15This message came to me concerning Moab. In one night the town of Ar will be leveled, and the city of Kir will be destroyed.H4853H4124H3915H6144H4124H7703H1820H3915H7024H4124H7703H1820 2Your people will go to their temple in Dibon to mourn. They will go to their sacred shrines to weep. They will wail for the fate of Nebo and Medeba, shaving their heads in sorrow and cutting off their beards.H5927H1006H1769H1116H1065H4124H3213H5015H4311H7218H7144H2206H1438 3They will wear burlap as they wander the streets. From every home and public square will come the sound of wailing.H2351H2296H8242H1406H7339H3213H1065H3381 4The people of Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out; their voices will be heard as far away as Jahaz! The bravest warriors of Moab will cry out in utter terror. They will be helpless with fear.H2809H2199H500H6963H8085H3096H2502H4124H7321H5315H3415 5My heart weeps for Moab. Its people flee to Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah. Weeping, they climb the road to Luhith. Their cries of distress can be heard all along the road to Horonaim.H3820H2199H4124H1280H6820H5697H7992H4608H3872H1065H5927H1870H2773H5782H2201H7667 6Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up! The grassy banks are scorched. The tender plants are gone; nothing green remains.H4325H5249H4923H2682H3001H1877H3615H3418 7The people grab their possessions and carry them across the Ravine of Willows.H3502H6213H6486H5375H5158H6155 8A cry of distress echoes through the land of Moab from one end to the other—from Eglaim to Beer-elim.H2201H5362H1366H4124H3215H97H3215H879 9The stream near Dibon runs red with blood, but I am still not finished with Dibon! Lions will hunt down the survivors—both those who try to escape and those who remain behind.H4325H1775H4390H1818H7896H3254H1775H738H6413H4124H7611H127
16Send lambs from Sela as tribute to the ruler of the land. Send them through the desert to the mountain of beautiful Zion.H7971H3733H4910H776H5554H4057H2022H1323H67262The women of Moab are left like homeless birds at the shallow crossings of the Arnon River.H5074H5775H7971H7064H1323H4124H4569H7693“Help us,” they cry. “Defend us against our enemies. Protect us from their relentless attack. Do not betray us now that we have escaped.H935H6098H6213H6415H7896H6738H3915H8432H6672H5641H5080H1540H50744Let our refugees stay among you. Hide them from our enemies until the terror is past.” When oppression and destruction have ended and enemy raiders have disappeared,H5080H1481H4124H1933H5643H6440H7703H4160H656H7701H3615H7429H8552H7765then God will establish one of David’s descendants as king. He will rule with mercy and truth. He will always do what is just and be eager to do what is right.H2617H3678H3559H3427H571H168H1732H8199H1875H4941H4106H66646We have heard about proud Moab—about its pride and arrogance and rage. But all that boasting has disappeared.H8085H1347H4124H3966H1341H1346H1347H5678H9077The entire land of Moab weeps. Yes, everyone in Moab mourns for the cakes of raisins from Kir-hareseth. They are all gone now.H4124H3213H4124H3213H808H7025H1897H52188The farms of Heshbon are abandoned; the vineyards at Sibmah are deserted. The rulers of the nations have broken down Moab—that beautiful grapevine. Its tendrils spread north as far as the town of Jazer and trailed eastward into the wilderness. Its shoots reached so far west that they crossed over the Dead Sea.H7709H2809H535H1612H7643H1167H1471H1986H8291H5060H3270H8582H4057H7976H5203H5674H32209So now I weep for Jazer and the vineyards of Sibmah; my tears will flow for Heshbon and Elealeh. There are no more shouts of joy over your summer fruits and harvest.H1058H1065H3270H1612H7643H7301H1832H2809H500H1959H7019H7105H530710Gone now is the gladness, gone the joy of harvest. There will be no singing in the vineyards, no more happy shouts, no treading of grapes in the winepresses. I have ended all their harvest joys.H8057H622H1524H3759H3754H7442H7321H1869H1869H3196H3342H1959H767311My heart’s cry for Moab is like a lament on a harp. I am filled with anguish for Kir-hareseth.H4578H1993H3658H4124H7130H702512The people of Moab will worship at their pagan shrines, but it will do them no good. They will cry to the gods in their temples, but no one will be able to save them.H7200H4124H3811H1116H935H4720H6419H320113The Lord has already said these things about Moab in the past.H1697H3068H1696H4124H22714But now the Lord says, “Within three years, counting each day, the glory of Moab will be ended. From its great population, only a few of its people will be left alive.”H3068H1696H559H7969H8141H8141H7916H3519H4124H7034H7227H1995H7605H4592H4213H3808H3524
17This message came to me concerning Damascus: “Look, the city of Damascus will disappear! It will become a heap of ruins.H4853H1834H1834H5493H5892H4654H4596 2The towns of Aroer will be deserted. Flocks will graze in the streets and lie down undisturbed, with no one to chase them away.H5892H6177H5800H5739H7257H2729 3The fortified towns of Israel will also be destroyed, and the royal power of Damascus will end. All that remains of Syria will share the fate of Israel’s departed glory,” declares the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H4013H7673H669H4467H1834H7605H758H3519H1121H3478H5002H3068H6635 4“In that day Israel’s glory will grow dim; its robust body will waste away.H3117H3519H3290H1809H4924H1320H7329 5The whole land will look like a grainfield after the harvesters have gathered the grain. It will be desolate, like the fields in the valley of Rephaim after the harvest.H7105H622H7054H7114H7641H2220H3950H7641H6010H7497 6Only a few of its people will be left, like stray olives left on a tree after the harvest. Only two or three remain in the highest branches, four or five scattered here and there on the limbs,” declares the Lord, the God of Israel.H5955H7604H5363H2132H8147H7969H1620H7218H534H702H2568H6509H5585H5002H3068H430H3478 7Then at last the people will look to their Creator and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.H3117H120H8159H6213H5869H7200H6918H3478 8They will no longer look to their idols for help or worship what their own hands have made. They will never again bow down to their Asherah poles or worship at the pagan shrines they have built.H8159H4196H4639H3027H7200H676H6213H842H2553 9Their largest cities will be like a deserted forest, like the land the Hivites and Amorites abandoned when the Israelites came here so long ago. It will be utterly desolate.H3117H4581H5892H5800H2793H534H5800H6440H1121H3478H8077 10Why? Because you have turned from the God who can save you. You have forgotten the Rock who can hide you. So you may plant the finest grapevines and import the most expensive seedlings.H7911H430H3468H2142H6697H4581H5193H5282H5194H2232H2114H2156 11They may sprout on the day you set them out; yes, they may blossom on the very morning you plant them, but you will never pick any grapes from them. Your only harvest will be a load of grief and unrelieved pain.H3117H5194H7735H1242H2233H6524H7105H5067H3117H2470H605H3511 12Listen! The armies of many nations roar like the roaring of the sea. Hear the thunder of the mighty forces as they rush forward like thundering waves.H1945H1995H7227H5971H1993H1993H3220H7588H3816H7582H3524H4325 13But though they thunder like breakers on a beach, God will silence them, and they will run away. They will flee like chaff scattered by the wind, like a tumbleweed whirling before a storm.H3816H7582H7588H7227H4325H1605H5127H4801H7291H4671H2022H6440H7307H1534H6440H5492 14In the evening Israel waits in terror, but by dawn its enemies are dead. This is the just reward of those who plunder us, a fitting end for those who destroy us.H6256H6153H1091H1242H2506H8154H1486H962
18Listen, Ethiopia—land of fluttering sails that lies at the headwaters of the Nile,H1945H776H6767H3671H5676H5104H3568 2that sends ambassadors in swift boats down the river. Go, swift messengers! Take a message to a tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction, and whose land is divided by rivers.H7971H6735H3220H3627H1573H6440H4325H3212H7031H4397H1471H4900H4178H5971H3372H1973H1471H6978H4001H776H5104H958 3All you people of the world, everyone who lives on the earth—when I raise my battle flag on the mountain, look! When I blow the ram’s horn, listen!H3427H8398H7931H776H7200H5375H5251H2022H8628H7782H8085 4For the Lord has told me this. “I will watch quietly from my dwelling place—as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day, or as the morning dew forms during the harvest.”H3541H3068H559H8252H5027H4349H6703H2527H216H5645H2919H2527H7105 5Even before you begin your attack, while your plans are ripening like grapes, the Lord will cut off your new growth with pruning shears. He will snip off and discard your spreading branches.H6440H7105H6525H8552H1155H1580H5328H3772H2150H4211H5493H8456H5189 6Your mighty army will be left dead in the fields for the mountain vultures and wild animals. The vultures will tear at the corpses all summer. The wild animals will gnaw at the bones all winter.H5800H3162H5861H2022H929H776H5861H6972H929H776H2778 7At that time the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will receive gifts from this land divided by rivers, from this tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction. They will bring the gifts to Jerusalem, where the Lord of Heaven’s Armies dwells.H6256H7862H2986H3068H6635H5971H4900H4178H5971H3372H1973H1471H6978H4001H776H5104H958H4725H8034H3068H6635H2022H6726
19This message came to me concerning Egypt. Look! The Lord is advancing against Egypt, riding on a swift cloud. The idols of Egypt tremble. The hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.H4853H4714H3068H7392H7031H5645H935H4714H457H4714H5128H6440H3824H4714H4549H7130 2“I will make Egyptian fight against Egyptian—brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, province against province.H5526H4714H4714H3898H376H251H376H7453H5892H5892H4467H4467 3The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will confuse their plans. They will plead with their idols for wisdom and call on spirits, mediums, and those who consult the spirits of the dead.H7307H4714H1238H7130H1104H6098H1875H457H328H178H3049 4I will hand Egypt over to a hard, cruel master. A fierce king will rule them,” says the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H853H4714H5534H3027H7186H113H5794H4428H4910H5002H113H3068H6635 5The waters of the Nile will fail to rise and flood the fields. The riverbed will be parched and dry.H4325H5405H3220H5104H2717H3001 6The canals of the Nile will dry up, and the streams of Egypt will stink with rotting reeds and rushes.H2186H5104H2186H2975H4693H1809H2717H7070H5488H7060 7All the greenery along the riverbank and all the crops along the river will dry up and blow away.H6169H2975H6310H2975H4218H2975H3001H5086 8The fishermen will lament for lack of work. Those who cast hooks into the Nile will groan, and those who use nets will lose heart.H1771H578H7993H2443H2975H56H6566H4365H6440H4325H535 9There will be no flax for the harvesters, no thread for the weavers.H5647H8305H6593H707H2355H954 10They will be in despair, and all the workers will be sick at heart.H1792H8356H6213H7938H99H5315 11What fools are the officials of Zoan! Their best counsel to the king of Egypt is stupid and wrong. Will they still boast to Pharaoh of their wisdom? Will they dare brag about all their wise ancestors?H8269H6814H191H6098H2450H3289H6547H1197H559H6547H1121H2450H1121H6924H4428 12Where are your wise counselors, Pharaoh? Let them tell you what God plans, what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is going to do to Egypt.H335H645H2450H5046H3045H3068H6635H3289H4714 13The officials of Zoan are fools, and the officials of Memphis are deluded. The leaders of the people have led Egypt astray.H8269H6814H2973H8269H5297H5377H8582H4714H6438H7626 14The Lord has sent a spirit of foolishness on them, so all their suggestions are wrong. They cause Egypt to stagger like a drunk in his vomit.H3068H4537H5773H7307H7130H4714H8582H4639H7910H8582H6892 15There is nothing Egypt can do. All are helpless—the head and the tail, the noble palm branch and the lowly reed.H4639H4714H7218H2180H3712H100H6213 16In that day the Egyptians will be as weak as women. They will cower in fear beneath the upraised fist of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H3117H4714H802H2729H6342H6440H8573H3027H3068H6635H5130 17Just to speak the name of Israel will terrorize them, for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has laid out his plans against them.H127H3063H2283H4714H2142H6342H6440H6098H3068H6635H3289 18In that day five of Egypt’s cities will follow the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. They will even begin to speak Hebrew, the language of Canaan. One of these cities will be Heliopolis, the City of the Sun.H3117H2568H5892H776H4714H1696H8193H3667H7650H3068H6635H259H559H5892H2041 19In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and there will be a monument to the Lord at its border.H3117H4196H3068H8432H776H4714H4676H681H1366H3068 20It will be a sign and a witness that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is worshiped in the land of Egypt. When the people cry to the Lord for help against those who oppress them, he will send them a savior who will rescue them.H226H5707H3068H6635H776H4714H6817H3068H6440H3905H7971H3467H7227H5337 21The Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians. Yes, they will know the Lord and will give their sacrifices and offerings to him. They will make a vow to the Lord and will keep it.H3068H3045H4714H4714H3045H3068H3117H5647H2077H4503H5087H5088H3068H7999 22The Lord will strike Egypt, and then he will bring healing. For the Egyptians will turn to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas and heal them.H3068H5062H4714H5062H7495H7725H3068H6279H7495 23In that day Egypt and Assyria will be connected by a highway. The Egyptians and Assyrians will move freely between their lands, and they will both worship God.H3117H4546H4714H804H804H935H4714H4714H804H4714H5647H804 24And Israel will be their ally. The three will be together, and Israel will be a blessing to them.H3117H3478H7992H4714H804H1293H7130H776 25For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will say, “Blessed be Egypt, my people. Blessed be Assyria, the land I have made. Blessed be Israel, my special possession!”H3068H6635H1288H559H1288H4714H5971H804H4639H3027H3478H5159
Dublin, OH
runs red with blood, but I am still not finished with Dibon! Lions will hunt down the survivors—both those who try to escape and those who remain behind.H4325
