A prophecy of the desolation of Moab for their pride: but their
captivity shall at last be released.
48:1. Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Woe
to Nabo, for it is laid waste, and confounded: Cariathaim is taken: the
strong city is confounded and hath trembled.
48:2. There is no more rejoicing in Moab over Hesebon: they have
devised evil. Come, and let us cut it off from being a nation.
Therefore shalt thou in silence hold thy peace, and the sword shall
follow thee.
48:3. A voice of crying from Oronaim: waste, and great destruction.
48:4. Moab is destroyed: proclaim a cry for her little ones.
48:5. For by the ascent of Luith shall the mourner go up with weeping:
for in the descent of Oronaim the enemies have heard a howling of
destruction.
48:6. Flee, save your lives: and be as heath in the wilderness.
48:7. For because thou hast trusted in thy bulwarks, and in thy
treasures, thou also shalt be taken: and Chamos shall go into
captivity, his priests, and his princes together.
Chamos.... The idol of the Moabites.
48:8. And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall
escape: and the valleys shall perish, and the plains shall be
destroyed, for the Lord hath spoken:
48:9. Give a flower to Moab, for in its flower it shall go out: and the
cities thereof shall be desolate, and uninhabited.
48:10. Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully: and
cursed be he that withholdeth his sword from blood.
Deceitfully.... In the Greek, negligently. The work of God here spoken
of, is the punishment of the Moabites.
48:11. Moab hath been fruitful from his youth, and hath rested upon his
lees: and hath not been poured out from vessel to vessel, nor hath gone
into captivity: therefore his taste hath remained in him, and his scent
is not changed.
Moab hath been fruitful.... That is, rich and flourishing. And hath
rested upon his lees.... That is, remained in its bad morals; as wine
not decanted has its lees mixed and remains muddy.
48:12. Therefore behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will send
him men that shall order and overturn his bottles, and they shall cast
him down, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles one
against another.
48:13. And Moab shall be ashamed of Chamos, as the house of Israel was
ashamed of Bethel, in which they trusted.
Of Bethel.... That is, of their golden calf which they worshipped in
Bethel.
48:14. How do you say: We are valiant and stout men in battle?
48:15. Moab is laid waste, and they have cast down her cities: and her
choice young men are gone down to the slaughter: saith the king, whose
name is the Lord of hosts.
48:16. The destruction of Moab is near to come: the calamity thereof
shall come on exceeding swiftly.
48:17. Comfort him, all you that are round about him, and all you that
know his name, say: How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod?
48:18. Come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst, O dwelling of the
daughter of Dibon: because the spoiler of Moab is come up to thee, he
hath destroyed thy bulwarks.
48:19. Stand in the way, and look out, O habitation of Aroer: inquire
of him that fleeth: and say to him that hath escaped: What is done?
48:20. Moab is confounded, because he is overthrown: howl ye, and cry,
tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is wasted.
48:21. And judgment is come upon the plain country: upon Helon, and
upon Jasa, and upon Mephaath.
48:22. And upon Dibon, and upon Nabo, and upon the house of Deblathaim,
48:23. And upon Cariathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmaon,
48:24. And upon Carioth, and upon Bosra: and upon all the cities of the
land of Moab, far or near.
48:25. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the
Lord.
The horn of Moab is cut off.... That is, the strength of Moab is cut
off. A metaphor drawn from animals whose strength is in their horns.
48:26. Make him drunk, because he lifted up himself against the Lord:
and Moab shall dash his hand in his own vomit, and he also shall be in
derision.
48:27. For Israel hath been a derision unto them: as though thou hadst
found him amongst thieves: for thy words therefore, which thou hast
spoken against him, thou shalt be led away captive.
48:28. Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, you that dwell in Moab:
and be ye like the dove that maketh her nest in the mouth of the hole
in the highest place.
48:29. We have heard the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud: his
haughtiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the loftiness of his
heart.
48:30. I know, saith the Lord, his boasting, and that the strength
thereof is not according to it, neither hath it endeavoured to do
according as it was able.
48:31. Therefore will I lament for Moab, and I will cry out to all
Moab, for the men of the brick wall that mourn.
48:32. O vineyard of Sabama, I will weep for thee, with the mourning of
Jazer: thy branches are gone over the sea, they are come even to the
sea of Jazer: the robber hath rushed in upon thy harvest and thy
vintage.
48:33. Joy and gladness is taken away from Carmel, and from the land of
Moab, and I have taken away the wine out of the presses: the treader of
the grapes shall not sing the accustomed cheerful tune.
48:34. From the cry of Hesebon even to Eleale, and to Jasa, they have
uttered their voice: from Segor to Oronaim, as a heifer of three years
old: the waters also of Nemrim shall be very bad.
48:35. And I will take away from Moab, saith the Lord, him that
offereth in the high places, and that sacrificeth to his gods.
48:36. Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes and my heart
shall sound like pipes for the men of the brick wall: because he hath
done more than he could, therefore they have perished.
48:37. For every head shall be bald, and every beard shall be shaven:
all hands shall be tied together, and upon every back there shall be
haircloth.
48:38. Upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof
general mourning: because I have broken Moab as an useless vessel,
saith the Lord.
48:39. How is it overthrown, and they have howled! How hath Moab bowed
down the neck, and is confounded! And Moab shall be a derision, and an
example to all round about him.
48:40. Thus saith the Lord: Behold he shall fly as an eagle, and shall
stretch forth his wings to Moab.
48:41. Carioth is taken, and the strongholds are won: and the heart of
the valiant men of Moab in that day shall be as the heart of a woman in
labour.
48:42. And Moab shall cease to be a people: because he hath gloried
against the Lord.
48:43. Fear, and the pit, and the snare come upon thee, O inhabitant of
Moab, saith the Lord.
Fear.... That is, the sword of the enemy. The pit.... That is,
unforeseen calamities. The snare.... That is, the ambushes laid by the
enemy.
48:44. He that shall flee from the fear, shall fall into the pit: and
he that shall get up out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for I
will bring upon Moab the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.
48:45. They that fled from the snare stood in the shadow of Hesebon:
but there came a fire out of Hesebon, and a flame out of the midst of
Seon, and it shall devour part of Moab, and the crown of the head of
the children of tumult.
48:46. Woe to thee, Moab, thou hast persisted, O people of Chamos: for
thy sons, and thy daughters are taken captives.
48:47. And I will bring back the captivity of Moab in the last days,
saith the Lord. Hitherto the judgments of Moab.