Study

a Bible passage

Click a verse to see commentary
Select a resource above

48. Message About Moab

1 Concerning Moab:

   This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

   “Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined.
   Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured;
   the stronghold Or captured; / Misgab will be disgraced and shattered.
2 Moab will be praised no more;
   in Heshbon The Hebrew for Heshbon sounds like the Hebrew for plot. people will plot her downfall:
   ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’
You, the people of Madmen, The name of the Moabite town Madmen sounds like the Hebrew for be silenced. will also be silenced;
   the sword will pursue you.
3 Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim,
   cries of great havoc and destruction.
4 Moab will be broken;
   her little ones will cry out. Hebrew; Septuagint / proclaim it to Zoar
5 They go up the hill to Luhith,
   weeping bitterly as they go;
on the road down to Horonaim
   anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
6 Flee! Run for your lives;
   become like a bush Or like Aroer in the desert.
7 Since you trust in your deeds and riches,
   you too will be taken captive,
and Chemosh will go into exile,
   together with his priests and officials.
8 The destroyer will come against every town,
   and not a town will escape.
The valley will be ruined
   and the plateau destroyed,
   because the LORD has spoken.
9 Put salt on Moab,
   for she will be laid waste Or Give wings to Moab, / for she will fly away;
her towns will become desolate,
   with no one to live in them.

    10 “A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the LORD’s work!
   A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed!

    11 “Moab has been at rest from youth,
   like wine left on its dregs,
not poured from one jar to another—
   she has not gone into exile.
So she tastes as she did,
   and her aroma is unchanged.
12 But days are coming,”
   declares the LORD,
“when I will send men who pour from pitchers,
   and they will pour her out;
they will empty her pitchers
   and smash her jars.
13 Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
   as Israel was ashamed
   when they trusted in Bethel.

    14 “How can you say, ‘We are warriors,
   men valiant in battle’?
15 Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded;
   her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,”
   declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
16 “The fall of Moab is at hand;
   her calamity will come quickly.
17 Mourn for her, all who live around her,
   all who know her fame;
say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter,
   how broken the glorious staff!’

    18 “Come down from your glory
   and sit on the parched ground,
   you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon,
for the one who destroys Moab
   will come up against you
   and ruin your fortified cities.
19 Stand by the road and watch,
   you who live in Aroer.
Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,
   ask them, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.
   Wail and cry out!
Announce by the Arnon
   that Moab is destroyed.
21 Judgment has come to the plateau—
   to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,
    22 to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
    23 to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,
    24 to Kerioth and Bozrah—
   to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
25 Moab’s horn Horn here symbolizes strength. is cut off;
   her arm is broken,” declares the LORD.

    26 “Make her drunk,
   for she has defied the LORD.
Let Moab wallow in her vomit;
   let her be an object of ridicule.
27 Was not Israel the object of your ridicule?
   Was she caught among thieves,
that you shake your head in scorn
   whenever you speak of her?
28 Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks,
   you who live in Moab.
Be like a dove that makes its nest
   at the mouth of a cave.

    29 “We have heard of Moab’s pride—
   how great is her arrogance!—
of her insolence, her pride, her conceit
   and the haughtiness of her heart.
30 I know her insolence but it is futile,” declares the LORD,
   “and her boasts accomplish nothing.
31 Therefore I wail over Moab,
   for all Moab I cry out,
   I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.
32 I weep for you, as Jazer weeps,
   you vines of Sibmah.
Your branches spread as far as the sea Probably the Dead Sea;
   they reached as far as Two Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts as far as the Sea of Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen
   on your ripened fruit and grapes.
33 Joy and gladness are gone
   from the orchards and fields of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses;
   no one treads them with shouts of joy.
Although there are shouts,
   they are not shouts of joy.

    34 “The sound of their cry rises
   from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz,
from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah,
   for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
35 In Moab I will put an end
   to those who make offerings on the high places
   and burn incense to their gods,” declares the LORD.
36 “So my heart laments for Moab like the music of a pipe;
   it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth.
   The wealth they acquired is gone.
37 Every head is shaved
   and every beard cut off;
every hand is slashed
   and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
38 On all the roofs in Moab
   and in the public squares
there is nothing but mourning,
   for I have broken Moab
   like a jar that no one wants,” declares the LORD.
39 “How shattered she is! How they wail!
   How Moab turns her back in shame!
Moab has become an object of ridicule,
   an object of horror to all those around her.”

    40 This is what the LORD says:

   “Look! An eagle is swooping down,
   spreading its wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth Or The cities will be captured
   and the strongholds taken.
In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors
   will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42 Moab will be destroyed as a nation
   because she defied the LORD.
43 Terror and pit and snare await you,
   you people of Moab,” declares the LORD.
44 “Whoever flees from the terror
   will fall into a pit,
whoever climbs out of the pit
   will be caught in a snare;
for I will bring on Moab
   the year of her punishment,” declares the LORD.

    45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
   the fugitives stand helpless,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
   a blaze from the midst of Sihon;
it burns the foreheads of Moab,
   the skulls of the noisy boasters.
46 Woe to you, Moab!
   The people of Chemosh are destroyed;
your sons are taken into exile
   and your daughters into captivity.

    47 “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
   in days to come,” declares the LORD.

   Here ends the judgment on Moab.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

I have already reminded you, that the Prophet is not using too many words in this extended discourse, for it was necessary to confirm at large what all would have otherwise rejected. He then says, that the cities of Moab were taken, that strongholds were seized He mentions these things expressly, because the country of Moab thought that it was defended by cities and strongholds; and they thus thought, “Should the Chaldeans come and make an irruption, there are many cities who will oppose them; they will then have to spend much time in overcoming these obstacles. It may then so happen, that being broken down with fatigue they will return to their own country, and we shall recover what we may have lost.” With this confidence then the Moabites deceived themselves, when they looked on their well fortified cities and strongholds. For this reason the Prophet now says, Taken are the cities, and seized on are the strongholds 2323     The literal rendering of the verse is as follows, the nominative case to the two verbs being Moab, taken here as the country, —
   41. Taken it is, — the cities; And the strongholds, — it is seized: And become shall the heart of the valiants of Moab, In that day, like the heart of a woman in distress.
   In our language it would be, “as to its cities,” and, “as to its strongholds.” — Ed.

There was another thing of which the Moabites boasted, that they possessed military valor; and yet they had not of late made a trial of their strength, as they had been indulging themselves in sloth and pleasures. But as they had formerly performed deeds worthy of being remembered, they despised, as I have said, their enemies, arrogating to themselves the credit of great valor. The Prophet, on the other hand, declares that their courage would vanish away: The heart, he says, of the men of Moab shall become effeminate in that day, softer than the heart of a woman, when oppressed with evils. It might have appeared a complete comparison, when he said that the men of Moab would be soft and effeminate; but he wished to express something more, and hence he added, that they would become softer than women when in great trouble. And by these words he intimates, that it is in God’s power to melt the hearts of men, and to break down their fierceness, so that they who were like lions are made like does. And this ought to be carefully noticed; because courage is not only a special gift, but it is also necessary that God should daily and constantly strengthen those whom he has once made brave; otherwise they who are courageous above others will soon lose their valor. It follows, —
VIEWNAME is study