48:1 Of Moab. The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Sorrow on Nebo, for it has been made waste; Kiriathaim has been put to shame and is taken: the strong place is put to shame and broken down.
48:2 The praise of Moab has come to an end; as for Heshbon, evil has been designed against her; come, let us put an end to her as a nation. But your mouth will be shut, O Madmen; the sword will go after you.
48:3 There is the sound of crying from Horonaim, wasting and great destruction;
48:4 Moab is broken; her cry has gone out to Zoar.
48:5 For by the slope of Luhith they will go up, weeping all the way; for on the way down to Horonaim the cry of destruction has come to their ears.
48:6 Go in flight, get away with your lives, and let your faces be turned to Aroer in the Arabah.
48:7 For because you have put your faith in your strong places, you, even you, will be taken: and Chemosh will go out as a prisoner, his priests and his rulers together.
48:8 And the attacker will come against every town, not one will be safe; and the valley will be made waste, and destruction will come to the lowland, as the Lord has said.
48:9 Put up a pillar for Moab, for she will come to a complete end: and her towns will become a waste, without anyone living in them.
48:10 Let him be cursed who does the Lord's work half- heartedly; let him be cursed who keeps back his sword from blood.
48:11 From his earliest days, Moab has been living in comfort; like wine long stored he has not been drained from vessel to vessel, he has never gone away as a prisoner: so his taste is still in him, his smell is unchanged.
48:12 So truly, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will send to him men who will have him turned over till there is no more wine in his vessels, and his wine-skins will be completely broken.
48:14 How say you, We are men of war and strong fighters?
48:15 He who makes Moab waste has gone up against her; and the best of her young men have gone down to their death, says the King, whose name is the Lord of armies.
48:16 The fate of Moab is near, and trouble is coming on him very quickly.
48:18 Come down from your glory, O people of Dibon, and take your seat in the place of the waste; for the attacker of Moab has gone up against you, sending destruction on your strong places.
48:19 O daughter of Aroer, take your station by the way, on the watch: questioning him who is in flight, and her who has got away safe, say, What has been done?
48:20 Moab has been put to shame, she is broken: make loud sounds of grief, crying out for help; give the news in Arnon, that Moab has been made waste.
48:21 And punishment has come on the lowlands; on Holon and Jahzah, and on Mephaath,
48:22 And on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-diblathaim,
48:23 And on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon,
48:24 And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the towns of the land of Moab, far and near.
48:25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the Lord.
48:26 Make him full of wine, for his heart has been lifted up against the Lord: and Moab will be rolling in the food he was not able to keep down, and everyone will be making sport of him.
48:27 For did you not make sport of Israel? was he taken among thieves? for whenever you were talking about him, you were shaking your head over him.
48:28 O people of Moab, go away from the towns and take cover in the rock; be like the dove of the Arabah, which makes her living-place in holes.
48:29 We have had word of the pride of Moab, how great it is; how he is lifted up in pride; and his great opinion of himself, and that his heart is lifted up.
48:30 I have knowledge of his wrath, says the Lord, that it is nothing; his high-sounding words have done nothing.
48:31 For this cause I will give cries of grief for Moab, crying out for Moab, even for all of it; I will be sorrowing for the men of Kir-heres.
48:32 My weeping for you, O vine of Sibmah, will be more than the weeping of Jazer: your branches have gone over the sea, stretching even to Jazer: destruction has come down on your summer fruits and your cutgrapes.
48:33 All joy is gone; no longer are they glad for the fertile field and for the land of Moab; I have made the wine come to an end from the crushing vessels: no longer will the grapes be crushed with the sound of glad voices.
48:34 The cry of Heshbon comes even to Elealeh; to Jahaz their voice is sounding; from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah: for the waters of Nimrim will become dry.
48:35 And I will put an end in Moab, says the Lord, to him who is making offerings in the high place and burning perfumes to his gods.
48:36 So my heart is sounding for Moab like the sound of pipes, and my heart is sounding like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: for the wealth he has got for himself has come to an end.
48:37 For everywhere the hair of the head and the hair of the face is cut off: on every hand there are wounds, and haircloth on every body.
48:38 On all the house-tops of Moab and in its streets there is weeping everywhere; for Moab has been broken like a vessel in which there is no pleasure, says the Lord.
48:39 How is it broken down! how is Moab's back turned in shame! so Moab will be a cause of sport and of fear to everyone round about him.
48:40 For the Lord has said, See, he will come like an eagle in flight, stretching out his wings against Moab.
48:41 Kerioth is taken, and the strong places have been forced, and the hearts of Moab's men of war in that day will be like the heart of a woman in birth-pains.
48:42 And Moab will come to an end as a people, because he has been lifting himself up against the Lord.
48:43 Fear and death and the net have come on you, O people of Moab, says the Lord.
48:44 He who goes in flight from the fear will be overtaken by death; and he who gets free from death will be taken in the net: for I will make this come on Moab, even the year of their punishment, says the Lord.
48:45 Those who went in flight from the fear are waiting under the shade of Heshbon: for a fire has gone out from Heshbon and a flame from the house of Sihon, burning up the pride of Moab and the crown of the head of the violent ones.
