1About Moab, this is what the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: "Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is put to shame and captured. Misgab is put to shame and broken down."
2"Moab will be praised no more. In Heshbon they have planned evil against her: 'Come, let us cut her off from being a nation.' You also, Madmen, will be cut down; the sword will chase you."
3"A sound of crying comes from Horonaim: ruin and great destruction."
4"Moab is destroyed; her little ones have made their cry heard."
5"On the way up to Luhith they go up weeping and weeping. On the way down to Horonaim the enemies have heard the cry of destruction."
6"Run away, save your lives, and be like a bush in the desert."
7"Because you have trusted in what you have made and in your treasures, you also will be captured. Chemosh will go out into captivity, with his priests and his officials together."
8"The destroyer will come against every city, and no city will escape. The valley will also be ruined and the plain destroyed, as the LORD has said."
9"Give wings to Moab, so that she may fly away. Her cities will be left empty, with no one living in them."
10"A curse on anyone who does the work of the LORD deceitfully, and a curse on anyone who holds back his sword from blood."
11"Moab has been at ease since he was young. He has settled like wine on its dregs. He has not been poured from jar to jar; he has not gone into captivity. So his taste has stayed in him, and his smell has not changed."
12"So look, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will send men to pour him out. They will pour him out, empty his jars, and smash his wine jugs."
13"Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, which they trusted."
14"How can you say, 'We are strong men, ready for war'?"
15"Moab is destroyed, and her cities are gone up in smoke. His finest young men have gone down to the slaughter, says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts."
16"The disaster of Moab is near, and his trouble is coming quickly."
17"All you who live around him, mourn for him. All you who know his name, say, 'How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!'"
18"You who live in Dibon, come down from your glory and sit in the dust, thirsty. For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, and he has ruined your strongholds."
19"You who live in Aroer, stand by the road and watch. Ask the man who runs away and the woman who escapes, 'What has happened?'"
20"Moab is put to shame, for she is shattered. Wail and cry out. Tell it by the Arnon that Moab is laid waste,"
21"and that judgment has come on the high plain: on Holon, on Jahazah, and on Mephaath,"
22"on Dibon, on Nebo, and on Bethdiblathaim,"
23"on Kiriathaim, on Bethgamul, and on Bethmeon,"
24"on Kerioth, on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near."
25"The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the LORD."
26"Make him drunk, for he made himself great against the LORD. Moab will roll in his own vomit, and he too will be laughed at."
27"Was not Israel a joke to you? Was he caught among thieves? For whenever you spoke of him, you shook your head and laughed."
28"You who live in Moab, leave the cities and live among the rocks. Be like the dove that makes her nest at the edge of a cave's mouth."
29"We have heard of the pride of Moab. He is very proud. We have heard of how high he holds himself, and his arrogance, and his pride, and the boasting of his heart."
30"I know his anger, says the LORD, but it is not so; his lies have not brought it about."
31"So I will wail for Moab. I will cry out for all Moab. My heart will mourn for the men of Kirheres."
32"Vine of Sibmah, I will weep for you as Jazer weeps. Your branches went out over the sea; they reached as far as the sea of Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and on your grape harvest."
33"Joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab. I have stopped the wine from flowing in the winepresses. No one will tread the grapes with shouting. There will be shouting, but it will not be the shout of joy."
34"From the cry of Heshbon as far as Elealeh, and as far as Jahaz, they have raised their voice; from Zoar as far as Horonaim, like a three-year-old cow. For even the waters of Nimrim will dry up."
35"I will put an end in Moab, says the LORD, to the one who makes offerings on the high places and burns incense to his gods."
36"So my heart sounds for Moab like flutes, and my heart sounds like flutes for the men of Kirheres. The riches they gained are gone."
37"Every head is shaved, and every beard cut off. There are cuts on all their hands, and sackcloth around their waists."
38"On all the flat roofs of Moab and in her streets there is nothing but mourning. For I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants, says the LORD."
39"They will wail and say, 'How it is shattered! How Moab has turned his back in shame!' So Moab will be a joke and a horror to all who live around him."
40"For this is what the LORD says: Look, he will swoop down like an eagle and spread his wings over Moab."
41"Kerioth is captured, and the strongholds are taken. On that day the hearts of Moab's strong men will be like the heart of a woman in labour."
42"Moab will be destroyed and will no longer be a people, because he made himself great against the LORD."
43"Terror, and the pit, and the trap are waiting for you, you who live in Moab, says the LORD."
44"Whoever runs from the terror will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap. For I will bring on Moab the year of their punishment, says the LORD."
45"Those who fled stood helpless in the shadow of Heshbon. But a fire has come out of Heshbon, a flame from the middle of Sihon. It has burned up the forehead of Moab and the crown of the head of the noisy boasters."
46"Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh are finished. Your sons are taken away as prisoners, and your daughters as prisoners too."
47"Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab in the days to come, says the LORD." This is the end of the judgment on Moab.