Jeremiah 48

About Moab, this is what the LORD who commands armies, the God of Israel, says: Trouble is coming to Nebo, for it is ruined. Kiriathaim is put to shame and captured. The fortress is put to shame and broken down.

1Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.

NoteMoab was a small kingdom east of the Dead Sea, on the high plateau between the Arnon gorge and the Zered valley. Moabites spoke a language close to Hebrew and were counted as distant kin of Israel; the two peoples fought repeatedly over the disputed farmland north of the Arnon, and much of this chapter names towns in that contested strip. "The LORD" printed this way stands for the personal name of Israel's God, which Hebrew writes with four consonants and which readers traditionally do not pronounce. "LORD of hosts" means commander of armies, heavenly ones, earthly ones, or both. Nebo and Kiriathaim were Moabite towns north of the Arnon. "Misgab" in the King James is the Hebrew word for a high stronghold; it may be a place name or simply mean "the fortress," and translators divide on it.

2No one praises Moab anymore. In Heshbon men have planned harm against her: "Come, let us wipe her out so she is no longer a nation." You too, town of Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will chase you.

2There 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 thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.

NoteHeshbon was a major town on Moab's northern frontier, at times held by others, so the plotting "in Heshbon" is an enemy planning Moab's end from Moab's own doorstep. The Hebrew plays on sound throughout: Heshbon (ḥeshbon) echoes the verb "devise" (ḥashab), and "Madmen" echoes the verb "be silenced" (damam). Madmen is a Moabite town name and has no connection with the English word "madmen."

3A cry goes up from the town of Horonaim: "Ruin and terrible destruction!"

3A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.

NoteHoronaim was a Moabite town whose name means roughly "the two hollows"; the roads to and from it are described in the next verses as a climb and a descent.

4Moab is broken. Her little children are crying, and the sound of it is heard.

4Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.

5On the road up to Luhith people weep as they climb, and the weeping does not stop. On the road down to Horonaim, cries of pain over the destruction are heard.

5For 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 destruction.

NoteLuhith and Horonaim lay on the escarpment, so refugees fleeing the plateau went up one road and down the other. The picture is of a single stream of people weeping the whole way.

6Run! Save your lives! Be like a lonely bush out in the desert.

6Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

NoteThe Hebrew word rendered "heath" or "lonely bush" (ʿaroʿer) is uncertain: it may name a desert shrub, a juniper or scrub bush that survives in barren ground, or it may be the town Aroer, mentioned again in verse 19. Either way the point is bare survival with nothing around you.

7Because you trusted in the things you have done and in your treasures, you too will be captured. Chemosh, the god of Moab, will go into exile, and his priests and officials will go with him.

7For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.

NoteChemosh was the chief god of Moab, as Yahweh was the God of Israel; a Moabite king's own inscription, the Moabite Stone, credits Chemosh with his victories. A god "going into captivity" means the conquerors carrying off the statue from the temple, along with the temple staff, a standard ancient practice, and a public demonstration that the god could not defend his own people.

8The destroyer will come against every city, and not one town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the high plain destroyed, just as the LORD has said.

8And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.

Note"The plain" is the mishor, the flat tableland north of the Arnon, Moab's best grain country. The valley and the tableland together cover the whole territory, lowland and highland.

9Give Moab wings, so it can fly away and escape, because its cities will be left empty, with no one living in them.

9Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.

NoteThe Hebrew here is obscure. The word may mean "wings" (so "give Moab wings to fly away") or "salt" (so "sow Moab with salt"), salting a ruined site being a symbolic act meaning nothing will grow here again. Translations split between the two.

10A curse on anyone who does the LORD's work carelessly. A curse on anyone who holds his sword back from bloodshed.

10Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

Note"The work of the LORD" here is the military campaign against Moab, and "deceitfully" translates a word meaning slackly or negligently. The curse is aimed at a soldier who goes through the motions and spares his sword.

11Moab has had it easy since he was young. He is like wine left sitting on its dregs, never poured from one jar into another, and never taken into exile. So his flavor has stayed the same and his smell has not changed.

11Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.

NoteWine was left to stand on its lees, the sediment of dead yeast and grape solids, for a while to deepen flavor, then poured off into a fresh jar. Wine left too long on the lees goes thick and spoiled. The image is of a nation never disturbed, never deported, never decanted, and therefore complacent rather than mature.

12So look, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will send men to tip him over. They will pour him out, empty his jars, and smash his pots.

12Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.

NoteThe wine image continues. "Wanderers" translates a word for men who tip jars, the same consonants can suggest both tilting and wandering, and the pun is deliberate. The "bottles" of the King James are clay storage jars, not glass; they were smashed once emptied.

13Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the people of Israel were ashamed of Bethel, the place they had trusted in.

13And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.

NoteBethel was the site of the northern kingdom of Israel's chief royal shrine, with its golden calf; when Assyria destroyed that kingdom the shrine's protection proved worthless. Some scholars read "Bethel" here as the name of a god worshiped under that title rather than the town.

14How can you say, "We are strong soldiers, men ready for battle"?

14How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?

15Moab is ruined, and its towns have been overrun. Its finest young men have gone down to be slaughtered, says the King, whose name is the LORD who commands armies.

15Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

16Moab's disaster is close now, and his suffering is rushing toward him fast.

16The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.

17All of you around him, mourn for him. Everyone who knows his name, say, "How the strong ruler's staff is broken, that splendid staff!"

17All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!

NoteThe staff and rod are the scepter, the carved rod a king held as the sign of his authority. Breaking it is the standard image for the end of a dynasty's rule.

18You who live in the town of Dibon, come down from your place of honor and sit on dry ground. The destroyer of Moab has come against you, and he has torn down your strongholds.

18Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.

NoteDibon was a Moabite royal city about four miles north of the Arnon, and the site where the Moabite Stone was found. "Daughter of Dibon" is a Hebrew idiom in which a city's population is addressed as a woman. Sitting on dry or parched ground (down from a throne, without water) is the posture of a captive and a mourner.

19You who live in Aroer, stand beside the road and watch. Ask the man running away and the woman escaping, "What has happened?"

19O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?

NoteAroer stood on the north rim of the Arnon gorge, on the main highway south; anyone escaping the collapse would pass its lookout. The wording carefully includes both a man and a woman fleeing, the whole population is running.

20Moab is put to shame, for it has been smashed. Wail and cry out! Announce it by the Arnon River, that Moab is ruined.

20Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,

NoteThe Arnon is the deep river gorge that formed Moab's northern boundary; announcing news there broadcasts it along the main crossing point.

21Judgment has come on the high plain country: on Holon, on Jahazah, and on Mephaath,

21And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,

NoteThis list runs through the towns of the tableland one by one, the way a herald would read out a casualty roll. The names would have been as familiar to the first hearers as a list of county towns; the effect is that nowhere is left out.

22on Dibon, on Nebo, and on Bethdiblathaim,

22And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim,

23on Kiriathaim, on Bethgamul, and on Bethmeon,

23And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon,

24on Kerioth, on Bozrah, and on every city in the land of Moab, far away or nearby.

24And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.

NoteKerioth may be a specific Moabite city or, since the name means "the towns," a collective term. This Bozrah is a Moabite site, not the better-known Bozrah in Edom.

25Moab's horn, the sign of his strength, is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the LORD.

25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD.

NoteThe horn is the horn of a bull or ram, the standard image for a nation's fighting power; "arm" likewise means strength to act. Cutting off the horn and breaking the arm is disarmament, not injury to a literal animal.

26Make him drunk, because he set himself up against the LORD. Moab will roll around in his own vomit, and people will laugh at him.

26Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.

NoteBeing forced to drink until helpless is a recurring prophetic image for a nation staggering under judgment, the cup passed from one nation to the next. The vomit and the mockery press the image to its most humiliating end.

27Did you not laugh at Israel? Was he ever caught among thieves? Yet every time you spoke about him, you shook yourself in glee.

27For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.

Note"Found among thieves" means caught in the act, like a thief taken with the goods, the question is whether Israel ever deserved the contempt Moab showed. The gesture in the last clause is uncertain in Hebrew: it describes a shaking or tossing motion, either shaking the head in scorn or shaking oneself with glee.

28You who live in Moab, leave the towns and live among the rocks. Be like a dove that builds her nest at the mouth of a cave.

28O 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.

NoteMoab's plateau is cut by deep ravines with cliff faces full of clefts. Rock doves nest on ledges inside those clefts, out of reach; the advice is to abandon walled towns for the caves, as people in the region did in wartime.

29We have heard how proud Moab is, and he is extremely proud. We have heard of his high opinion of himself, his arrogance, his pride, and his self-important heart.

29We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.

30I know his rage, says the LORD, but it will come to nothing. His boasting has achieved nothing.

30I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.

31So I will wail for Moab. I will cry out for all of Moab. My heart will grieve for the men of Kirheres.

31Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.

NoteKirheres, also called Kir-hareseth, was Moab's principal fortified city in the south, the last place a population would fall back to.

32Vine of Sibmah, I will weep for you the way Jazer is wept for. Your branches spread out to the sea; they reach as far as the sea of Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and your grape harvest.

32O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.

NoteSibmah, near Heshbon, was famous for its vineyards. "The sea" is the Dead Sea, and the vine's shoots spreading that far is a picture of an export trade reaching well beyond Moab. The phrase "the sea of Jazer" is textually difficult, Jazer lay inland, and many hold that a copyist repeated the word for sea; others take it as a lake or reservoir near the town.

33Joy and gladness are gone from the fruitful fields and from the land of Moab. I have stopped the wine flowing from the winepresses. No one treads the grapes with happy shouts; their shouting is not joyful shouting.

33And 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.

NoteGrapes were trodden barefoot in a stone press, and the treaders kept time with a shouted work song that doubled as a harvest celebration. The Hebrew uses one word for both the vintage shout and a battle cry: there is still shouting in Moab, but it is the wrong kind.

34The sound of crying goes up from Heshbon as far as Elealeh and Jahaz. They cry out from Zoar to Horonaim, like the bellowing of a three-year-old cow. Even the waters of Nimrim will dried up.

34From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.

NoteElealeh, Jahaz, Zoar and Horonaim mark the extent of the outcry from the north end of Moab to the south. The King James "heifer of three years old" translates Eglath-shelishiyah, which may be a place name or may describe a young cow at full strength bellowing, translators differ. Nimrim was a watered valley; its springs failing means the fertile ground fails too.

35What is more, says the LORD, I will put an end in Moab to anyone who makes offerings at the hilltop shrines and burns incense to his gods.

35Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.

NoteA "high place" was an open-air sanctuary, usually on a hilltop or raised platform, with an altar and standing stones, where offerings were burned. These were the ordinary local places of worship throughout the region, not exotic sites.

36So my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of Kirheres, because the wealth they gained is gone.

36Therefore 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.

NoteThe pipe is a reed instrument with a thin, wavering tone, played at funerals; hired pipers accompanied professional mourners. The sound itself signaled a death to anyone who heard it.

37Every head is shaved and every beard is cut short. There are cuts on every hand, and rough mourning cloth is tied around every waist.

37For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.

NoteShaving the head, cropping the beard, gashing the hands or arms, and wearing sackcloth, coarse goat-hair cloth worn next to the skin, were the recognized public signs of grief across the region. Israelite law forbade the shaving and the gashing to its own people, but the prophet is describing Moabite mourning as it was actually performed.

38On all the rooftops of Moab and in its streets there is nothing but mourning, because I have smashed Moab like a jar nobody wants, says the LORD.

38There 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.

NoteHouses had flat roofs used for sleeping, drying produce, and household worship; a crowd of mourners on every roof means the grief is in plain public view across the whole town.

39People will wail and say, "How Moab is shattered! How Moab has turned his back in shame!" So Moab will be something everyone around him laughs at and shudders at.

39They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him.

40This is what the LORD says: Look, he will swoop down like an eagle and spread his wings over Moab.

40For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.

NoteThe bird is the nesher, which covers both the eagle and the griffon vulture; the point is the wide wingspan and the sudden drop onto prey. It stands for the invading army.

41Kerioth is captured and the strongholds are seized. On that day the hearts of Moab's soldiers will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

41Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

Note"Kerioth" here again may be a city name or simply "the towns." Comparing soldiers to a woman in labor is a stock prophetic image for pain that seizes you without warning and cannot be resisted or postponed.

42Moab will be destroyed and will no longer be a people, because he set himself up against the LORD.

42And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD.

43Terror, the pit, and the trap are waiting for you, you who live in Moab, says the LORD.

43Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.

NoteThese three words alliterate in Hebrew (pachad, pachat, pach) and come from hunting: the beaters' noise drives the animal, a covered pit catches it, and a snare takes whatever climbs out. The sound effect is part of the threat.

44Whoever runs from the terror will fall into the pit. Whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in the trap. For I will bring on Moab the year when they are punished, says the LORD.

44He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.

Note"The year of their visitation" is an idiom for the appointed time when an account is finally settled; the underlying verb means to come and inspect, and can mean either to help or to punish depending on context.

45Those who fled stopped in the shadow of Heshbon, with no strength left against the enemy. But fire has come out of Heshbon, a flame from the midst of Sihon. It burns the forehead of Moab and the skulls of the loud boasters.

45They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.

NoteSihon was the Amorite king who ruled from Heshbon before Israel's arrival, so "the midst of Sihon" means the city that was his capital. This verse and the next quote and rework an older victory poem about Heshbon preserved in Numbers 21. "The corner of Moab" translates a word for the temple or side of the forehead, the phrase, like "the crown of the head," comes from an old oracle about crushing Moab's skull, and "the tumultuous ones" are noisy boasters.

46Trouble is coming to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh are finished. Your sons have been taken away as prisoners, and your daughters as captives.

46Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.

NoteThis line reproduces almost exactly the older poem quoted in Numbers 21:29. Calling Moabites "the people of Chemosh" is how a neighboring nation would naturally identify them, by their god.

47Yet in the days to come I will restore Moab and bring its people back, says the LORD. Here the judgment on Moab ends.

47Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

Note"Bring again the captivity" is a Hebrew idiom meaning to reverse a reversal (to restore what was lost) and covers both the return of deported people and the recovery of a nation's fortunes generally. "The latter days" means simply the time to come, without fixing a date. The closing line is the editor's note marking the end of this collected oracle.