14 How do ye say, We 'are' mighty, And men of strength for battle? 15 Spoiled is Moab, and her cities hath one gone up, And the choice of its young men Have gone down to slaughter, An affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts 'is' His name. 16 Near is the calamity of Moab to come, And his affliction hath hasted exceedingly. 17 Bemoan for him, all ye round about him, And all knowing his name, say ye: How hath it been broken, the staff of strength, The rod of beauty. 18 Come down from honour, sit in thirst, O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon, For a spoiler of Moab hath come up to thee, He hath destroyed thy fenced places. 19 On the way stand, and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer, Ask the fugitive and escaped, Say, What hath happened? 20 Put to shame hath been Moab, For it hath been broken down, Howl and cry, declare ye in Arnon, For spoiled is Moab, 21 And judgment hath come in unto the land of the plain—unto Holon, And unto Jahazah, and on Mephaath, 22 And on Dibon, and on Nebo, And on Beth-Diblathaim, and on Kirathaim, 23 And on Beth-Gamul, and on Beth-Meon, 24 And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, And on all cities of the land of Moab, The far off and the near. 25 Cut down hath been the horn of Moab, And his arm hath been broken, An affirmation of Jehovah. 26 Declare ye him drunk, For against Jehovah he made himself great And Moab hath stricken in his vomit, And he hath been for a derision—even he. 27 And was not Israel the derision to thee? Among thieves was he found? For since thy words concerning him, Thou dost bemoan thyself. 28 Forsake cities, and dwell in a rock, Ye inhabitants of Moab, And be as a dove making a nest in the passages of a pit's mouth. 29 We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, Exceeding proud! His haughtiness, and his arrogance, And his pride, and the height of his heart, 30 I—I have known, an affirmation of Jehovah, His wrath, and 'it is' not right, His devices—not right they have done. 31 Therefore for Moab I howl, even for Moab—all of it, I cry for men of Kir-Heres, it doth mourn, 32 With the weeping of Jazer, I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah, Thy branches have passed over a sea, Unto the sea of Jazer they have come, On thy summer fruits, and on thy harvest, A spoiler hath fallen. 33 And removed hath been joy and gladness From the fruitful field, Even from the land of Moab, And wine from wine-presses I have caused to cease, Shouting doth not proceed, The shouting 'is' no shouting! 34 Because of the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh, Unto Jahaz they have given their voice, From Zoar unto Horonaim, A heifer of the third 'year', For even waters of Nimrim become desolations. 35 And I have caused to cease to Moab, An affirmation of Jehovah, Him who is offering in a high place, And him who is making perfume to his god. 36 Therefore my heart for Moab as pipes doth sound, And my heart for men of Kir-Heres As pipes doth sound, Therefore the abundance he made did perish. 37 For every head 'is' bald, and every beard diminished, On all hands cuttings, and on the loins—sackcloth. 38 On all roofs of Moab, and in her broad-places, All of it—'is' lamentation, For I have broken Moab as a vessel in which there is no pleasure, An affirmation of Jehovah. 39 How hath it been broken down! they have howled, How hath Moab turned the neck ashamed, And Moab hath been for a derision. And for a terror to all round about her. 40 For thus said Jehovah: Lo, as an eagle he doth flee, And hath spread his wings unto Moab. 41 Captured have been the cities, And the strongholds are caught, And the heart of the mighty of Moab Hath been in that day as the heart of a distressed woman. 42 And Moab hath been destroyed from 'being' a people, For against Jehovah he exerted himself. 43 Fear, and a snare, and a gin, 'are' for thee, O inhabitant of Moab—an affirmation of Jehovah, 44 Whoso is fleeing because of the fear falleth into the snare, And whoso is coming up from the snare is captured by the gin, For I bring in unto her—unto Moab—The year of their inspection, An affirmation of Jehovah. 45 In the shadow of Heshbon stood powerless have fugitives, For fire hath gone forth from Heshbon, And a flame from within Sihon, And it consumeth the corner of Moab, And the crown of the sons of Shaon. 46 Wo to thee, O Moab, Perished hath the people of Chemosh, For thy sons were taken with the captives, And thy daughters with the captivity. 47 And I have turned back 'to' the captivity of Moab, In the latter end of the days, An affirmation of Jehovah! Hitherto 'is' the judgment of Moab.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 48:14-47

Commentary on Jeremiah 48:14-47

(Read Jeremiah 48:14-47)

The destruction of Moab is further prophesied, to awaken them by national repentance and reformation to prevent the trouble, or by a personal repentance and reformation to prepare for it. In reading this long roll of threatenings, and mediating on the terror, it will be of more use to us to keep in view the power of God's anger and the terror of his judgments, and to have our hearts possessed with a holy awe of God and of his wrath, than to search into all the figures and expressions here used. Yet it is not perpetual destruction. The chapter ends with a promise of their return out of captivity in the latter days. Even with Moabites God will not contend for ever, nor be always wroth. The Jews refer it to the days of the Messiah; then the captives of the Gentiles, under the yoke of sin and Satan, shall be brought back by Divine grace, which shall make them free indeed.