A Complicated History

Moab Will Be Punished

1 This is a message about Moab:

The towns of Ar and Kir

were destroyed in a night.

Moab is left in ruins!

2Everyone in Dibon has gone up

to the temple and the shrines

to cry and weep.

All of Moab is crying.

Heads and beards are shaved

because of what happened

at Nebo and Medeba.

3In the towns and at home,

everyone wears sackcloth

and cries loud and long.

4From Heshbon and Elealeh,

weeping is heard in Jahaz;

Moab's warriors scream

while trembling with fear.

Pity Moab

5I pity Moab!

Its people are running to Zoar

and to Eglath-Shelishiyah.

They cry on their way up

to the town of Luhith;

on the road to Horonaim

they tell of disasters.

6The streams of Nimrim

and the grasslands

have dried up.

Every plant is parched.

7The people of Moab are leaving,

crossing over Willow Creek,

taking everything they own

and have worked for.

8In the towns of Eglaim

and of Beerelim

and everywhere else in Moab

mournful cries are heard.

9The streams near Dimon

are flowing with blood.

But the Lord will bring

even worse trouble to Dimon,

because all in Moab who escape

will be attacked by lions.

More Troubles for Moab

1Send lambs as gifts

to the ruler of the land.

Send them across the desert

from Sela to Mount Zion.

2The women of Moab

crossing the Arnon River

are like a flock of birds

scattered from their nests.

3Moab's messengers say

to the people of Judah,

“Be kind and help us!

Shade us from the heat

of the noonday sun.

Hide our refugees!

Don't turn them away.

4Let our people live

in your country

and find safety here.”

Moab, your cruel enemies

will disappear;

they will no longer attack

and destroy your land.

5Then a kingdom of love

will be set up,

and someone from David's family

will rule with fairness.

He will do what is right

and quickly bring justice.

Moab's Pride Is Destroyed

6We have heard of Moab's pride.

Its people strut and boast,

but without reason.

7Tell everyone in Moab

to mourn for their nation.

Tell them to cry and weep

for those fancy raisins

of Kir-Hareseth.

8Vineyards near Heshbon

and Sibmah

have turned brown.

The rulers of nations

used to get drunk

on wine from those vineyards

that spread to Jazer,

then across the desert

and beyond the sea.

9Now I mourn like Jazer

for the vineyards

of Sibmah.

I shed tears for Heshbon

and for Elealeh.

There will be no more

harvest celebrations

10or joyful and happy times,

while bringing in the crops.

Singing and shouting are gone

from the vineyards.

There are no joyful shouts

where grapes were pressed.

God has silenced them all.

11Deep in my heart I hurt

for Moab and Kir-Heres.

12It's useless for Moab's people

to wear themselves out

by going to their altars

to worship and pray.

13The Lord has already said all of this about Moab. 14Now he says, “The contract of a hired worker is good for three years, but Moab's glory and greatness won't last any longer than that. Only a few of its people will survive, and they will be left helpless.”