Jer 6, Jer 48 | ESV | STEP | Flee for safety , O people of Benjamin , from the midst of Jerusalem ! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa , and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem , for disaster looms out of the north , and great destruction .

1 Flee for safety, ^aO people of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in ^bTekoa,
and raise a signal on ^cBeth-haccherem,
for disaster looms ^dout of the north,
and great destruction.
2 The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,
^ethe daughter of Zion. ^{▼▼Or I have likened the daughter of Zion to the loveliest pasture}
3 ^gShepherds with their flocks shall come against her;
^hthey shall pitch their tents around her;
they shall pasture, each in his place.
4 ⁱ“Prepare war against her;
arise, and let us attack ^jat noon!
Woe to us, for the day declines,
for the shadows of evening lengthen!
5 Arise, and let us attack by night
and destroy her palaces!”
6 For thus says the Lord of hosts:
^k“Cut down her trees;
^lcast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be ^mpunished;
there is nothing but oppression within her.
7 ⁿAs a well keeps its water fresh,
so she keeps fresh her evil;
^oviolence and destruction are heard within her;
sickness and wounds are ever before me.
8 Be warned, O Jerusalem,
^plest I turn from you in disgust,
lest I make you ^qa desolation,
an uninhabited land.”
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
^r“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine
the remnant of Israel;
like a grape gatherer pass your hand again
over its branches.”
10 ^sTo whom shall I speak and give warning,
that they may hear?
^tBehold, their ears are uncircumcised,
^uthey cannot listen;
behold, ^vthe word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;
they take no pleasure in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord;
^wI am weary of holding it in.
^x“Pour it out upon the children in the street,
and upon the gatherings of young men, also;
^yboth husband and wife ^zshall be taken,
the elderly and the very aged.
12 ^aaTheir houses shall be turned over to others,
their fields and wives together,
for I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land,”

declares the Lord.
13 ^ab“For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone ^acis greedy for unjust gain;
and from ^adprophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ^ae‘Peace, peace,’
^afwhen there is no peace.
15 ^agWere they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
^ahat the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”

says the Lord.
16 Thus says the Lord:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for ^aithe ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
^ajand find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 ^akI set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Pay attention to ^althe sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ^am‘We will not pay attention.’
18 Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
19 Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
^anthe fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.
20 ^aoWhat use to me is ^apfrankincense that comes from ^aqSheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
^arYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord:
^as‘Behold, I will lay before this people
stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
fathers and sons together,
neighbor and friend shall perish.’”
22 Thus says the Lord:
^at“Behold, a people is coming ^aufrom the north country,
a great nation is stirring from ^avthe farthest parts of the earth.
23 They lay hold on bow and javelin;
they are ^awcruel and have no mercy;
^axthe sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
set in array as a man for battle,
against you, O daughter of Zion!”
24 We have heard the report of it;
^ayour hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
^azpain as of a woman in labor.
25 Go not out into the field,
nor walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword;
^baterror is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, ^bbput on sackcloth,
and ^bcroll in ashes;
^bdmake mourning as for an only son,
most bitter lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.
27 “I have made you ^bea tester of metals among my people,
that you may know and ^bftest their ways.
28 ^bgThey are all stubbornly rebellious,
^bhgoing about with slanders;
they are ^bibronze and iron;
all of them act corruptly.
29 The ^bjbellows blow fiercely;
the lead is consumed by the fire;
^bkin vain the refining goes on,
for the wicked are not removed.
30 ^blRejected silver they are called,
for the Lord has rejected them.”

Jeremiah 48

Judgment on Moab

1 ^bmConcerning Moab.

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

“Woe to ^bnNebo, for it is laid waste!
^boKiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame ^bpand broken down;
2 the renown of Moab is no more.
In ^bqHeshbon they planned disaster against her:
‘Come, let us cut her off ^brfrom being a nation!’
You also, O ^bsMadmen, shall be brought to silence;
the sword shall pursue you.
3 “A voice! A cry from ^btHoronaim,
‘Desolation and great destruction!’
4 Moab is destroyed;
her little ones have made a cry.
5 ^buFor at the ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping; ^{▼▼Hebrew weeping goes up with weeping}
for ^bwat 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 ^bya juniper in the desert!
7 For, ^bzbecause you trusted in your works and your treasures,
you also shall be taken;
and ^caChemosh ^cbshall go into exile
with ^cchis priests and his officials.
8 ^cdThe destroyer shall come upon every city,
and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
and ^cethe 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 ^cf“Cursed is he who does ^cgthe 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 ^chsettled 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 ^cjMoab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as ^ckthe house of Israel was ashamed of ^clBethel, their confidence.

14 “How do you say, ‘We are heroes
and mighty men of war’?
15 The destroyer of ^cmMoab and his cities has come up,
and the choicest of his young men have ^cngone down to slaughter,
declares ^cothe King, ^cpwhose name is the Lord of hosts.
16 The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
and his affliction hastens swiftly.
17 ^cqGrieve for him, all you who are around him,
and all who know his name;
say, ^cr‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
the glorious staff.’
18 ^cs“Come down from your glory,
and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitant of ^ctDibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
he has destroyed your strongholds.
19 ^cuStand by the way ^cvand watch,
O inhabitant of ^cwAroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
say, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
^cxwail and cry!
Tell it beside ^cythe Arnon,
that ^czMoab is laid waste.
21 “Judgment has come upon ^dathe tableland, upon Holon, and ^dbJahzah, and Mephaath, 22 and ^dcDibon, and ^ddNebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23 and ^deKiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and ^dfBeth-meon, 24 and ^dgKerioth, and ^dhBozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 ^diThe horn of Moab is cut off, and ^djhis arm is broken, declares the Lord.

26 ^dk“Make him drunk, ^dlbecause he magnified himself against the Lord, so that Moab shall ^dmwallow in his vomit, ^dnand he too shall be held in derision. 27 ^doWas not Israel a derision to you? ^dpWas he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him ^dqyou wagged your head?

28 ^dr“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab!
Be ^dslike the dove that nests
in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.
29 ^dtWe 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;
^duhis boasts are false,
his deeds are false.
31 ^dvTherefore I wail for Moab;
I cry out for all Moab;
for the men of ^dwKir-hareseth I mourn.
32 More than for ^dxJazer I weep for you,
^dyO vine of ^dzSibmah!
^eaYour branches passed over the sea,
reached to the Sea of ^ebJazer;
on your summer fruits and your grapes
the destroyer has fallen.
33 ^ecGladness 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 ^ed“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to ^eeHoronaim 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 ^efthe 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 ^egKir-hareseth. ^ehTherefore the riches they gained have perished.

37 ^ei“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. ^ejOn all the hands are gashes, and ^ekaround 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 ^ela vessel for which no one cares, declares the Lord. 39 How it is broken! How they wail! ^emHow Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab ^enhas become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”

40 For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, ^eoone shall fly swiftly like an eagle
^epand spread his wings against Moab;
41 ^eqthe cities shall be taken
and the strongholds seized.
^erThe heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day
like the heart of ^esa woman in her birth pains;
42 Moab shall be ^etdestroyed and be no longer a people,
because ^euhe magnified himself against the Lord.
43 ^evTerror, 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.
^ewFor 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 ^exthe forehead of Moab,
the crown of ^eythe sons of tumult.
46 ^ezWoe to you, O Moab!
The people of ^faChemosh are undone,
for your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
47 ^fbYet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.