Online Bible

Prophecy of Moab’s Devastation

^aSend the tribute lamb to the ruler of the land,From ¹^bSela by way of the wilderness to the ^cmountain of the daughter of Zion.2 Then, like ^afluttering birds or scattered nestlings,The daughters of ^bMoab will be at the crossing places of the ^cArnon.3 “¹Give us advice, make a decision;²Cast your ^ashadow like night ³at high noon;^bHide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive.4 “Let the ¹outcasts of Moab stay with you;Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer.”For the oppressor has come to an end, destruction has ceased,^aOppressors have been removed from the land.5 A ^athrone will be established in faithfulness,And a judge will sit on it in trustworthiness in the tent of ^bDavid;Moreover, he will seek justice,And be prompt in righteousness.

6 ^aWe have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride;Even of his arrogance, pride, and fury;^bHis idle boasts are ¹false.7 Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail.You will moan for the ^araisin cakes of ^bKir-haresethAs those who are utterly stricken.8 For the fields of ^aHeshbon have ¹withered, the vines of ^bSibmah as well;The lords of the nations have trampled down its choice clustersWhich reached as far as Jazer and wandered to the deserts;^cIts ²tendrils spread themselves out and passed over the sea.9 Therefore I will ^aweep bitterly for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah;I will drench you with my tears, ^bHeshbon and Elealeh;For the shouting over your ^csummer fruits and your harvest has fallen away.10 ^aGladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful field;In the ^bvineyards also there will be no cries of joy or jubilant shouting,No ^ctreader treads out wine in the presses,For I have made the shouting to cease.11 Therefore my ¹^ainner being sounds like a harp for Moab.And my ²heart for Kir-hareseth.12 So it will come about when Moab ^apresents himself,When he ^btires himself upon his ^chigh placeAnd comes to his sanctuary to pray,That he will not prevail.

13 This is the word which the LORD spoke earlier concerning Moab. 14 But now the LORD has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as ¹^aa hired worker would count them, the glory of ^bMoab will become contemptible along with all his great population, and his remnant will be very small and ²impotent.”