Chapter 15

¹ The Word against the Land of Moab.

By night the land of Moab shall be destroyed; for by night the wall of the land of Moab shall be destroyed. ² Grieve for yourselves; for even Debon, where your altar is, shall be destroyed: thither shall ye go up to weep, over Nabau of the land of Moab: howl ye: baldness shall be on every head, and all arms shall be ¹wounded. ³ Gird yourselves with sackcloth in her streets: and lament upon her roofs, and in her streets, and in her ways; howl all of you with weeping. ⁴ For Esebon and Eleale have cried: their voice was heard to Jassa: therefore the loins of the region of Moab cry aloud; her soul shall know. ⁵ The heart of the region of Moab cries within her to Segor; for it is as a heifer of three years old: and on the ascent of Luith they shall go up to thee weeping by the way of Aroniim: she cries, Destruction, and trembling. ⁶ The water of Nemerim shall be desolate, and the grass thereof shall fail: for there shall be no green grass. ⁷ Shall Moab even thus be delivered? for I will

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bring the Arabians upon the valley, and they shall take it. ⁸ For the cry has reached the border of the region of Moab, even of Agalim; and her howling has gone as far as the well of Ælim. ⁹ And the water of Dimon shall be filled with blood: for I will bring Arabians upon Dimon, and I will take away the seed of Moab, and Ariel, and the remnant of Adama.

Chapter 16

¹ I will send as it were reptiles on the land: is not the mount of the daughter of Sion a desolate rock? ² For thou shalt be as a young bird taken away from a bird that has flown: even thou shalt be so, daughter of Moab: and then do thou, O Arnon, ³ take farther counsel, and continually make thou a shelter from grief: they flee in darkness at mid-day; they are amazed; be not thou led captive. ⁴ The fugitives of Moab shall sojourn with thee; they shall be to you a shelter from the face of the pursuer: for thine alliance has been taken away, and the oppressing ruler has perished from off the earth. ⁵ And a throne shall be established with mercy; and one shall sit upon it with truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and earnestly seeking judgements, and hasting righteousness.

⁶ We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud. I have cut off his pride: thy prophecy shall not be thus, no not thus. ⁷ Moab shall howl; for all shall howl in the land of Moab: but thou shalt care for them that dwell in Seth, and thou shalt not be ashamed. ⁸ The plains of Esebon shall mourn, the vine of Sebama: swallowing up the nations, trample ye her vines, even to Jazer: ye shall not come together; wander ye in the desert: they that were sent are deserted, for they have gone over to the sea. ⁹ Therefore will I weep as with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sebama; Esebon and Eleale have cast down thy trees; for I will trample on thy harvest and on thy vintages, and all thy plants shall fall. ¹⁰ And gladness and rejoicing shall be taken away from the vineyards; and they shall not at all tread wine into the vats; for the vintage has ceased. ¹¹ Therefore my belly shall sound as a harp for Moab, and ²thou hast repaired my inward parts as a wall. ¹² And it shall be to thy shame, (for Moab is wearied at the altars,) that he shall go in to the idols thereof to pray, but they shall not be at all able to deliver him.

¹³ This is the word which the Lord spoke against Moab, when he spoke. ¹⁴ And now I say, in three years, of the years of an hireling, the glory of Moab shall be dishonoured with all his great wealth; and he shall be left few in number, and not honoured.