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1.
Concerning Moab: This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered.
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2.
Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon men will plot her downfall: 'Come, let us put an end to that nation.' You too, O Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.
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3.
Listen to the cries from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and destruction.
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4.
Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out.
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5.
They go up the way to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
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6.
Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert.
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7.
Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.
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8.
The destroyer will come against every town, and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the LORD has spoken.
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9.
Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them.
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10.
"A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD'S work! A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed!
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11.
"Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another--she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged.
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12.
But days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will send men who pour from jars, and they will pour her out; they will empty her jars and smash her jugs.
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13.
Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.
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14.
"How can you say, 'We are warriors, men valiant in battle'?
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15.
Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter," declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
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16.
"The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly.
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17.
Mourn for her, all who live around her, all who know her fame; say, 'How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff!'
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18.
"Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, O inhabitants of the Daughter of Dibon, for he who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities.
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19.
Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, 'What has happened?'
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20.
Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered. Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
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21.
Judgment has come to the plateau--to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,
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22.
to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
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23.
to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,
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24.
to Kerioth and Bozrah--to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
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25.
Moab's horn is cut off; her arm is broken," declares the LORD.
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26.
"Make her drunk, for she has defied the LORD. Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule.
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27.
Was not Israel the object of your ridicule? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her?
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28.
Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.
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29.
"We have heard of Moab's pride--her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and arrogance and the haughtiness of her heart.
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30.
I know her insolence but it is futile," declares the LORD, "and her boasts accomplish nothing.
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31.
Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the men of Kir Hareseth.
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32.
I weep for you, as Jazer weeps, O vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea; they reached as far as the sea of Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes.
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33.
Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy.
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34.
"The sound of their cry rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
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35.
In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods," declares the LORD.
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36.
"So my heart laments for Moab like a flute; it laments like a flute for the men of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone.
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37.
Every head is shaved and every beard cut off; every hand is slashed and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
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38.
On all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants," declares the LORD.
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39.
"How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her."
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40.
This is what the LORD says: "Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab.
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41.
Kerioth will be captured and the strongholds taken. In that day the hearts of Moab's warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
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42.
Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the LORD.
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43.
Terror and pit and snare await you, O people of Moab," declares the LORD.
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44.
"Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring upon Moab the year of her punishment," declares the LORD.
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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; it burns the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the noisy boasters.
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46.
Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are destroyed; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity.
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47.
"Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come," declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.
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