Jeremiah 48
Prophecy against Moab
Prophecies about the Gentile Nations1
Of Moab. the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:"Woe to Nebo!For it is laid waste.Kiriathaim is disappointed.It is taken.Misgab is put to shameor, The strongholdand broken down.
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The sound of a cry from Horonaim,desolation and great destruction!
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Moab is destroyed.Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
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Flee! Save your lives!Be like the juniper bush in the wilderness.
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For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures,you also will be taken.Chemosh will go out into captivity,his priests and his princes together.
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Give wings to Moab,that she may fly and get herself away:and her cities will become a desolation,without anyone to dwell in them.
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"Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD negligently;and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.
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"Moab has been at ease from his youth,and he has settled on his lees,and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,neither has he gone into captivity:therefore his taste remains in him,and his scent is not changed.
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Therefore behold, the days come," says The LORD,"that I will send to him those who pour off,and they will pour him off;and they will empty his vessels,and break their bottles in pieces.
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"How do you say, 'We are mighty men,and valiant men for the war?'
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Moab is laid waste,and they have gone up into his cities,and his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,"says the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
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"The calamity of Moab is near to come,and his affliction hurries fast.
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All you who are around him, bemoan him,and all you who know his name; say,'How the strong staff is broken,the beautiful rod!'
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"You daughter who dwells in Dibon,come down from your glory,and sit in thirst;for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you.He has destroyed your strongholds.
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Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch.Ask him who flees, and her who escapes;say, 'What has been done?'
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Moab is disappointed;for it is broken down.Wail and cry!Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.
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Judgment has come on the plain country,on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mephaath,
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on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim,
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on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon,
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on Kerioth, on Bozrah,and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
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The horn of Moab is cut off,and his arm is broken," says The LORD.
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"Make him drunken;for he magnified himself against The LORD.Moab will wallow in his vomit,and he also will be in derision.
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For wasn't Israel a derision to you?Was he found among thieves?For as often as you speak of him,you shake your head.
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You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock.Be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss.
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"We have heard of the pride of Moab.He is very proud in his loftiness, his pride,his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.
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I know his wrath," says The LORD, "that it is nothing;his boastings have done nothing.
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Therefore I will wail for Moab.Yes, I will cry out for all Moab.They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.
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With more than the weeping of Jazerwill I weep for you, vine of Sibmah.Your branches passed over the sea.They reached even to the sea of Jazer.The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruitsand on your vintage.
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Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful fieldand from the land of Moab.I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses.No one will tread with shouting.The shouting will be no shouting.
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From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh,even to Jahaz have they uttered their voice,from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah;for the waters of Nimrim will also become desolate.
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Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab," says The LORD,"him who offers in the high place,and him who burns incense to his gods.
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Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like pipes,and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir Heres.Therefore the abundance that he has gotten has perished.
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On all the housetops of Moab,and in its streets, there is lamentation everywhere;for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no one delights," says The LORD.
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"How it is broken down!How they wail!How Moab has turned the back with shame!So will Moab become a derisionand a terror to all who are around him."
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For the LORD says: "Behold, he will fly as an eagle,and will spread out his wings against Moab.
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Moab will be destroyed from being a people,because he has magnified himself against The LORD.
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Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you,inhabitant of Moab," says The LORD.
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"He who flees from the terror will fall into the pit;and he who gets up out of the pit will be taken in the snare:for I will bring on him, even on Moab,the year of their visitation," says The LORD.
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Woe to you, O Moab!The people of Chemosh are undone;for your sons are taken away captive,and your daughters into captivity.
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"Yet I will reverse the captivity of Moab in the latter days,"says The LORD.Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Jer 48:1-47. PROPHECY AGAINST MOAB.
It had taken part with the Chaldeans against Judea (2Ki 24:2). Fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, when also he attacked Egypt (Jer 43:8-13) and Ammon (Jer 49:1-6). [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 10:9,7]. Jeremiah in this prophecy uses that of Isa 15:1-16:14, amplifying and adapting it to his purpose under inspiration, at the same time confirming its divine authority. Isaiah, however, in his prophecy refers to the devastation of Moab by the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser; Jeremiah refers to that by Nebuchadnezzar.
1. Nebo--a mountain and town of Moab; its meaning is "that which fructifies."
Kiriathaim--a city of Moab, consisting of two cities, as the word signifies; originally held by the Emim (Ge 14:5).
Misgab--meaning "elevation." It lay on an elevation.