Jer 37, Jer 48 | ESV | STEP | Zedekiah the son of Josiah , whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah , reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim .

1 ^aZedekiah the son of Josiah, ^bwhom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of ^cConiah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 ^dBut neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

3 King Zedekiah sent ^eJehucal the son of ^fShelemiah, and ^gZephaniah the priest, the son of ^hMaaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please ⁱpray for us to the Lord our God.” 4 ^jNow Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, ^kfor he had not yet been put in prison. 5 ^lThe army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when ^mthe Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, ⁿthey withdrew from Jerusalem.

6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who ^osent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, ^pPharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to ^qreturn to Egypt, to its own land. 8 And ^rthe Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. ^sThey shall capture it and burn it with fire. 9 Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. 10 ^tFor even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and ^uburn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah Imprisoned

11 Now when ^vthe Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to ^wthe land of Benjamin ^xto receive his portion there ^yamong the people. 13 When he was at ^zthe Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of ^aaShelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^ab“You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14 And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to ^acthe officials. 15 And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him ^adand imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

16 ^aeWhen Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, 17 King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him ^afsecretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, ^ag“You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” 18 Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, ^ahthat you have put me in prison? 19 ^aiWhere are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? 20 Now hear, please, O my lord the king: ^ajlet my humble plea come before you and ^akdo not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to ^althe court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, ^amuntil all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in ^anthe court of the guard.

Jeremiah 48

Judgment on Moab

1 ^aoConcerning Moab.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Woe to ^apNebo, for it is laid waste!
^aqKiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame ^arand broken down;
2 the renown of Moab is no more.
In ^asHeshbon they planned disaster against her:
‘Come, let us cut her off ^atfrom being a nation!’
You also, O ^auMadmen, shall be brought to silence;
the sword shall pursue you.
3 “A voice! A cry from ^avHoronaim,
‘Desolation and great destruction!’
4 Moab is destroyed;
her little ones have made a cry.
5 ^awFor at the ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping; ^{▼▼Hebrew weeping goes up with weeping}
for ^ayat the descent of Horonaim
they have heard the distressed cry ^{▼▼Septuagint (compare Isaiah 15:5) heard the cry} of destruction.
6 Flee! Save yourselves!
You will be like ^baa juniper in the desert!
7 For, ^bbbecause you trusted in your works and your treasures,
you also shall be taken;
and ^bcChemosh ^bdshall go into exile
with ^behis priests and his officials.
8 ^bfThe destroyer shall come upon every city,
and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
and ^bgthe plain shall be destroyed,
as the Lord has spoken.
9 “Give wings to Moab,
for she would fly away;
her cities shall become a desolation,
with no inhabitant in them.
10 ^bh“Cursed is he who does ^bithe work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.

11 “Moab has been at ease from his youth
and has ^bjsettled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
nor has he gone into exile;
so his taste remains in him,
and his scent is not changed.
12 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his ^{▼▼Septuagint, Aquila; Hebrew their} jars in pieces. 13 Then ^blMoab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as ^bmthe house of Israel was ashamed of ^bnBethel, their confidence.

14 “How do you say, ‘We are heroes
and mighty men of war’?
15 The destroyer of ^boMoab and his cities has come up,
and the choicest of his young men have ^bpgone down to slaughter,
declares ^bqthe King, ^brwhose name is the Lord of hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
and his affliction hastens swiftly.
17 ^bsGrieve for him, all you who are around him,
and all who know his name;
say, ^bt‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff.’
18 ^bu“Come down from your glory,
and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitant of ^bvDibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
19 ^bwStand by the way ^bxand watch,
O inhabitant of ^byAroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
say, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
^bzwail and cry!
Tell it beside ^cathe Arnon,
that ^cbMoab is laid waste.
21 “Judgment has come upon ^ccthe tableland, upon Holon, and ^cdJahzah, and Mephaath, 22 and ^ceDibon, and ^cfNebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 and ^cgKiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and ^chBeth-meon, 24 and ^ciKerioth, and ^cjBozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 ^ckThe horn of Moab is cut off, and ^clhis arm is broken, declares the Lord.

26 ^cm“Make him drunk, ^cnbecause he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall ^cowallow in his vomit, ^cpand he too shall be held in derision. 27 ^cqWas not Israel a derision to you? ^crWas he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him ^csyou wagged your head?

28 ^ct“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab!
Be ^culike the dove that nests
in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
29 ^cvWe have heard of the pride of Moab—
he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
30 I know his insolence, declares the Lord;
^cwhis boasts are false,
his deeds are false.
31 ^cxTherefore I wail for Moab;
I cry out for all Moab;
for the men of ^cyKir-hareseth I mourn.
32 More than for ^czJazer I weep for you,
^daO vine of ^dbSibmah!
^dcYour branches passed over the sea,
reached to the Sea of ^ddJazer;
on your summer fruits and your grapes
the destroyer has fallen.
33 ^deGladness and joy have been taken away
from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy;
the shouting is not the shout of joy.
34 ^df“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to ^dgHoronaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. 35 And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in ^dhthe high place and makes offerings to his god. 36 Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of ^diKir-hareseth. ^djTherefore the riches they gained have perished.

37 ^dk“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. ^dlOn all the hands are gashes, and ^dmaround the waist is sackcloth. 38 On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like ^dna vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord. 39 How it is broken! How they wail! ^doHow Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab ^dphas become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”

40 For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, ^dqone shall fly swiftly like an eagle
^drand spread his wings against Moab;
41 ^dsthe cities shall be taken
and the strongholds seized.
^dtThe heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day
like the heart of ^dua woman in her birth pains;
42 Moab shall be ^dvdestroyed and be no longer a people,
because ^dwhe magnified himself against the Lord.
43 ^dxTerror, pit, and snare
are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!

declares the Lord.
44 He who flees from the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the snare.
^dyFor I will bring these things upon Moab,
the year of their punishment,

declares the Lord.
45 “In the shadow of Heshbon
fugitives stop without strength,
for fire came out from Heshbon,
flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed ^dzthe forehead of Moab,
the crown of ^eathe sons of tumult.
46 ^ebWoe to you, O Moab!
The people of ^ecChemosh are undone,
for your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
47 ^edYet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.