1 So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, against Moab: Woe to Nebo, for it is ravaged! Kiriathaim is shamed and captured. The Fortress is shamed and razed.
2 There shall be no more praise of Moab. In Heshbon they have plotted evil against it, saying, Come and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also you shall be silenced, O madmen; the sword shall pursue you.
3 A voice of crying shall be heard from Horonaim, plundering and great ruin.
4 Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5 For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of ruin.
6 Flee, save your lives, and be like a naked thing in the wilderness.
7 For because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you shall also be captured. And Chemosh shall go into exile with his priests and his rulers.
8 And the robber shall come on every city, and no city shall escape. Also the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as Jehovah has spoken.
9 Give wings to Moab so that it may flee and get away; for its cities shall be a desert, without an inhabitant in them.
10 Cursed is he who does the work of Jehovah deceitfully, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.
11 Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile. Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
12 Therefore behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will send pourers to him, who shall pour him off, and his vessels shall empty, and shatter their jars.
13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their hope.
14 How do you say, We are mighty and strong men for war?
15 Moab is plundered and has come up out of her cities. And his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter, says the King whose name is Jehovah of Hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast.
17 All you who are around him, mourn him. And all you who know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!
18 O dweller, daughter of Dibon, come down from your glory and sit in thirst. For the ravager of Moab shall come on you; he shall destroy your strongholds.
19 O dweller of Aroer, stand by the way and watch. Ask him who flees and her who escapes; say, What is happening?
20 Moab is put to shame, for it is broken down. Howl and cry! Tell it in Arnon that Moab is stripped.
21 And judgment has come on the plain country; on Holon, and on Jahazah, and on Mephaath,
22 and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-diblathaim,
23 and on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon,
24 and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says Jehovah.
26 Make him drunk, for he magnified himself against Jehovah. Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be a mockery.
27 For was not Israel a mockery to you? Was he found among thieves? For ever since you spoke of him, you skipped for joy.
28 O you who dwell in Moab, leave the cities and live in the rock, and be like the dove making her nest in the sides of the mouth of the pit.
29 We have heard the pride of Moab (he is exceedingly proud), his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and his elevated heart.
30 I know his wrath, says Jehovah, it is not so; his boast, but they have not done so.
31 So I will wail for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab, and shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.
32 O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer. Your plants have gone over the sea; they reach to the sea of Jazer. A ravager has fallen on your summer fruits and on your grape crop.
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 the grapes with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.
34 From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh, and to Jahaz, they have uttered their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, like a heifer three years old. For the waters of Nimrim also shall be deserted.
35 And, I will cause him who offers in the high places to cease in Moab, says Jehovah, and him who burns incense to his gods.
36 Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like flutes, and my heart shall sound like flutes for the men of Kirheres, because the riches that he has gotten have perished.
37 For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped. On all the hands shall be cuttings, and on the loins sackcloth.
38 On all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets, there is weeping for all. For I have broken Moab like a vessel in which is no pleasure, says Jehovah.
39 They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! How has Moab turned the back with shame! So Moab shall be a cause of scorn, and he shall be a terror to all those around him.
40 For so says Jehovah: Behold, he shall fly like an eagle and shall spread his wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized; and the mighty men's hearts in Moab shall be at that day like the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Jehovah.
43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be on you, O Moabite, says Jehovah.
44 He who flees from the terror shall fall into the pit; and he who goes up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare. For I will bring on it, even on Moab, the year of their judgment, says Jehovah.
45 Those who fled stood powerless in the shadow of Heshbon, for a fire shall come out from Heshbon, and a flame out of the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab and the crown of the head of the sons of desolation.
46 Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perish; for your sons are taken away into exile, and your daughters into exile.
47 But I will restore the prisoners of Moab in the latter days, says Jehovah. So far is the judgment of Moab.