Judgment Against Moab
1   Against Moab thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is plundered: Kiriathaim is put to shame and taken: the stronghold is put to shame and dismayed.
2   There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also you shall be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue you.
3   A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, plundering and great destruction.
4   Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5   For in the ascent of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the descent of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.
6   Flee, save your lives, and be like the bush in the wilderness.
7   For because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you shall also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.
8   And the plunderer shall come upon every city,  and  no  city shall  escape:  the  valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD has spoken.
9   Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for its cities shall be desolate, without any to dwell in them.
10   Cursed is he that does the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed is he that keeps back his sword from blood.
11   Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
12   Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will send unto him wine tippers, that shall tip him over, and shall empty his vessels, and break his jars.
13   And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence.
14   How say you, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
15   Moab is plundered, and gone up out of her cities, and her chosen young men have gone down  to  the  slaughter, says  the  King,  whose name is the LORD of hosts.
16   The calamity of Moab is near at hand, and his affliction hastens quickly.
17   All you that are about him, bemoan him; and all you that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod!
18   You  daughter  that  does  inhabit  Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the plunderer of Moab shall come upon you, and he shall destroy your strongholds.
19   O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and watch; ask him that flees, and her that escapes, and say, What has happened?
20   Moab is put to shame; for it is broken down: wail and cry; tell it in Arnon, that Moab is plundered,
21   And judgment has come upon the plain country;  upon  Holon,  and  upon  Jahzah,  and upon Mephaath,
22   And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim,
23   And  upon  Kiriathaim,  and  upon  Beth- gamul, and upon Beth-meon,
24   And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon 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  drunken:  for  he  magnified himself  against  the  LORD:  Moab  also  shall wallow  in  his  vomit,  and  he  also  shall  be  in derision.
27   For was not Israel a derision unto you? was he found among thieves? for when you spoke of him, you wagged your  head.
28   O you that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that makes her nest in the sides of the cave’s mouth.
29   We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceedingly proud) his loftiness, and his arrogance, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.
30   I know his wrath, says the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.
31   Therefore will I wail for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; my heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres.
32   O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer: your plants have gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the plunderer has fallen upon your summer fruit and upon your vintage.
33   And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none  shall  tread  with  shouting;  their  shouting shall be no shouting.
34   From  the  cry  of  Heshbon  even  unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, like a heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.
35   Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, says the LORD, he that offers in the high places, and he that burns incense to his gods.
36   Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: because the riches that he has gotten have perished.
37   For every head shall be bald, and every beard  clipped:  upon  all  the  hands  shall  be gashes, and upon the loins sackcloth.
38   There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets: for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which is no pleasure, says the LORD.
39   They shall wail, saying, How it is broken down!  how  has  Moab  turned  the  back  with shame!  so  shall  Moab be a  derision  and  a dismay to all them about him.
40   For thus says the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle. and shall spread his wings over Moab.
41   Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are surprised, and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in birth pangs.
42   And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people,   because   he   has   magnified   himself against the LORD.
43   Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon you, O inhabitant of Moab, says the LORD.
44   He that flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their punishment, says the LORD.
45   They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of exhaustion: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the brow of Moab, the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46   Woe be unto you, O Moab! the people of Chemosh   perish:   for   your   sons   are   taken captives, and your daughters captives.
47   Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, says the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.