48:36 So my heart moans for Moab
like a flute playing a funeral song.
Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song,
my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres.
For the wealth they have gained will perish.
48:37 For all of them will shave their heads in mourning.
They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow.
They will all make gashes in their hands.
They will all put on sackcloth.
48:38 On all the housetops in Moab
and in all its public squares
there will be nothing but mourning.
For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar.
I, the Lord, affirm it!
48:39 Oh, how shattered Moab will be!
Oh, how her people will wail!
Oh, how she will turn away
Moab will become an object of ridicule,
a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her.”
48:40 For the Lord says,
“Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings
a nation will swoop down on Moab.
48:41 Her towns
Her fortresses will be taken.
At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightened
like a woman in labor.
48:42 Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation,
because she has vaunted herself against the Lord.
48:43 Terror, pits, and traps
for the people who live in Moab.
I, the Lord, affirm it!
48:44 Anyone who flees at the sound of terror
will fall into a pit.
Anyone who climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a trap.
For the time is coming
when I will punish the people of Moab.
I, the Lord, affirm it!
48:45 In the shadows of the walls of Heshbon
those trying to escape will stand helpless.
For a fire will burst forth from Heshbon.
Flames will shoot out from the former territory of Sihon.
They will burn the foreheads of the people of Moab,
the skulls of those war-loving people.
48:46 Moab, you are doomed!
You people who worship Chemosh will be destroyed.
Your sons will be taken away captive.
Your daughters will be carried away into exile.
48:47 Yet in days to come
I will reverse Moab’s ill fortune.”
says the Lord.
The judgment against Moab ends here.