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.