Because ^gAr of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone;

because ^hKir of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone.

2  He has gone up to the temple,¹ and to ⁱDibon,

to the high places² to weep;

over ^jNebo and over ⁱMedeba

Moab ^kwails.

On every head is ^lbaldness;

every beard is shorn;

3  in the streets they wear sackcloth;

on the housetops and in the squares

everyone wails and melts in tears.

4  ^mHeshbon and ^mElealeh cry out;

their voice is heard as far as ⁿJahaz;

therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;

his soul trembles.

5  My heart cries out for Moab;

her fugitives flee to Zoar,

to ⁿEglath-shelishiyah.

For at the ^oascent of Luhith

they go up weeping;

on the road to ^oHoronaim

they raise a cry of destruction;

6  the waters of ^pNimrim

are a desolation;

the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,

the greenery is no more.

7  ^qTherefore the abundance they have gained

and what they have laid up

they carry away

over the Brook of the Willows.

8  For a cry has gone

around the land of Moab;

her wailing reaches to Eglaim;

her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.

9  For the waters of ^rDibon³ are full of blood;

for I will bring upon Dibon even more,

^sa lion for those of Moab who escape,

for the remnant of the land.

1  ^tSend the lamb to the ruler of the land,

from ^uSela, by way of the desert,

to the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2  Like fleeing birds,

like a scattered nest,

so are the daughters of Moab

at ^vthe fords of the Arnon.

3  “Give counsel;

grant justice;

^wmake your shade like night

at the height of noon;

shelter the outcasts;

do not reveal the fugitive;

4  let ^xthe outcasts of Moab

sojourn among you;

be a shelter to them⁴

from the destroyer.

When the oppressor is no more,

and destruction has ceased,

and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,

5  ^ythen a throne will be established in steadfast love,

and on it will sit in faithfulness

in the tent of David

one who judges and seeks justice

and is swift to do righteousness.”

6  ^zWe have heard of the pride of Moab—

how proud he is!—

^aof his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;

in his idle boasting he is not right.

7  Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,

^blet everyone wail.

Mourn, utterly stricken,

for the ^craisin cakes of ^dKir-hareseth.

8  For the fields of Heshbon languish,

and ^ethe vine of Sibmah;

the lords of the nations

have struck down its branches,

which reached to Jazer

and strayed to the desert;

its shoots spread abroad

and passed over the sea.

9  Therefore ^fI weep with ^ethe weeping of Jazer

for the vine of Sibmah;

I drench you with my tears,

O Heshbon and Elealeh;

for over ^gyour summer fruit and your harvest

the shout has ceased.

10  ^hAnd joy and gladness are taken away from ⁱthe fruitful field,

and in the vineyards no ^jsongs are sung,

no cheers are raised;

no ^ktreader treads out wine ^lin the presses;

I have put an end to the shouting.

11  Therefore ^mmy inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,

and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.

Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city

and will become a heap of ruins.

2  The cities of ^uAroer are deserted;

they will be for flocks,

which will lie down, and ^vnone will make them afraid.

3  The fortress will disappear from ^wEphraim,

and the kingdom from ^wDamascus;

and the remnant of Syria will be

like ^xthe glory of the children of Israel,

declares the Lord of hosts.

4  And in that day ^xthe glory of Jacob will be brought low,

and ^ythe fat of his flesh will grow lean.

5  And it shall be ^zas when the reaper gathers standing grain

and his arm harvests the ears,

and as when one gleans the ears of grain

in ^athe Valley of Rephaim.

6  ^bGleanings will be left in it,

as when an olive tree is beaten—

two or three berries

in the top of the highest bough,

four or five

on the branches of a fruit tree,

declares the Lord God of Israel.

10  For ^gyou have forgotten the God of your salvation

and have not remembered the ^hRock of your refuge;

therefore, though you plant pleasant plants

and sow the vine-branch of a stranger,

11  though you make them grow⁵ on the day that you plant them,

and make them blossom in the morning that you sow,

yet the harvest will flee away⁶

in a day of grief and incurable pain.

12  Ah, ⁱthe thunder of many peoples;

they thunder like the thundering of the sea!

Ah, the roar of nations;

they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!

13  ^jThe nations roar like the roaring of many waters,

^kbut he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,

chased ^llike chaff on the mountains before the wind

and ^mwhirling dust before the storm.

14  ⁿAt evening time, behold, terror!

Before morning, they are no more!

This is the portion of those who loot us,

and the lot of those who plunder us.