The Judgment on Moab

(Zephaniah 2:8-11)

1Concerning Moab: ‘Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Wo unto Nebo, for it is spoiled, Put to shame, captured hath been Kiriathaim, Put to shame hath been the high tower, Yea, it hath been broken down.

2There is no more praise of Moab, In Heshbon they devised against it evil: Come, and we cut it off from [being] a nation, Also, O Madmen, thou art cut off, After thee goeth a sword.

3A voice of a cry [is] from Horonaim, Spoiling and great destruction.

4Destroyed hath been Moab, Caused a cry to be heard have her little ones.

5For the ascent of Luhith with weeping, Go up doth weeping, For in the descent of Horonaim Adversaries a cry of desolation have heard.

6Flee ye, deliver yourselves, Ye are as a naked thing in a wilderness.

7For, because of thy trusting in thy works, And in thy treasures, even thou art captured, And gone out hath Chemosh in a removal, His priests and his heads together.

8And come in doth a spoiler unto every city, And no city doth escape, And perished hath the valley, And destroyed been the plain, as Jehovah said.

9Give wings to Moab, for she utterly goeth out, And her cities are for a desolation, Without an inhabitant in them.

10Cursed [is] he who is doing the work of Jehovah slothfully, And cursed [is] he Who is withholding his sword from blood.

11Secure is Moab from his youth, And at rest [is] he for his preserved things, And he hath not been emptied out from vessel unto vessel, And into captivity he hath not gone, Therefore hath his taste remained in him, And his fragrance hath not been changed.

12Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sent to him wanderers, And they have caused him to wander, And his vessels they empty out, And his bottles they dash in pieces. 13And ashamed hath been Moab because of Chemosh, As the house of Israel have been ashamed Because of Beth-El their confidence.

14How do ye say, We [are] mighty, And men of strength for battle?

15Spoiled is Moab, and her cities hath one gone up, And the choice of its young men Have gone down to slaughter, An affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name.

16Near is the calamity of Moab to come, And his affliction hath hasted exceedingly.

17Bemoan for him, all ye round about him, And all knowing his name, say ye: How hath it been broken, the staff of strength, The rod of beauty.

18Come down from honour, sit in thirst, O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon, For a spoiler of Moab hath come up to thee, He hath destroyed thy fenced places.

19On the way stand, and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer, Ask the fugitive and escaped, Say, What hath happened?

20Put to shame hath been Moab, For it hath been broken down, Howl and cry, declare ye in Arnon, For spoiled is Moab,

21And judgment hath come in unto the land of the plain—unto Holon, And unto Jahazah, and on Mephaath, 22And on Dibon, and on Nebo, And on Beth-Diblathaim, and on Kirathaim, 23And on Beth-Gamul, and on Beth-Meon, 24And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, And on all cities of the land of Moab, The far off and the near. 25Cut down hath been the horn of Moab, And his arm hath been broken, An affirmation of Jehovah. 26Declare ye him drunk, For against Jehovah he made himself great And Moab hath stricken in his vomit, And he hath been for a derision—even he. 27And was not Israel the derision to thee? Among thieves was he found? For since thy words concerning him, Thou dost bemoan thyself.

28Forsake cities, and dwell in a rock, Ye inhabitants of Moab, And be as a dove making a nest in the passages of a pit’s mouth.

29We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, Exceeding proud! His haughtiness, and his arrogance, And his pride, and the height of his heart,

30I—I have known, an affirmation of Jehovah, His wrath, and [it is] not right, His devices—not right they have done.

31Therefore for Moab I howl, even for Moab—all of it, I cry for men of Kir-Heres, it doth mourn,

32With the weeping of Jazer, I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah, Thy branches have passed over a sea, Unto the sea of Jazer they have come, On thy summer fruits, and on thy harvest, A spoiler hath fallen.

33And removed hath been joy and gladness From the fruitful field, Even from the land of Moab, And wine from wine-presses I have caused to cease, Shouting doth not proceed, The shouting [is] no shouting!

34Because of the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh, Unto Jahaz they have given their voice, From Zoar unto Horonaim, A heifer of the third [year], For even waters of Nimrim become desolations. 35And I have caused to cease to Moab, An affirmation of Jehovah, Him who is offering in a high place, And him who is making perfume to his god.

36Therefore my heart for Moab as pipes doth sound, And my heart for men of Kir-Heres As pipes doth sound, Therefore the abundance he made did perish. 37For every head [is] bald, and every beard diminished, On all hands cuttings, and on the loins—sackcloth. 38On all roofs of Moab, and in her broad-places, All of it—[is] lamentation, For I have broken Moab as a vessel in which there is no pleasure, An affirmation of Jehovah. 39How hath it been broken down! they have howled, How hath Moab turned the neck ashamed, And Moab hath been for a derision. And for a terror to all round about her.

40For thus said Jehovah: Lo, as an eagle he doth flee, And hath spread his wings unto Moab.

41Captured have been the cities, And the strongholds are caught, And the heart of the mighty of Moab Hath been in that day as the heart of a distressed woman.

42And Moab hath been destroyed from [being] a people, For against Jehovah he exerted himself.

43Fear, and a snare, and a gin, [are] for thee, O inhabitant of Moab—an affirmation of Jehovah,

44Whoso is fleeing because of the fear falleth into the snare, And whoso is coming up from the snare is captured by the gin, For I bring in unto her—unto Moab—The year of their inspection, An affirmation of Jehovah.

45In the shadow of Heshbon stood powerless have fugitives, For fire hath gone forth from Heshbon, And a flame from within Sihon, And it consumeth the corner of Moab, And the crown of the sons of Shaon.

46Wo to thee, O Moab, Perished hath the people of Chemosh, For thy sons were taken with the captives, And thy daughters with the captivity.

47And I have turned back [to] the captivity of Moab, In the latter end of the days, An affirmation of Jehovah! Hitherto [is] the judgment of Moab.