Bible Reading Plan – Day 211

₁Before the king of Egypt attacked Gaza, the LORD spoke to me about Philistia. ₂He said:

₁This is what the LORD Almighty said about Moab:

₁₀(Curse those who do not do the LORD's work with all their heart! Curse those who do not slash and kill!)

₁₁The LORD said, “Moab has always lived secure and has never been taken into exile. Moab is like wine left to settle undisturbed and never poured from jar to jar. Its flavour has never been ruined, and it tastes as good as ever.

₁₂“So now, the time is coming when I will send people to pour Moab out like wine. They will empty its wine jars and break them in pieces. ₁₃Then the Moabites will be disillusioned with their god Chemosh, just as the Israelites were disillusioned with Bethel, a god in whom they trusted.

₂₁“Judgement has come on the cities of the plateau: on Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, ₂₂Dibon, Nebo, Beth Diblathaim, ₂₃Kiriathaim, Bethgamul, Bethmeon, ₂₄Kerioth, and Bozrah. Judgement has come on all the cities of Moab, far and near. ₂₅Moab's might has been crushed; its power has been destroyed. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

₂₆The LORD said, “Make Moab drunk, because it has rebelled against me. Moab will roll in its own vomit, and people will laugh. ₂₇Moab, remember how you jeered at the people of Israel? You treated them as though they had been caught with a gang of robbers.

₂₈“You people who live in Moab, leave your towns! Go and live on the cliffs! Be like the dove that makes its nest in the sides of a ravine. ₂₉Moab is very proud! I have heard how proud, arrogant, and conceited the people are, how much they think of themselves. ₃₀I, the LORD, know of their arrogance. Their boasts amount to nothing, and the things they do will not last. ₃₁And so I will weep for everyone in Moab and for the people of Kir Heres. ₃₂I will cry for the people of Sibmah, even more than for the people of Jazer. City of Sibmah, you are like a vine whose branches reach across the Dead Sea and go as far as Jazer. But now your summer fruits and your grapes have been destroyed. ₃₃Happiness and joy have been taken away from the fertile land of Moab. I have made the wine stop flowing from the winepresses; there is no one to make the wine and shout for joy.

₃₄“The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, and their cry can be heard as far as Jahaz; it can be heard by the people in Zoar, and it is heard as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. Even the brook of Nimrim has dried up. ₃₅I will stop the people of Moab from making burnt offerings at their places of worship and from offering sacrifices to their gods. I, the LORD, have spoken.

₃₆“So my heart mourns for Moab and for the people of Kir Heres, like someone playing a funeral song on a flute, because everything they owned is gone. ₃₇All of them have shaved their heads and cut off their beards. They have all made gashes on their hands, and everyone is wearing sackcloth. ₃₈On all the housetops of Moab and in all its public squares there is nothing but mourning, because I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants. ₃₉Moab has been shattered! Cry out! Moab has been disgraced. It is in ruins, and all the surrounding nations jeer at it. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

₄₀The LORD has promised that a nation will swoop down on Moab like an eagle with its outspread wings, ₄₁and the towns and fortresses will be captured. On that day Moab's soldiers will be as frightened as a woman in labour. ₄₂Moab will be destroyed and will no longer be a nation, because it rebelled against me. ₄₃Terror, pits, and traps are waiting for the people of Moab. The LORD has spoken. ₄₄Whoever tries to escape the terror will fall into the pits, and whoever climbs out of the pits will be caught in the traps, because the LORD has set the time for Moab's destruction. ₄₅Helpless refugees try to find protection in Heshbon, the city that King Sihon once ruled, but it is in flames. Fire has burnt up the frontiers and the mountain heights of the war-loving people of Moab. ₄₆Pity the people of Moab! The people who worshipped Chemosh have been destroyed, and their sons and daughters have been taken away as prisoners.

₄₇But in days to come the LORD will make Moab prosperous again. All of this is what the LORD has said will happen to Moab.

₁This is what the LORD said about Ammon: “Where are the men of Israel? Is there no one to defend their land? Why have they let the people who worship Molech take the territory of the tribe of Gad and settle there? ₂But the time is coming when I will make the people of the capital city of Rabbah hear the noise of battle, and it will be left in ruins and its villages burnt to the ground. Then Israel will take its land back from those who took it from them. ₃People of Heshbon, cry out! Ai is destroyed! Women of Rabbah, go into mourning! Put on sackcloth and mourn. Run about in confusion. Your god Molech will be taken into exile, together with his priests and princes. ₄Why do you unfaithful people boast? Your strength is failing. Why do you trust in your power and say that no one would dare attack you? ₅I will bring terror on you from every side. You will all run away. Each one will run for his life, and there will be no one to bring your troops together again.

₆“But later on I will make Ammon prosperous again. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

₇This is what the LORD Almighty said about Edom: “Have the people of Edom lost their good judgement? Can their advisers no longer tell them what to do? Has all their wisdom disappeared? ₈People of Dedan, turn and run! Hide! I am going to destroy Esau's descendants, because the time has come for me to punish them. ₉When people pick grapes, they leave a few on the vines, and when robbers come at night, they take only what they want. ₁₀But I have stripped Esau's descendants completely and uncovered their hiding places, so that they can no longer hide. All the people of Edom are destroyed. Not one of them is left. ₁₁Leave your orphans with me, and I will take care of them. Your widows can depend on me.

₁₂“If even those who did not deserve to be punished had to drink from the cup of punishment, do you think that you will go unpunished? No, you must drink from the cup! ₁₃I myself have sworn that the city of Bozrah will become a horrifying sight and a desert; people will jeer at it and use its name as a curse. All the nearby villages will be in ruins for ever. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

₁₄I said, “Edom, I have received a message from the LORD. He has sent a messenger to tell the nations to assemble their armies and to get ready to attack you. ₁₅The LORD is going to make you weak, and no one will respect you. ₁₆Your pride has deceived you. No one fears you as much as you think they do. You live on the rocky cliffs, high on top of the mountain; but even though you live as high up as an eagle, the LORD will bring you down. The LORD has spoken.”

₁₇The LORD said, “The destruction that will come on Edom will be so terrible that everyone who passes by will be shocked and terrified. ₁₈The same thing will happen to Edom as happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, when they and the nearby towns were destroyed. No one will ever live there again. I, the LORD, have spoken. ₁₉Like a lion coming out of the thick woods along the Jordan up to the green pasture land, I will come and make the Edomites run away suddenly from their country. Then the leader I choose will rule the nation. Who can be compared to me? Who would dare challenge me? What ruler could oppose me? ₂₀So listen to the plan that I have made against the people of Edom, and to what I intend to do to the people of the city of Teman. Even their children will be dragged off, and everyone will be horrified. ₂₁When Edom falls, there will be such a noise that the entire earth will shake, and the cries of alarm will be heard as far away as the Gulf of Aqaba. ₂₂The enemy will attack Bozrah like an eagle swooping down with outspread wings. On that day Edom's soldiers will be as frightened as a woman in labour.”