Chapter 48

  Concerning Moab. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled; Kirjathaim is put to shame, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and dismayed.  

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  Moab's praise is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from [being] a nation. Thou also, O Madmen, shalt be cut down; the sword shall pursue thee.  

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  A voice of crying from Horonaim; wasting and great destruction!  

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

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  For by the ascent of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the descent of Horonaim is heard the anguish of the cry of destruction.  

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

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

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  And the waster shall come upon every city, that not a city shall escape; and the valley shall perish, and the plateau shall be destroyed: as Jehovah hath said.  

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  Give wings unto Moab, that she may flee and get away; and the cities thereof shall become a desolation, without inhabitant.  

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  Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood!  

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

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  Therefore behold, days come, saith Jehovah, that I will send unto him pourers that shall pour him off, and shall empty his vessels, and break in pieces his flagons.  

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

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  How do ye say, We are mighty, and men of valour for the war?  

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  Moab is laid waste, and his cities are gone up [in smoke], and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts.  

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

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

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  Come down from [thy] glory and sit in the drought, O inhabitress, daughter of Dibon; the spoiler of Moab is come up against thee, thy strongholds hath he destroyed.  

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  Stand by the way, and watch, inhabitress of Aroer; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth; say, What is done?  

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  Moab is put to shame; for he is broken down: howl and cry; tell it in Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.  

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  And judgment is come upon the country of the plateau; upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath;  

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  and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim;  

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  and upon Kirjathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon;  

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  and upon Kerijoth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.  

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  The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith Jehovah.  

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  Make him drunken, for he magnified himself against Jehovah; and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.  

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  For was not Israel a derision unto thee? Was he found among thieves, that as oft as thou didst speak of him, thou didst shake the head?  

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  Leave the cities, and dwell in the rocks, ye inhabitants of Moab, and be like the dove, that maketh her nest in the sides of the cave's mouth.  

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  We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, -- [he is] very proud; -- his loftiness, and his arrogance, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.  

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  I know his wrath, saith Jehovah; his pratings are vain: they do not as [they say].  

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  Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab: for the men of Kir-heres shall there be moaning.  

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  O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with more than the weeping of Jaazer: thy shoots passed over the sea, they reached to the sea of Jaazer. The spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.  

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  And joy and gladness is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: they shall no more tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting.  

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  Because of the cry from Heshbon, unto Elaleh, unto Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar unto Horonaim, [unto] Eglath-shelishijah: for even the waters of Nimrim shall become desolations.  

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  And I will cause to cease in Moab, saith Jehovah, him that offereth in the high place, and him that burneth incense to his gods.  

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  Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres; because the abundance that he hath gotten is perished.  

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  For every head is bald, and every beard clipped; upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.  

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  It is wholly lamentation upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the public places thereof; for I have broken Moab, like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith Jehovah.  

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  They howl, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! And Moab shall be a derision and a terror to all that are round about him.  

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  For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread forth his wings over Moab.  

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  Kerijoth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and at that day the heart of the mighty men of Moab shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.  

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

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

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  He 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 her, upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith Jehovah.  

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  They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon powerless; for a fire hath come forth from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and hath consumed the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult.  

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  Woe to thee, Moab! The people of Chemosh is undone; for thy sons are taken away in captivity, and thy daughters are captives.  

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  But I will turn the captivity of Moab at the end of the days, saith Jehovah. Thus far is the judgement of Moab.  

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