Jeremiah 48:8

48:8 The destroyer will come against every town.

Not one town will escape.

The towns in the valley will be destroyed.

The cities on the high plain will be laid waste. ¹ 

I, the Lord, have spoken! ² 

Ezekiel 25:9

25:9 So look, I am about to open up Moab’s flank, ³  eliminating the cities, ⁴  including its frontier cities, ⁵  the beauty of the land – Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim.

Zephaniah 2:9

2:9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” says the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel,

“be certain that Moab will become like Sodom

and the Ammonites like Gomorrah.

They will be overrun by weeds, ⁶ 

filled with salt pits, ⁷ 

and permanently desolate.

Those of my people who are left ⁸  will plunder their belongings; ⁹ 

those who are left in Judah ¹⁰  will take possession of their land.”

¹ tn Heb “The valley will be destroyed and the tableland be laid waste.” However, in the context this surely refers to the towns and not to the valley and the tableland itself.

² tn Heb “which/for/as the Lord has spoken.” The first person form has again been adopted because the Lord is the speaker throughout (cf. v. 1).

³ tn Heb “shoulder.”

⁴ tn Heb “from the cities.” The verb “eliminating” has been added in the translation to reflect the privative use of the preposition (see BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b).

⁵ tn Heb “from its cities, from its end.”

⁶ tn The Hebrew text reads מִמְשַׁק חָרוּל (mimshaq kharul, “[?] of weeds”). The meaning of the first word is unknown. The present translation (“They will be overrun by weeds”) is speculative, based on the general sense of the context. For a defense of “overrun” on linguistic grounds, see R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 347. Cf. NEB “a pile of weeds”; NIV “a place of weeds”; NRSV “a land possessed by nettles.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew text reads וּמִכְרֵה־מֶלַח (umikhreh-melakh, “and a [?] of salt”). The meaning of the first word is unclear, though “pit” (NASB, NIV, NRSV; NKJV “saltpit”), “mine,” and “heap” (cf. NEB “a rotting heap of saltwort”) are all options. The words “filled with” are supplied for clarification.

⁸ tn Or “The remnant of my people.”

⁹ tn Heb “them.” The actual object of the plundering, “their belongings,” has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “[the] nation.” For clarity the “nation” has been specified as “Judah” in the translation.