Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

The destroyer shall come upon all cities, none shall escape. The valleys shall be destroyed, and the fields shall be laid waste: like as the LORD hath determined.

“Moab has been at ease from his youth;
He has also been undisturbed, and settled like wine on his dregs,
And he has not been emptied from one vessel to another,
Nor has he gone into exile.
Therefore his flavor remains in him,
And his scent has not changed.

{Therefore} look, days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "and I will send to him {decanters}, and they will decant him, and his vessels they will empty out, and their jars they will smash.

And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, like as Israel was ashamed of Bethel, wherein she put her trust.

Stand by the highway and look,
resident of Aroer!
Ask him who is fleeing or her who is escaping:
What happened?

Wasn't Israel an object of mocking for you? Wasn't he treated like a thief, so that whenever you spoke about him you shook your head in contempt?

O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.

I will weep for the grapevines of Sibmah just like the town of Jazer weeps over them. Their branches once spread as far as the Dead Sea. They reached as far as the town of Jazer. The destroyer will ravage her fig, date, and grape crops.

From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolations.

Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.

There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.

For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, one (Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon) will fly swiftly like an eagle
And spread out his wings against Moab.

Kerioth will be taken, and the strongholds will be conquered, and the hearts of the warriors of Moab will be on that day like [the] heart of a woman [who] is in labor.

{Therefore} look, days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "and I will sound against Rabbah, the {Ammonites}, [the] alarm of [the] war, and it will become as a mound of desolation, and its daughters will burn in the fire. Then Israel will dispossess his dispossessors," says Yahweh.

Look, I [am] going to bring dread on you," {declares} Lord Yahweh of hosts, "from all your surrounding [neighbors]. And you will be scattered, each one {before it}, and there is no [one who] gathers the fugitives.

For thus says Yahweh, "Look, those {who are not condemned} to drink the cup must certainly drink [it]. And [are] you the one who will go entirely unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must certainly drink [it].

"For look, I will make you small among the nations, despised by the humankind.

Your terror has deceived you, the pride of your heart, [O you who] dwell in the clefts of the rock, [you who] seize [the] height of [the] hill. Though you make your nest high like the eagle, from there I will bring you down," {declares} Yahweh.

Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and her neighbours, Saith Yahweh, - There shall not dwell there - a man, Nor sojourn therein - any son of the earth-born.

Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken upon Idumaea: and his purpose, that he hath devised upon the citizens of Teman. The least of the flock shall tear them in pieces, and look: what fair thing they have, they shall make it waste, and themselves also.

Behold, He will mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread His wings against [the city of] Bozrah; and in that day the heart of the mighty warriors of Edom will be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.

Concerning Damascus [in Syria].
“Hamath and Arpad are perplexed and shamed,
For they have heard bad news;
They are disheartened;
Troubled and anxious like a [storm-tossed] sea
Which cannot be calmed.

“Damascus has become helpless;
She has turned away to flee,
Terror (panic) has seized her;
Anguish and distress have gripped her
Like a woman in childbirth.

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Look, I [am] going to break the bow of Elam, the first and best of their might.

I will cause enemies to blow through Elam from every direction like the winds blowing in from the four quarters of heaven. I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds. There will not be any nation where the refugees of Elam will not go.

Flee from the midst of Babylon, and from the land of [the] Chaldeans. Go out and be like he-goats {before} [the] flock.

“For behold, I will stir up and bring up against Babylon
An assembly of great nations from the north country.
They will equip themselves and set up the battle lines against her;
From there she will be taken captive.
Their arrows will be like an expert warrior
Who will not return empty-handed.

“Though you are glad, though you rejoice,
O you who plunder My heritage,
Though you are wanton and skip about like a heifer in the grass
And neigh like stallions,

your mother will be very ashamed. [She who] gave birth [to] you will be humiliated. Look, [she will be the] least of [the] nations, a desert, dry land, and wilderness.

"The people of Israel are like scattered sheep which lions have chased away. First the king of Assyria devoured them. Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones.

Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will visit the king of Babylon and his land, like as I have visited the king of Assyria.

Come ye against her from every quarter, open her storehouses; pile her up like sheaves, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.

"Look, I [am] against you, arrogant [one]," {declares} Lord Yahweh of hosts, "for your day has come, [the] time [when] I will punish you.

A sword is against his horses and chariots
and against all the foreigners among them,
and they will be like women.
A sword is against her treasuries,
and they will be plundered.

A drought [will come] against her waters, and they will dry up, for it [is] a land of images, and because of the frightful [objects], they act like madmen.

Like the divine overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and her neighbours, Declareth Yahweh, - There shall not dwell there - a man, Nor sojourn therein - a son of the earth-born.

Look, a people [is] about to come from [the] north, and a great nation and many kings are woken up from [the] remotest part of [the] earth.

They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

“The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,
And his hands fall limp and helpless;
Anguish has seized him,
And agony like that of a woman in childbirth.

Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

Therefore hear the counsel that the LORD hath given upon Babylon, and the device that he hath taken upon the land of the Chaldeans. The least among the people shall tear them in pieces, and look: what pleasant thing they have, they shall lay it waste.

Thus says Yahweh: "Look, I [am] going to stir up against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai a destructive wind.

I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff. They will winnow her and strip her land bare. This will happen when they come against her from every direction, when it is time to destroy her.

Babylon [was] a cup of gold in the hand of Yahweh, making drunk all the earth. [The] nations drank of her wine. {Therefore} [the] nations acted like madmen.

Foreigners living there will say, 'We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed. Let's leave Babylonia and each go back to his own country. For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions. It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.'

Yahweh of hosts has sworn by himself, "Surely I will fill you [with] troops like the creeping locusts, and they will sing over you a war cry."

Then every man becomes like a beast without knowledge; every gold-worker is put to shame by the image he has made: for his metal image is deceit, and there is no breath in them.

The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.

"Look, I [am] against you, O mountain of the destruction," {declares} Yahweh, "the [one] that destroys the whole earth. And I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will roll you down from the cliffs, and I will make you as a mountain burned away.

Lift up a signal in the land [to spread the news]!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Dedicate the nations [for war] against her;
Call against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a marshal against her;
Cause the horses to come up like bristly locusts [with their wings not yet released from their cases].

The mighty warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight;
They remain in their strongholds.
Their strength and power have failed;
They are becoming [weak and helpless] like women.
Their dwelling places are set on fire;
The bars on her gates are broken.

For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

Therefore thus says the Lord,

“Behold, I will plead your case
And take full vengeance for you;
I will dry up her sea and great reservoir
And make her fountain dry.

They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.

I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.

{therefore} look, days [are] coming, and I will punish the images of Babylon, and all her land will be put to shame, and all her slain ones will fall in the midst of her.

Like as Babylon hath beaten down and slain many out of Israel, so shall there fall many, and be slain, in all her kingdom.

"{Therefore} look, days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "and I will punish her images, and [the] fatally wounded will sigh through all her land.

Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:

Then said Jeremiah unto Seraiah, - When thou comest into Babylon, then shalt thou look out and read all these words;

Then shalt thou say, - In like manner, shall Babylon sink and not rise Because of the calamity which I am about to bring thereupon: So shall they perish. Thus far, are, the words of Jeremiah.

And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh like all that Jehoiakim had done.

And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.

How solitary and lonely sits the city [Jerusalem]
That was [once] full of people!
How like a widow she has become.
She who was great among the nations!
The princess among the provinces,
Has become a forced laborer!

And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.

Her (ceremonial) uncleanness was on her skirts;
She did not [seriously] consider her future.
Therefore she has come down [from throne to slavery] in an astonishing manner;
She has no comforter.
“O Lord” [cries Jerusalem], “look at my affliction,
For the enemy has magnified himself [in triumph]!”

All her people groan, they are searching for bread. They give their treasures for food, to bring back life. See, O Yahweh, and look, [how] I am despised.

Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.

(Nun) My sins are bound around my neck like a yoke; they are fastened together by his hand. He has placed his yoke on my neck; he has sapped my strength. The Lord has handed me over to those whom I cannot resist.

The Lord has rejected all my mighty ones in my midst. He called an assembly against me, to crush my young men; [like in] a wine press, the Lord has trodden [on] the virgin daughter of Judah.

Zion's hands are outstretched; she has no comforter; the Lord has given orders to the attackers of Jacob round about him: Jerusalem has become like an unclean thing among them.

“The Lord is righteous and just;
For I have rebelled against His commandment (His word).
Hear now, all you peoples,
And look at my pain;
My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.

See, O Yahweh, that {I am in distress}; {my stomach} is in torment, my heart has turned inside me because I have certainly rebelled. From outside a sword brings bereavement, inside the house [it is] like death.

They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.

He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.

He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.

The Lord has become like an enemy;
He has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all its palaces;
He has destroyed its strongholds
And multiplied in the Daughter of Judah
Mourning and lamentation (expressions of grief).

And He has violently broken down His temple like a [fragile] garden hedge;
He has destroyed His appointed meeting place.
The Lord has caused the appointed feast and Sabbath
To be forgotten in Zion
And has despised and rejected the king and the priest
In the indignation of His anger.

The Lord hath cast off His altar, He hath rejected His sanctuary, He hath shut up into the hand of the enemy The walls of her palaces, A noise they have made in the house of Jehovah Like a day of appointment.

(Tet) Her city gates have fallen to the ground; he smashed to bits the bars that lock her gates. Her king and princes were taken into exile; there is no more guidance available. As for her prophets, they no longer receive a vision from the Lord.

They cry to their mothers,
“Where is grain and wine?”
As they faint like a wounded man
In the streets of the city,
As their life [slips away and] is poured out
In their mothers’ arms.

What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?

Your prophets look on your behalf; they see false and deceptive visions. They did not expose your sins in order to restore what had been captured. Instead, they crafted oracles for you that are false and misleading.

Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.

Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.

See, O Jehovah, and look attentively, To whom Thou hast acted thus, Do women eat their fruit, infants of a handbreadth? Slain in the sanctuary of the Lord are priest and prophet?

Wilt thou proclaim, like the day of an appointed meeting - My terrors round about? when there was not - in the day of the anger of Yahweh - fugitive or survivor, - Those whom I dandled and reared, my foe hath destroyed.

He has made me live in dark places
Like those who have long been dead.

He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
And like a lion [hiding] in secret places.

{Nun} Let us look well upon our own ways, and remember ourselves, and turn again to the LORD.

You have made us like waste and that for which there is no use, among the peoples.

Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven.

Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.

Look at their sitting and their rising [their actions and secret counsels];
I am their mocking song [the subject of their ridicule].

Though the precious people of Zion were like fine gold, how they are valued like clay vessels, the handiwork of a potter!

Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

ז ZayinHer dignitaries were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
their appearance like sapphire.