as Yahweh has declared.
9Bury Moab for she has perished! Her cities will become desolate, with no inhabitant left.
10A curse be on him who is lax in per forming the work of Yahweh! A curse be on him who holds back his sword from shedding blood!
11From his youth Moab has lived at ease resting complacently upon lees,
never having gone into exile, never having been decanted; so she kept her own flavor as wine, her aroma remained the same.
12And so the day will come – Yahweh says – when I will send decanters to her. They will empty her flasks and break her jars. 13Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as Israel has been ashamed of Bethel, in which they put their trust.
14How can you say, ‘We are heroes and valiant men of war?’ 15Moab will be destroyed, her towns shattered; her finest young men will be slaughtered – it is the King who speaks, whose name is Yahweh Sabaoth.
16Moab’s ruin is near at hand; her downfall comes at top speed.
17All you her neighbors, mourn for her, all you who knew her well;
say, “How the mighty scepter is broken, the glorious rod!”
18Come down from glory, sit on the parched ground, all you who dwell in Dibon;
Moab’s destroyer has come against you, he has destroyed your stronghold. 19Stand by the way and watch closely, you who dwell in Aroer;
ask the men who flee, the women who escape,
ask them what has happened.
20Moab is shamed, oh, yes, destroyed; howl and cry out for her.
Announce it by the Arnon that Moab is ruined.
21Judgment has come on the tableland: on Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath, 22on Dibon, Nebo and Bethdiblathaim, 23on Kiriathaim, Bethgamul and Bethmeon, 24on Kerioth and Bozrah, on all the cities of Moab, far and near. 25The horn of Moab is cut off and her arm broken – it is Yahweh who speaks.
26Make her drunk! Because she magnified herself against Yahweh, Moab will wallow in her vomit and become a laughingstock in turn. 27Was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Was she found among thieves, that whenever you speak of her you wag your head?
28Leave the cities and dwell in the rocky cliffs,
O inhabitants of Moab.
Learn from the dove that makes its nest out of reach on the edge of a cliff.
29We have heard of the pride of Moab, of her loftiness and arrogance, of the haughtiness of her heart.
30Yahweh says: I know her insolence;
her words are false, her deeds are vain.
31And so I wail for Moab;
for the whole of Moab I moan;
for the people of Kir-heres I mourn. 32O vineyard of Sibmah,
I weep for you more than for Jazer. Your branches spread as far as the sea, all the way to the sea of Jazer. The destroyer has fallen
on your harvest and your vintage. 33Jubilation is at an end
in the fruit gardens of Moab; the vintage shout of joy is not heard,
for I have drained the wine from the wine vats.
34The cry of Heshbon and Elealeh is heard as far as Jahaz. From Zoar to Horonaim and Eglathshelishiyah, their lament is heard, for even the waters of Nimrim have become desolate.
35Yahweh says: I will bring to an end any one in Moab who offers sacrifice on the high place and burns incense to his gods.
36And that is why my heart, like a flute, sobs for Moab, moans for the people of Kir-he res whose accumulated riches have all perished. 37Every head is shorn, every beard cut off; gashes are on their hands, sackcloth covers their loins. 38There is nothing but lamentation on all the housetops and in the public squares of Moab, for I have shattered her like a vessel that no one wants – says Yahweh.
39What terror has seized Moab, what wailing! Oh, how she has turned back in shame! Moab has become a laughingstock and a horror to her neighbors.
40For thus says Yahweh: Look, an eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab.
41The towns will be captured, the strong holds seized.
The heart of Moab’s warriors on that day will be like the heart of a woman in travail.
42Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the Lord.
43Terror, pit, and snare be upon you, O people of Moab – says Yahweh.
44He who flees from terror will fall into the pit; he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare; for I will let this happen to Moab in the year of her punishment – says Yahweh.
45Fugitives stop in the shadow of Heshbon, for a fire has gone from the house of Sihon, burning Moab’s skull and her boasters’ crown.
46Woe to you, Moab,
people of Chemosh who suffer calamity!
Your sons are taken into exile, your daughers into captivity.
47But in the days to come I will restore the fortunes of Moab – Yahweh declares.” The judgment on Moab ends here.
