Judgment on Moab
(Isaiah 15:1–9)
Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Jer 48:22-23Num 32:3Num 32:37-38Amo 2:1-2Ezk 25:8-11Isa 15:1-9Jer 25:212Ch 20:10
“Woe to Nebo,
for it will be devastated.
Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced;
the fortress will be shattered and dismantled.
There is no longer praise for Moab; Isa 16:14Jer 31:36Num 32:37Est 3:8-14Isa 15:1Isa 15:5Isa 16:8-9Isa 25:10
in Heshbon 1they devise evil against her:
‘Come, let us cut her off from nationhood.’
You too, O people of Madmen, 2 will be silenced;
the sword will pursue you.
A voice cries out from Horonaim: Isa 15:5Jer 48:34Jer 48:5Isa 15:2Isa 15:8Isa 16:7-11Isa 22:4Jer 4:20-21
‘Devastation and great destruction!’
Moab will be shattered; Est 8:11Num 21:27-30Psa 137:9
her little ones will cry out. 3
For on the ascent to Luhith Isa 15:5
they weep bitterly as they go,
and on the descent to Horonaim
cries of distress resound
over the destruction:
‘Flee! Run for your lives! Jer 17:6Jer 51:6Job 30:3-7Gen 19:17Heb 6:18Luk 17:31-33Luk 3:7Mat 24:16-18
Become like a juniper in the desert. 4’
Because you trust in your works and treasures, Num 21:29Jer 49:3Jer 9:23Psa 52:71Ki 11:331Ti 6:17Hos 10:13Isa 46:1-2
you too will be captured,
and Chemosh will go into exile
with his priests and officials.
The destroyer will move against every city, Jer 6:26Ezk 25:9Jer 15:8Jer 25:9Jer 48:18Jer 48:20-25Jer 51:56Jos 13:17
and not one town will escape.
The valley will also be ruined,
and the high plain will be destroyed,
as the LORD has said.
Put salt on Moab, Isa 16:2Jer 48:28Psa 11:1Jer 46:19Psa 55:6Rev 12:14Zep 2:9
for she will be laid waste; 5
her cities will become desolate,
with no one to dwell in them.
Cursed is the one who is remiss 1Ki 20:421Sa 15:31Sa 15:9Jdg 5:232Ki 13:19Num 31:14-18Jer 50:251Sa 15:13-35
in doing the work of the LORD,
and cursed is he who withholds
his sword from bloodshed.
Moab has been at ease from youth, Zep 1:12Jer 48:29Zec 1:15Ezk 16:49-50Nam 2:2Isa 16:6Isa 24:3Psa 123:4
settled like wine on its dregs;
he has not been poured from vessel to vessel
or gone into exile.
So his flavor has remained the same,
and his aroma is unchanged.
Therefore behold, the days are coming, Nam 2:2Ezk 25:9-10Isa 30:14Jer 48:38Isa 16:2Jer 14:3Jer 19:10Jer 25:34
declares the LORD,
when I will send to him wanderers,
who will pour him out.
They will empty his vessels
and shatter his jars.
Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, Isa 45:16Hos 8:5-6Jdg 11:24Jer 48:391Ki 11:71Ki 12:28-291Ki 18:26-291Ki 18:40
just as the house of Israel was ashamed
when they trusted in Bethel.
How can you say, ‘We are warriors, Psa 33:16Isa 10:13Isa 10:16Ecc 9:11Ezk 30:6Isa 16:6Isa 36:4-5Jer 49:16
mighty men ready for battle’?
Moab has been destroyed Jer 46:18Jer 50:27Jer 51:57Isa 40:30-31Mal 1:14Dan 4:37Isa 34:2-8Jas 5:4
and its towns have been invaded;
the best of its young men
have gone down in the slaughter,
declares the King,
whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
Moab’s calamity is at hand, Isa 13:222Pe 2:3Deu 32:35Ezk 12:23Ezk 12:28Isa 16:13-14Jer 1:12
and his affliction is rushing swiftly.
Mourn for him, all you who surround him, Isa 9:4Ezk 19:11-14Isa 10:5Isa 14:4-5Isa 16:8Jer 48:31-33Jer 48:39Jer 9:17-20
everyone who knows his name;
tell how the mighty scepter is shattered—
the glorious staff!
Come down from your glory; sit on parched ground, Isa 47:1Num 21:30Isa 15:2Jer 48:22Jos 13:17Exo 17:3Ezk 19:13Gen 21:16
O daughter dwelling in Dibon,
for the destroyer of Moab has come against you;
he has destroyed your fortresses.
Stand by the road and watch, Deu 2:361Sa 4:161Sa 4:13-141Ch 5:82Sa 1:3-42Sa 18:24-322Sa 24:5Num 32:34
O dweller of Aroer!
Ask the man fleeing or the woman escaping,
‘What has happened?’
Moab is put to shame, for it has been shattered. Isa 16:2Deu 2:36Isa 15:1-5Isa 15:8Isa 16:7-11Jdg 11:18Jer 48:1-5Jos 13:9
Wail and cry out!
Declare by the Arnon
that Moab is destroyed.
Judgment has come upon the high plain— Jos 13:18Isa 15:4Jer 48:8Num 21:23Ezk 25:9Jos 21:36-37Zep 2:9
upon Holon, Jahzah, 6 and Mephaath,
upon Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, Jer 48:18Num 33:46Ezk 6:14Jer 48:1Num 32:34
upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, Jos 13:17Jer 48:1Gen 14:5Jos 13:19Num 32:38
upon Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the towns of Moab, Amo 2:2Jer 48:41Deu 4:43Jos 21:36Zep 2:8-10
those far and near.
The horn of Moab has been cut off, Psa 75:10Psa 10:15Job 22:9Zec 1:19-21Dan 7:8Dan 8:21Dan 8:7-9Ezk 30:21-25
and his arm is broken,”
declares the LORD.
“Make him drunk, Isa 19:14Isa 29:9Jer 48:42Jer 51:39Dan 5:23Exo 5:2Jer 48:39Jer 51:7
because he has magnified himself against the LORD;
so Moab will wallow in his own vomit,
and he will also become a laughingstock.
Was not Israel your object of ridicule? Jer 2:26Mic 7:8-10Ezk 25:8Lam 2:15-17Zep 2:8Ezk 26:2-3Ezk 35:15Ezk 36:2
Was he ever found among thieves?
For whenever you speak of him
you shake your head.
Abandon the towns and settle among the rocks, Jdg 6:2Psa 55:6-7Sng 2:14Isa 2:19Jer 48:9Jer 49:161Sa 13:6Oba 1:3-4
O dwellers of Moab!
Be like a dove
that nests at the mouth of a cave.
We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, Isa 16:6Isa 2:11-12Psa 138:6Dan 4:37Jas 4:6Job 40:10-12Luk 14:11Pro 18:12
his exceeding pride and conceit,
his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.
I know his insolence,” Jer 50:36Isa 16:6Isa 37:28-29Job 9:12-13Pro 21:30Psa 33:10
declares the LORD,
“but it is futile.
His boasting is as empty as his deeds.
Therefore I will wail for Moab; 2Ki 3:25Isa 15:5Jer 48:36Isa 16:7-11
I will cry out for all of Moab;
I will moan for the men of Kir-heres. 7
I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah, Isa 16:8-9Num 21:32Jos 13:19Jer 40:10Jer 48:15Jer 48:18Jer 48:8Jos 21:39
more than I weep for Jazer.
Your tendrils have extended to the sea; 8
they reach even to Jazer. 9
The destroyer has descended
on your summer fruit and grape harvest.
Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard Hag 2:16Isa 5:10Isa 16:9-10Isa 24:7-12Isa 32:9-14Isa 7:23Isa 9:3Jer 25:9-10
and from the fields of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy;
their shouts are not for joy.
There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; Isa 15:4-6Num 32:3Deu 34:3Gen 13:10Jer 48:2-3Jer 48:5Num 32:36-37
they raise their voices to Jahaz,
from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah;
for even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.
In Moab, declares the LORD, Isa 15:2Isa 16:12Jer 11:13Jer 48:7Num 22:40-41Num 28:14Num 28:28-30
I will bring an end
to those who make offerings on the high places
and burn incense to their gods.
Therefore My heart laments like a flute for Moab; Isa 15:7Isa 16:11Isa 15:5Ecc 5:13-14Isa 63:15Jas 5:2-3Jer 17:11Jer 4:19
it laments like a flute for the men of Kir-heres,
because the wealth they acquired has perished.
For every head is shaved Gen 37:34Isa 15:2-3Jer 41:5Jer 47:5Isa 20:2Jer 16:61Ki 18:281Ki 21:27
and every beard is clipped;
on every hand is a gash,
and around every waist is sackcloth.
On all the rooftops of Moab Jer 22:28Isa 22:1Jer 25:342Ti 2:20-21Hos 8:8Isa 15:3Isa 30:14Psa 2:9
and in the public squares,
everyone is mourning;
for I have shattered Moab like an unwanted jar,”
declares the LORD.
“How shattered it is! How they wail! Ezk 26:16-18Isa 20:4-6Jer 48:17Jer 48:26-27Lam 1:1Lam 2:1Lam 4:1Rev 18:15-16
How Moab has turned his back in shame!
Moab has become an object of ridicule and horror
to all those around him.”
For this is what the LORD says: Isa 8:8Deu 28:49Jer 49:22Ezk 17:3Hos 8:1Dan 7:4Hab 1:8Jer 4:13
“Behold, an eagle swoops down
and spreads his wings against Moab.
Kirioth has been taken, Isa 13:8Isa 21:3Jer 30:6Jer 49:22Jer 6:24Mic 4:9-101Th 5:3Isa 26:17-18
and the strongholds seized.
In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
Moab will be destroyed as a nation Jer 48:2Isa 37:23Isa 7:8Jer 30:11Jer 48:26-302Th 2:4Dan 11:36Est 3:8-13
because he vaunted himself against the LORD.
Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of Moab,” Isa 24:17-18Lam 3:47Deu 32:23-25Psa 11:6
declares the LORD.
“Whoever flees the panic 1Ki 19:17Jer 11:23Amo 5:19Jer 46:211Ki 20:30Amo 2:14-15Amo 9:1-4Hos 9:7
will fall into the pit,
and whoever climbs from the pit
will be caught in the snare.
For I will bring upon Moab
the year of their punishment,”
declares the LORD.
“Those who flee will stand helpless in Heshbon’s shadow, Num 24:17Num 21:28Amo 2:2Mat 21:42Num 21:21Num 21:26Zec 10:4
because fire has gone forth from Heshbon
and a flame from within Sihon.
It devours the foreheads of Moab
and the skulls of the sons of tumult.
Woe to you, O Moab! Num 21:291Ki 11:7Jdg 11:24Jer 48:13Jer 48:72Ki 23:13
The people of Chemosh have perished;
for your sons have been taken into exile
and your daughters have gone into captivity.
Yet in the latter days I will restore Moab from captivity, 10” Jer 49:39Jer 49:6Dan 10:14Dan 2:28Deu 31:29Deu 4:30Ezk 16:53-55Hos 3:5
declares the LORD.
Here ends the judgment on Moab.