Daily Bread

“Woe to Nebo,^(C) for it will be ruined.
    Kiriathaim^(D) will be disgraced and captured;
    the stronghold^[a] will be disgraced and shattered.
² Moab will be praised^(E) no more;
    in Heshbon^[b](F) people will plot her downfall:
    ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’^(G)
You, the people of Madmen,^[c] will also be silenced;
    the sword will pursue you.
³ Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim,^(H)
    cries of great havoc and destruction.
⁴ Moab will be broken;
    her little ones will cry out.^[d]
5 They go up the hill to Luhith,^(I)
    weeping bitterly as they go;
on the road down to Horonaim^(J)
    anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
⁶ Flee!^(K) Run for your lives;
    become like a bush^[e] in the desert.^(L)
7 Since you trust in your deeds and riches,^(M)
    you too will be taken captive,
and Chemosh^(N) will go into exile,^(O)
    together with his priests and officials.^(P)
8 The destroyer^(Q) will come against every town,
    and not a town will escape.
The valley will be ruined
    and the plateau^(R) destroyed,
    because the Lord has spoken.
⁹ Put salt^(S) on Moab,
    for she will be laid waste^[f];^(T)
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^(U) from bloodshed!^(V)

¹¹ “Moab has been at rest^(W) from youth,
    like wine left on its dregs,^(X)
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^(Y) of Chemosh,^(Z)
    as Israel was ashamed
    when they trusted in Bethel.^(AA)

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

¹⁸ “Come down from your glory
    and sit on the parched ground,^(AJ)
    you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon,^(AK)
for the one who destroys Moab
    will come up against you
    and ruin your fortified cities.^(AL)
19 Stand by the road and watch,
    you who live in Aroer.^(AM)
Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,
    ask them, ‘What has happened?’
²⁰ Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.
    Wail^(AN) and cry out!
Announce by the Arnon^(AO)
    that Moab is destroyed.
²¹ Judgment has come to the plateau^(AP)—
    to Holon,^(AQ) Jahzah^(AR) and Mephaath,^(AS)
22     to Dibon,^(AT) Nebo^(AU) and Beth Diblathaim,
²³     to Kiriathaim,^(AV) Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,^(AW)
24     to Kerioth^(AX) and Bozrah^(AY)—
    to all the towns^(AZ) of Moab, far and near.
²⁵ Moab’s horn^[g](BA) is cut off;
    her arm^(BB) is broken,”
declares the Lord.

²⁶ “Make her drunk,^(BC)
    for she has defied^(BD) the Lord.
Let Moab wallow in her vomit;^(BE)
    let her be an object of ridicule.^(BF)
27 Was not Israel the object of your ridicule?^(BG)
    Was she caught among thieves,^(BH)
that you shake your head^(BI) in scorn^(BJ)
    whenever you speak of her?
²⁸ Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks,
    you who live in Moab.
Be like a dove^(BK) that makes its nest
    at the mouth of a cave.^(BL)

²⁹ “We have heard of Moab’s pride^(BM)—
    how great is her arrogance!—
of her insolence, her pride, her conceit
    and the haughtiness^(BN) of her heart.
³⁰ I know her insolence but it is futile,”
declares the Lord,
    “and her boasts^(BO) accomplish nothing.
³¹ Therefore I wail^(BP) over Moab,
    for all Moab I cry out,
    I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.^(BQ)
32 I weep for you, as Jazer^(BR) weeps,
    you vines of Sibmah.^(BS)
Your branches spread as far as the sea^[h];
    they reached as far as^[i] 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^(BT) from the presses;
    no one treads them with shouts of joy.^(BU)
Although there are shouts,
    they are not shouts of joy.

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

“Look! An eagle is swooping^(CN) down,
    spreading its wings^(CO) over Moab.
⁴¹ Kerioth^[j](CP) will be captured
    and the strongholds taken.
In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors^(CQ)
    will be like the heart of a woman in labor.^(CR)
42 Moab will be destroyed^(CS) as a nation^(CT)
    because she defied^(CU) the Lord.
⁴³ Terror^(CV) and pit and snare^(CW) await you,
    you people of Moab,”
declares the Lord.
⁴⁴ “Whoever flees^(CX) 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^(CY) 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;^(CZ)
it burns the foreheads of Moab,
    the skulls^(DA) of the noisy boasters.
⁴⁶ Woe to you, Moab!^(DB)
    The people of Chemosh are destroyed;
your sons are taken into exile
    and your daughters into captivity.

⁴⁷ “Yet I will restore^(DC) the fortunes of Moab
    in days to come,”
declares the Lord.