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Jeremiah 48:1-47

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Jeremiah 48:1 is part of this passage.
1Of Moab. The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo! For it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is disappointed. It is taken. Misgab is put to shame and broken down. 2The praise of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her: ‘Come! Let’s cut her off from being a nation.’ You also, Madmen, will be brought to silence. The sword will pursue you. 3The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction! 4Moab is destroyed. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. 5For they will go up by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping. For at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction. 6Flee! Save your lives! Be like the juniper bush in the wilderness. 7For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also will be taken. Chemosh will go out into captivity, his priests and his princes together. 8The destroyer will come on every city, and no city will escape; the valley also will perish, and the plain will be destroyed, as the LORD has spoken. 9Give wings to Moab, that she may fly and get herself away: and her cities will become a desolation, without anyone to dwell in them. 10“Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD negligently; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood. 11“Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity; therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed. 12Therefore behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will send to him those who pour off, and they will pour him off; and they will empty his vessels, and break their containers in pieces. 13Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. 14“How do you say, ‘We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war’? 15Moab is laid waste, and they have gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies. 16“The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast. 17All you who are around him, bemoan him; and all you who know his name, say, ‘How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!’ 18“You daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you. He has destroyed your strongholds. 19Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch. Ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, ‘What has been done?’ 20Moab is disappointed; for it is broken down. Wail and cry! Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. 21Judgment has come on the plain country— on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mephaath, 22on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim, 23on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon, 24on Kerioth, on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. 25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken,” says the LORD. 26“Make him drunk, for he magnified himself against the LORD. Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will be in derision. 27For wasn’t Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For as often as you speak of him, you shake your head. 28You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock. Be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss. 29“We have heard of the pride of Moab. He is very proud in his loftiness, his pride, his arrogance, and the arrogance of his heart. 30I know his wrath,” says the LORD, “that it is nothing; his boastings have done nothing. 31Therefore I will wail for Moab. Yes, I will cry out for all Moab. They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres. 32With more than the weeping of Jazer I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah. Your branches passed over the sea. They reached even to the sea of Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruits and on your vintage. 33Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab. I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses. No one will tread with shouting. The shouting will be no shouting. 34From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for the waters of Nimrim will also become desolate. 35Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,” says the LORD, “him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods. 36Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like flutes, and my heart sounds like flutes for the men of Kir Heres. Therefore the abundance that he has gotten has perished. 37For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. There are cuttings on all the hands, and sackcloth on the waist. 38On all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets, there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no one delights,” says the LORD. 39“How it is broken down! How they wail! How Moab has turned the back with shame! So will Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are around him.” 40For the LORD says: “Behold, he will fly as an eagle, and will spread out his wings against Moab. 41Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized. The heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. 42Moab will be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against the LORD. 43Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you, inhabitant of Moab,” says the LORD. 44“He who flees from the terror will fall into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit will be taken in the snare, for I will bring on him, even on Moab, the year of their visitation,” says the LORD. 45“Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, and a flame from the middle of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. 46Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity. 47“Yet I will reverse the captivity of Moab in the latter days,” says the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

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Summary

This passage presents Moab's pride and eventual restoration and shows how the LORD addresses Judah, the nations, and the hope of restoration.

Interpretation

In Jeremiah 48:1-47, Jeremiah develops Moab's pride and eventual restoration. The unit's images and movement—especially armies, waste, kiriathaim—belong to a sustained prophetic argument rather than detached religious sayings. Jeremiah speaks while Judah moves from reform and warning toward Babylonian siege, exile, and the possibility of restoration. The passage asks readers to see public events, private loyalties, and national identity under the searching word of the LORD.

Its historical force is important: Moab's strongholds, wealth, and Chemosh are humbled, yet the oracle's closing promise leaves room for a future turning of Moab's fortunes. The prophet's warnings are not predictions detached from conduct. Idolatry, exploitation, deceit, and refusal to listen make judgment morally intelligible, while God's promises preserve a future for a chastened people. Jeremiah repeatedly challenges both despair and presumption: catastrophe is neither proof that God has lost control nor permission to call rebellion peace.

Theologically, this passage holds together divine sovereignty and human responsibility. The LORD judges nations and rulers, yet repeatedly calls people to return, hear, act justly, and trust him. Covenant faith is more than ritual language or inherited belonging; it is a life shaped by mercy, truth, humility, and care for the vulnerable. Even severe oracles can serve the gracious purpose of exposing false refuges so that genuine repentance becomes possible.

Within the book's larger movement, judgment is not the last category. Jeremiah's tears, prayers, symbolic actions, and promises show a God who remains faithful through displacement and discipline. Christian readers can hear the passage alongside the wider biblical witness to Christ, the new covenant, forgiveness, and the gathering of the nations, while respecting Jeremiah's own address to Judah and the historical reality of Israel's exile. Later hope should deepen, not erase, the original setting.

For readers today, Moab's pride and eventual restoration invites honest discernment. Name the substitute security, injustice, fear, or false message that the passage exposes, and do not confuse religious appearance with obedience. Receive warning without fatalism and promise without presumption. Practice truth, mercy, patient prayer, and solidarity with those harmed by powerful systems. Jeremiah forms a people who can lament what is broken while still expecting the LORD to judge rightly, preserve a remnant, and make faithfulness possible.

Context

Jeremiah 48 belongs to the book's treatment of Moab's pride and eventual restoration.

Moab's strongholds, wealth, and Chemosh are humbled, yet the oracle's closing promise leaves room for a future turning of Moab's fortunes.

The WEB wording is retained; prophetic poetry, narrative, and symbolic action should be read within Jeremiah's movement from covenant lawsuit through exile toward restoration.

Audience

Readers seeking faithful hope, honest repentance, justice, and confidence in the LORD amid judgment, exile, and restoration.

Themes

  • pride
  • nations
  • idolatry
  • judgment
  • restoration

Keywords

pride · nations · idolatry · judgment · restoration · armies · waste · kiriathaim · disappointed