1 Against 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.
2 There 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.
3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great
destruction.
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 destruction.
6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
7 For 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.
8 And 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.
9 Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the
cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully,
and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
11 Moab 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.
12 Therefore, 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.
13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel
was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
14 How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
15 Moab 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.
16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction
hasteth fast.
17 All 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!
18 Thou 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.
19 O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him
that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?
20 Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry;
and tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
21 And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon,
and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
22 And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim,
23 And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon,
24 And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities
of the land of Moab, far or near.
25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith
the LORD.
26 Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the
LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall
be in derision.
27 For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among
thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
28 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.
29 We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud)
his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness
of his heart.
30 I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so;
his lies shall not so effect it.
31 Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all
Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres.
32 O 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.
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 with shouting; their shouting
shall be no shouting.
34 From 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.
35 Moreover 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.
36 Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and
mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres:
because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.
37 For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon
all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
38 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.
39 They 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.
40 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle,
and shall spread his wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth 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.
42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because
he hath magnified himself against the LORD.
43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant
of Moab, saith the LORD.
44 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 it, even upon Moab, the year of their
visitation, saith the LORD.
45 They 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.
46 Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth:
for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.
47 Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter
days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Chapter 49
1 Concerning the
Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he
no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people
dwell in his cities?
2 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will
cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites;
and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be
burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were
his heirs, saith the LORD.
3 Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah,
gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges;
for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and
his princes together.
4 Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley,
O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying,
Who shall come unto me?
5 Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD
of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be
driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him
that wandereth.
6 And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children
of Ammon, saith the LORD.
7 Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no
more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their
wisdom vanished?
8 Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for
I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I
will visit him.
9 If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some
gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till
they have enough.
10 But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places,
and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled,
and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.
11 Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive;
and let thy widows trust in me.
12 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was
not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou
he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished,
but thou shalt surely drink of it.
13 For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall
become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all
the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
14 I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is
sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come
against her, and rise up to the battle.
15 For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised
among men.
16 Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine
heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that
holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy
nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence,
saith the LORD.
17 Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by
it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour
cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither
shall a son of man dwell in it.
19 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?
20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken
against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against
the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall
draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate
with them.
21 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry
the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.
22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread
his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the
mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
23 Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for
they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is
sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and
fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her,
as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all
the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD
of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it
shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad.
28 Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD;
Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.
29 Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall
take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and
their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every
side.
30 Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor,
saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken
counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.
31 Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth
without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars,
which dwell alone.
32 And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their
cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that
are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from
all sides thereof, saith the LORD.
33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation
for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man
dwell in it.
34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against
Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah,
saying,
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow
of Elam, the chief of their might.
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters
of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and
there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall
not come.
37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies,
and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil
upon them even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send
the sword after them, till I have consumed them:
38 And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence
the king and the princes, saith the LORD.
39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will
bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.
Chapter 50
1 The word that
the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans
by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded,
Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her
images are broken in pieces.
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her,
which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein:
they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
4 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children
of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together,
going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward,
saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual
covenant that shall not be forgotten.
6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused
them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains:
they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their
restingplace.
7 All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries
said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD,
the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their
fathers.
8 Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the
land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.
9 For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon
an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they
shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall
be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none
shall return in vain.
10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be
satisfied, saith the LORD.
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers
of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at
grass, and bellow as bulls;
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall
be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a
wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited,
but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon
shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all
ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she
hath sinned against the LORD.
15 Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her
foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is
the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath
done, do unto her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the
sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword
they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee
every one to his own land.
17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away:
first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
18 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I
have punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall
feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon
mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity
of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and
the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon
them whom I reserve.
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and
against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy
after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have
commanded thee.
22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken!
how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O
Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught,
because thou hast striven against the LORD.
25 The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth
the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the
Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses:
cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of
her be left.
27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter:
woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of
Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God,
the vengeance of his temple.
29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend
the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape:
recompense her according to her work; according to all that
she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against
the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all
her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.
31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord
GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit
thee.
32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall
raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it
shall devour all round about him.
33 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and
the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that
took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them
go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name:
he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest
to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the
inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise
men.
36 A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is
upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and
upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and
they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and
they shall be robbed.
38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up:
for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their
idols.
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts
of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein:
and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it
be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities
thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither
shall any son of man dwell therein.
41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation,
and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
42 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.
43 The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his
hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of
a woman in travail.
44 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?
45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken
against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against
the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall
draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate
with them.
46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved,
and the cry is heard among the nations. |