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Moab Will Be Punished

15 (A) This is a message about Moab:

The towns of Ar and Kir
were destroyed in a night.
    Moab is left in ruins!
Everyone in Dibon has gone up
to the temple[a] and the shrines
    to cry and weep.
All of Moab is crying.
Heads and beards are shaved[b]
    because of what happened
    at Nebo and Medeba.
In the towns and at home,
everyone wears sackcloth
    and cries loud and long.
From Heshbon and Elealeh,
    weeping is heard in Jahaz;
Moab's warriors scream
    while trembling with fear.

Pity Moab

I pity Moab!
Its people are running to Zoar
    and to Eglath-Shelishiyah.
They cry on their way up
    to the town of Luhith;
on the road to Horonaim
    they tell of disasters.
The streams of Nimrim
and the grasslands
    have dried up.
Every plant is parched.

The people of Moab are leaving,
    crossing over Willow Creek,
taking everything they own
    and have worked for.
In the towns of Eglaim
    and of Beerelim
and everywhere else in Moab
    mournful cries are heard.
The streams near Dimon
    are flowing with blood.
But the Lord will bring
    even worse trouble to Dimon,[c]
because all in Moab who escape
    will be attacked by lions.[d]

Footnotes

  1. 15.2 Everyone … temple: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 15.2 Heads … shaved: As a sign of sorrow and mourning.
  3. 15.9 Dimon … Dimon: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation have “Dibon … Dibon.”
  4. 15.9 lions: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 9.

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