14 How do ye say, We are mighty, and men of valour for the war? 15 Moab is laid waste, and his cities are gone up [in smoke], and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts. 16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. 17 All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod! 18 Come down from [thy] glory and sit in the drought, O inhabitress, daughter of Dibon; the spoiler of Moab is come up against thee, thy strongholds hath he destroyed. 19 Stand by the way, and watch, inhabitress of Aroer; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth; say, What is done? 20 Moab is put to shame; for he is broken down: howl and cry; tell it in Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. 21 And judgment is come upon the country of the plateau; upon Holon, and upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath; 22 and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim; 23 and upon Kirjathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon; 24 and upon Kerijoth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith Jehovah. 26 Make him drunken, for he magnified himself against Jehovah; and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. 27 For was not Israel a derision unto thee? Was he found among thieves, that as oft as thou didst speak of him, thou didst shake the head? 28 Leave the cities, and dwell in the rocks, ye inhabitants of Moab, and be like the dove, that maketh her nest in the sides of the cave's mouth. 29 We have heard of the arrogance of Moab,—[he is] very proud;—his loftiness, and his arrogance, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. 30 I know his wrath, saith Jehovah; his pratings are vain: they do not as [they say]. 31 Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab: for the men of Kir-heres shall there be moaning. 32 O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with more than the weeping of Jaazer: thy shoots passed over the sea, they reached to the sea of Jaazer. The spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. 33 And joy and gladness is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: they shall no more tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting. 34 Because of the cry from Heshbon, unto Elaleh, unto Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar unto Horonaim, [unto] Eglath-shelishijah: for even the waters of Nimrim shall become desolations. 35 And I will cause to cease in Moab, saith Jehovah, him that offereth in the high place, and him that burneth incense to his gods. 36 Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres; because the abundance that he hath gotten is perished. 37 For every head is bald, and every beard clipped; upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. 38 It is wholly lamentation upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the public places thereof; for I have broken Moab, like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith Jehovah. 39 They howl, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! And Moab shall be a derision and a terror to all that are round about him. 40 For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread forth his wings over Moab. 41 Kerijoth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and at that day the heart of the mighty men of Moab shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. 42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against Jehovah. 43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith Jehovah. 44 He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon her, upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith Jehovah. 45 They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon powerless; for a fire hath come forth from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and hath consumed the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult. 46 Woe to thee, Moab! The people of Chemosh is undone; for thy sons are taken away in captivity, and thy daughters are captives. 47 But I will turn the captivity of Moab at the end of the days, saith Jehovah. Thus far is the judgement 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.