Isaiah 15-16
Contemporary English Version
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!
2 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.
3 In the towns and at home,
everyone wears sackcloth
and cries loud and long.
4 From Heshbon and Elealeh,
weeping is heard in Jahaz;
Moab's warriors scream
while trembling with fear.
Pity Moab
5 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.
6 The streams of Nimrim
and the grasslands
have dried up.
Every plant is parched.
7 The people of Moab are leaving,
crossing over Willow Creek,
taking everything they own
and have worked for.
8 In the towns of Eglaim
and of Beerelim
and everywhere else in Moab
mournful cries are heard.
9 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]
More Troubles for Moab
16 Send lambs[e] as gifts
to the ruler of the land.
Send them across the desert
from Sela[f] to Mount Zion.
2 The women of Moab
crossing the Arnon River
are like a flock of birds
scattered from their nests.
3 Moab's messengers say
to the people of Judah,
“Be kind and help us!
Shade us from the heat
of the noonday sun.
Hide our refugees!
Don't turn them away.
4 Let our people live
in your country
and find safety here.”
Moab, your cruel enemies
will disappear;
they will no longer attack
and destroy your land.
5 Then a kingdom of love
will be set up,
and someone from David's family
will rule with fairness.
He will do what is right
and quickly bring justice.
Moab's Pride Is Destroyed
6 We have heard of Moab's pride.
Its people strut and boast,
but without reason.
7 Tell everyone in Moab
to mourn for their nation.
Tell them to cry and weep
for those fancy raisins[g]
of Kir-Hareseth.
8 Vineyards near Heshbon
and Sibmah
have turned brown.
The rulers of nations
used to get drunk
on wine from those vineyards[h]
that spread to Jazer,
then across the desert
and beyond the sea.
9 Now I mourn like Jazer
for the vineyards
of Sibmah.
I shed tears for Heshbon
and for Elealeh.
There will be no more
harvest celebrations
10 or joyful and happy times,
while bringing in the crops.
Singing and shouting are gone
from the vineyards.
There are no joyful shouts
where grapes were pressed.
God has silenced them all.
11 Deep in my heart I hurt
for Moab and Kir-Heres.
12 It's useless for Moab's people
to wear themselves out
by going to their altars
to worship and pray.
13 The Lord has already said all of this about Moab. 14 Now he says, “The contract of a hired worker is good for three years, but Moab's glory and greatness won't last any longer than that. Only a few of its people will survive, and they will be left helpless.”
Footnotes
- 15.2 Everyone … temple: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 15.2 Heads … shaved: As a sign of sorrow and mourning.
- 15.9 Dimon … Dimon: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation have “Dibon … Dibon.”
- 15.9 lions: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 9.
- 16.1 lambs: The main product of Moab.
- 16.1 Sela: A town in Edom.
- 16.7 fancy raisins: The Hebrew text has “raisin-cakes,” which could mean either the rich produce or the prosperous farmers.
- 16.8 The rulers … vineyards: Or “The rulers of nations have destroyed those vineyards.”
Jeremiah 48
Contemporary English Version
What the Lord Says about Moab
48 (A) The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, told me to say to the nation of Moab:
The town of Nebo is doomed;
Kiriathaim will be captured
and disgraced,
and even its fortress
will be left in ruins.
2 No one honors you, Moab.
In Heshbon, enemies make plans
to end your life.
My sword will leave only silence
in your town named “Quiet.”[a]
3 The people of Horonaim
will cry for help,
as their town is attacked
and destroyed.
4 Moab will be shattered!
Your children will sob
5 and cry on their way up
to the town of Luhith;
on the road to Horonaim
they will tell of disasters.
6 Run for your lives!
Head into the desert
like a wild donkey.[b]
7 You thought you could be saved
by your power and wealth,
but you will be captured
along with your god Chemosh,
his priests, and officials.
8 Not one of your towns
will escape destruction.
I have told your enemies,
“Wipe out the valley
and the flatlands of Moab.
9 Spread salt on the ground
to kill the crops.[c]
Leave its towns in ruins,
with no one living there.
10 I want you to kill the Moabites,
and if you let them escape,
I will put a curse on you.”
11 Moab, you are like wine
left to settle undisturbed,
never poured from jar to jar.
And so, your nation continues
to prosper and improve.[d]
12 But now, I will send enemies
to pour out the wine
and smash the jars!
13 Then you will be ashamed,
because your god Chemosh
cannot save you,
just as Bethel[e] could not help
the Israelites.
14 You claim that your soldiers
are strong and brave.
15 But I am the Lord,
the all-powerful King,
and I promise that enemies
will overpower your towns.
Even your best warriors
will die in the battle.
16 It won't be long now—
disaster will hit Moab!
17 I will order the nearby nations
to mourn for you and say,
“Isn't it sad? Moab ruled others,
but now its glorious power
has been shattered.”
18 People in the town of Dibon,[f]
you will be honored no more,
so have a seat in the dust.
Your walls will be torn down
when the enemies attack.
19 You people of Aroer,[g]
go wait beside the road,
and when refugees run by,
ask them, “What happened?”
20 They will answer,
“Moab has been defeated!
Weep with us in shame.
Tell everyone at the Arnon River
that Moab is destroyed.”
21 I will punish every town
that belongs to Moab,
but especially Holon,
Jahzah, Mephaath,
22 Dibon, Nebo,
Beth-Diblathaim, 23 Kiriathaim,
Beth-Gamul, Beth-Meon,
24 Kerioth, and Bozrah.[h]
25 My decision is final—
your army will be crushed,
and your power broken.
26 People of Moab, you claim
to be stronger than I am.
Now I will tell other nations
to make you drunk
and to laugh while you collapse
in your own vomit.
27 You made fun of my people
and treated them like criminals
caught in the act.
28 Now you must leave your towns
and live like doves
in the shelter of cliffs
and canyons.
29 I know about your pride,
and how you strut and boast.
30 But I also know bragging
will never save you.
31 So I will cry and mourn
for Moab
and its town of Kir-Heres.
32 People of Sibmah,
you were like a vineyard
heavy with grapes,
and with branches reaching
north to the town of Jazer
and west to the Dead Sea.[i]
But you have been destroyed,
and so I will weep for you,
as the people of Jazer weep
for the vineyards.
33 Harvest celebrations are gone
from the orchards and farms
of Moab.
I have silenced the shouts
of people making wine.
34 Weeping from Heshbon
can be heard as far
as Elealeh and Jahaz;
cries from Zoar are heard
in Horonaim
and Eglath-Shelishiyah.
And Nimrim Creek has run dry.
35 I will get rid of anyone
who burns incense
to the gods of Moab
or offers sacrifices
at their shrines.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
36 In my heart I moan for Moab,
like a funeral song
played on a flute.
I mourn for the people
of the town of Kir-Heres,
because their wealth is gone.
* 37-38 The people of Moab
mourn on the rooftops
and in the streets.
Men cut off their beards,
people shave their heads;
they make cuts on their hands
and wear sackcloth.[j]
And it's all because I, the Lord,
have shattered Moab like a jar
that no one wants.
39 Moab lies broken!
Listen to its people cry
as they turn away in shame.
Other nations are horrified
at what happened,
but still they mock her.
40 Moab, an enemy swoops down
like an eagle spreading its wings
over your land.
41 Your cities[k] and fortresses
will be captured,
and your warriors as fearful
as women giving birth.[l]
42 You are finished as a nation,
because you dared oppose me,
the Lord.
43 Terror, pits, and traps
are waiting for you.
44 If you are terrified and run,
you will fall into a pit;
and if you crawl out of the pit,
you'll get caught in a trap.
The time has come
for you to be punished.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
45 Near the city of Heshbon,
where Sihon once ruled,
tired refugees stand in shadows
cast by the flames
of their burning city.
Soon, the towns on other hilltops,
where those warlike people live,
will also go up in smoke.
46 People of Moab, you worshiped
Chemosh, your god,
but now you are done for,
and your children are prisoners
in a foreign country.
47 Yet someday, I will bring
your people back home.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
Footnotes
- 48.2 silence … Quiet: In Hebrew the name of the town was “Madmen,” which sounds like the word for “silence.”
- 48.6 like a wild donkey: One ancient translation; Hebrew “like (the town of) Aroer” (see verse 19).
- 48.9 Spread salt … crops: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 48.11 continues … improve: Or “remains as evil as ever.”
- 48.13 Bethel: It may refer to the Phoenician or Canaanite god of that name; or it may refer to the town where people of the northern kingdom worshiped at a local shrine (see 1 Kings 12.26-30).
- 48.18 Dibon: The capital city of Moab.
- 48.19 Aroer: A Moabite town located just north of the Arnon River.
- 48.24 Bozrah: Not the same Bozrah as in 49.13.
- 48.32 reaching north … Dead Sea: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 48.37,38 sackcloth: See the note at 4.8.
- 48.41 Your cities: Or “Kerioth.”
- 48.41 as fearful … birth: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Ezekiel 25:8-11
Contemporary English Version
Judgment on Moab
8 (A) The Lord God said, “The people of Moab[a] thought Judah was no different from any other nation. 9 So I will let Moab's fortress towns along its border be attacked, including Beth-Jeshimoth, Baal-Meon, and Kiriathaim. 10 The same eastern desert tribes that invade Ammon will invade Moab, and just as Ammon will be forgotten forever, 11 Moab will be punished. Then the people there will know that I am the Lord.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 25.8 Moab: One ancient translation; Hebrew “Moab and Edom.”
Amos 2:1-3
Contemporary English Version
Judgment on Moab
2 (A) The Lord said:
I will punish Moab
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They made lime from the bones[a]
of the king of Edom.
2 Now I will send fire to destroy
the fortresses of Kerioth.[b]
Battle shouts and trumpet blasts
will be heard as I destroy Moab
3 with its king and leaders.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Zephaniah 2:8-11
Contemporary English Version
8 (A) The Lord All-Powerful,
the God of Israel, said:
I've heard Moab and Ammon
insult my people
and threaten their nation.[a]
9 (B) And so, I swear by my very life
that Moab and Ammon will end up
like Sodom and Gomorrah—
covered with thornbushes
and salt pits forever.
Then my people who survive
will take their land.
10 This is how Moab and Ammon
will at last be repaid
for their pride—
and for sneering at the nation
that belongs to me,
the Lord All-Powerful.
11 I will fiercely attack.
Then every god on this earth
will shrink to nothing,
and everyone of every nation
will bow down to me,
right where they are.
Footnotes
- 2.8 threaten their nation: Or “boast about their own nation.”
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