Jeremiah 31

1 Concerning Moab.

“This is what the Lord says: Woe to Nebo, for it has perished. Kiriathaim has been taken; Amath has been put to shame and defeated.”

2 “There is no longer any healing for Moab, no boasting in Heshbon. They have devised evil against her: We have cut her off from being a nation. She will be completely stilled, and a sword will follow behind you.”

3 “A voice of people crying out from Horonaim: destruction and great ruin!”

4 “Moab has been shattered. Proclaim it to Zoar.”

5 “For Aloth is filled with weeping; one goes up weeping on the road to Horonaim. You have heard the cry of destruction.”

6 “Flee! Save your lives, and you will be like a wild donkey in the wilderness.”

7 “Because you trusted in your strongholds, you too will be taken. Chemosh will go into exile, his priests and his rulers together.”

8 “Destruction will come on every city; not one city will escape. The valley will perish and the plain will be destroyed, as the Lord has said.”

9 “Give signs to Moab, for she will be set alight, and all her cities will become an uninhabited waste. Where will an inhabitant for her come from?”

10 “Cursed is the one who does the Lord’s work carelessly, who keeps his sword back from blood.”

11 “Moab has been at ease since childhood, resting and trusting in his glory. He has not been poured from vessel to vessel; he has never gone into exile. That is why his taste has stayed in him and his aroma has not faded.”

12 “Therefore the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will send him men to tip him over, and they will tip him. They will crush his vessels and break his drinking horns to pieces.”

13 “Moab will be put to shame by Chemosh, as the house of Israel was put to shame by Bethel, their hope, in which they trusted.”

14 “How can you say, We are strong, men mighty for war?”

15 “Moab has perished — his city too — and his choicest young men have gone down to slaughter.”

16 “The day of Moab is near, and his calamity comes very quickly.”

17 “Mourn for him, all you around him, all you who know his name. Say, How the glorious staff has been broken, the rod of splendor!”

18 “Come down from your glory and sit on the damp ground, you who sit enthroned in Dibon. Be worn away, for Moab has perished; the one who ravages your stronghold has come up against you.”

19 “Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the one fleeing and the one escaping; say, What has happened?”

20 “Moab has been put to shame, because he is shattered. Wail and cry out! Proclaim at the Arnon that Moab has perished.”

21 “Judgment is coming against the land of Misor, on Holon, on Jahaz, and on Mephaath,”

22 “on Dibon, on Nebo, and on the house of Deblathaim,”

23 “on Kiriathaim, on the house of Gamol, and on the house of Maon,”

24 “on Kerioth, on Bozrah, and on all the cities of Moab, far and near.”

25 “The horn of Moab is broken, and his arm is crushed.”

26 “Make him drunk, for he has exalted himself against the Lord. Moab will clap his own hand, and he too will become a laughingstock.”

27 “Was Israel not a laughingstock to you? Was he found among your thieves, that you fought against him?”

28 “Those who live in Moab have left the cities and made their homes in the rocks. They have become like doves nesting in the rocks at the mouth of a cave.”

29 “I have heard of Moab’s pride — he is very proud — his arrogance and his haughtiness; his heart has been lifted high.”

30 “But I know his works. Is it not enough for him? Has he not done just this?”

31 “Therefore wail for Moab on every side; cry out over the men of Kiradas in the parched land.”

32 “I will weep for you as Jazer weeps, vine of Sibmah. Your branches crossed the sea and reached Jazer. Ruin fell on your fruit and your grape-gatherers.”

33 “Joy and gladness have been swept away from the land of Moab. Though there was wine in your presses, no one trod it in the morning or in the evening; there was no vintage shout.”

34 “From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh their cities raised their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim will be burned dry.”

35 “I will destroy Moab, says the Lord — the one who goes up to the altar and burns incense to his gods.”

36 “Therefore my heart will drone for Moab like pipes; my heart will drone like a flute for the men of Kiradas, because whatever each one gained has perished.”

37 “Every head in every place will be shaved, and every beard will be cut off. Every hand will be gashed, and sackcloth will be on every waist.”

38 “On all the housetops of Moab and in her streets there is mourning, for I have broken Moab, says the Lord, like a vessel no one has use for.”

39 “How he has changed! How Moab has turned his back! Moab has been put to shame and become a laughingstock, an object of fury to all around him.”

40 “This is what the Lord says:”

41 “Kerioth has been taken, and the strongholds have been seized together.”

42 “Moab will perish as a people, because he exalted himself against the Lord.”

43 “A snare, terror, and a pit are on you, you who live in Moab.”

44 “Whoever flees the terror will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare, because I will bring these things on Moab in the year of its reckoning.”