^w“Whom are you like in your greatness?

3  Behold, ^xAssyria was a ^ycedar in ^zLebanon,

with beautiful branches and ^aforest shade,

^band of towering height,

its top among the clouds.¹

4  The waters nourished it;

the deep made it grow tall,

making ^cits rivers flow

around the place of its planting,

sending forth its streams

to all the trees of the field.

5  So ^dit towered high

above all the trees of the field;

its boughs grew large

and its branches long

from ^eabundant water in its shoots.

6  ^fAll the birds of the heavens

made their nests in its boughs;

under its branches all the beasts of the field

gave birth to their young,

and under its shadow

lived all great nations.

7  It was ^gbeautiful in its greatness,

in the length of its branches;

^efor its roots went down

to abundant waters.

8  ^hThe cedars ⁱin the garden of God could not rival it,

nor the fir trees equal its boughs;

neither were the plane trees

like its branches;

no tree ⁱin the garden of God

was its equal in beauty.

9  I made it beautiful

in the mass of its branches,

and all the trees of ^jEden envied it,

that were in the garden of God.

“Woe to ^yNebo, for it is laid waste!

^zKiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;

the fortress is put to shame ^aand broken down;

2  the renown of Moab is no more.

In ^bHeshbon they planned disaster against her:

‘Come, let us cut her off ^cfrom being a nation!’

You also, O ^dMadmen, shall be brought to silence;

the sword shall pursue you.

3  “A voice! A cry from ^eHoronaim,

‘Desolation and great destruction!’

4  Moab is destroyed;

her little ones have made a cry.

5  ^eFor at the ascent of Luhith

they go up weeping;¹

for ^eat the descent of Horonaim

they have heard the distressed cry² of destruction.

6  Flee! Save yourselves!

You will be like ^fa juniper in the desert!

7  For, ^gbecause you trusted in your works and your treasures,

you also shall be taken;

and ^hChemosh ⁱshall go into exile

with ^jhis priests and his officials.

8  ^kThe destroyer shall come upon every city,

and no city shall escape;

the valley shall perish,

and ^lthe plain shall be destroyed,

as the Lord has spoken.

9  “Give wings to Moab,

for she would fly away;

her cities shall become a desolation,

with no inhabitant in them.

11  “Moab has been at ease from his youth

and has ^osettled on his dregs;

he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,

nor has he gone into exile;

so his taste remains in him,

and his scent is not changed.

14  “How do you say, ‘We are heroes

and mighty men of war’?

15  The destroyer of ^sMoab and his cities has come up,

and the choicest of his young men have ^tgone down to slaughter,

declares ^uthe King, ^uwhose name is the Lord of hosts.

16  The calamity of Moab is near at hand,

and his affliction hastens swiftly.

17  ^vGrieve for him, all you who are around him,

and all who know his name;

say, ^w‘How the mighty scepter is broken,

the glorious staff.’

18  ^x“Come down from your glory,

and sit on the parched ground,

O inhabitant of ^yDibon!

For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;

he has destroyed your strongholds.

19  ^zStand by the way ^zand watch,

O inhabitant of ^aAroer!

Ask him who flees and her who escapes;

say, ‘What has happened?’

20  Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;

^vwail and cry!

Tell it beside ^bthe Arnon,

that ^sMoab is laid waste.

28  ^r“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,

O inhabitants of Moab!

Be ^slike the dove that nests

in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.

29  ^tWe have heard of the pride of Moab—

he is very proud—

of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,

and the haughtiness of his heart.

30  I know his insolence, declares the Lord;

^uhis boasts are false,

his deeds are false.

31  ^vTherefore I wail for Moab;

I cry out for all Moab;

for the men of ^wKir-hareseth I mourn.

32  More than for ^xJazer I weep for you,

^yO vine of ^zSibmah!

^aYour branches passed over the sea,

reached to the Sea of ^xJazer;

on your summer fruits and your grapes

the destroyer has fallen.

33  ^bGladness and joy have been taken away

from the fruitful land of Moab;

I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;

no one treads them with shouts of joy;

the shouting is not the shout of joy.

40  For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, ⁿone shall fly swiftly like an eagle

^oand spread his wings against Moab;

41  ^pthe cities shall be taken

and the strongholds seized.

^qThe heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day

like the heart of ^ra woman in her birth pains;

42  Moab shall be ^sdestroyed and be no longer a people,

because ^the magnified himself against the Lord.

43  ^uTerror, pit, and snare

are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!

declares the Lord.

44  He who flees from the terror

shall fall into the pit,

and he who climbs out of the pit

shall be caught in the snare.

^vFor I will bring these things upon Moab,

the year of their punishment,

declares the Lord.

45  “In the shadow of Heshbon

fugitives stop without strength,

for fire came out from Heshbon,

flame from the house of Sihon;

it has destroyed ^wthe forehead of Moab,

the crown of ^wthe sons of tumult.

46  ^xWoe to you, O Moab!

The people of ^yChemosh are undone,

for your sons have been taken captive,

and your daughters into captivity.

47  ^zYet I will restore the fortunes of Moab

in the latter days, declares the Lord.”

Thus far is the judgment on Moab.

“Has Israel no sons?

Has he no heir?

Why then has ^bMilcom^{4 c}dispossessed Gad,

and his people settled in its cities?

2  Therefore, behold, the days are coming,

declares the Lord,

when I will cause ^dthe battle cry to be heard

against ^eRabbah of the Ammonites;

it shall become a desolate ^fmound,

and its villages shall be burned with fire;

then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,

says the Lord.

3  “Wail, O ^gHeshbon, for Ai is laid waste!

Cry out, O daughters of ^eRabbah!

^hPut on sackcloth,

lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!

For ⁱMilcom shall go into exile,

^jwith his priests and his officials.

4  Why do you boast of your valleys,⁵

^kO faithless daughter,

^lwho trusted in her treasures, saying,

‘Who will come against me?’

5  Behold, ^mI will bring terror upon you,

declares the Lord God of hosts,

from all who are around you,

and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,

with none to gather the fugitives.

^p“Is wisdom no more in ^pTeman?

^qHas counsel perished from the prudent?

^qHas their wisdom vanished?

8  ^rFlee, turn back, dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of ^sDedan!

For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,

^tthe time when I punish him.

9  ^uIf grape gatherers came to you,

would they not leave ^vgleanings?

^uIf thieves came by night,

would they not destroy only enough for themselves?

10  ^wBut I have stripped Esau bare;

^uI have uncovered his hiding places,

and he is not able to conceal himself.

His children are destroyed, and his brothers,

and his neighbors; and ^xhe is no more.

11  ^yLeave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;

^yand let your widows trust in me.”

14  ^eI have heard a message from the Lord,

and an envoy has been sent among the nations:

^f“Gather yourselves together and come against her,

and rise up for battle!

15  For behold, I will make you small among the nations,

despised among mankind.

16  The horror you inspire has deceived you,

and the pride of your heart,

you who live in the clefts of the rock,⁶

who hold the height of the hill.

Though you ^gmake your nest as high as the eagle’s,

I will bring you down from there,

declares the Lord.

^a“Hamath and ^bArpad are confounded,

for they have heard bad news;

they melt in fear,

^cthey are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.

24  ^zDamascus has become feeble, ^dshe turned to flee,

and panic seized her;

anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,

as ^yof a woman in labor.

25  How is ^ethe famous city not forsaken,

the city of my joy?

26  ^fTherefore her young men shall fall in her squares,

and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,

declares the Lord of hosts.

27  And ^gI will kindle a fire in the wall of ^zDamascus,

and it shall devour the strongholds of ^hBen-hadad.”

Thus says the Lord:

^j“Rise up, advance against ⁱKedar!

Destroy ^kthe people of the east!

29  ^lTheir tents and their flocks shall be taken,

their ^lcurtains and all their goods;

their camels shall be led away from them,

and men shall cry to them: ^m‘Terror on every side!’

30  ⁿFlee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Hazor!

declares the Lord.

For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon

has made a plan against you

and formed a purpose against you.

31  ^j“Rise up, advance against a nation ^oat ease,

^pthat dwells securely,

declares the Lord,

^pthat has no gates or bars,

that dwells alone.

32  ^qTheir camels shall become plunder,

their herds of livestock a spoil.

^rI will scatter to every wind

^sthose who cut the corners of their hair,

and I will bring their calamity

from every side of them,

declares the Lord.

33  Hazor shall become ^ta haunt of jackals,

an everlasting waste;

^uno man shall dwell there;

^uno man shall sojourn in her.”