People will no longer praise Moab. The people in Heshbon will plan Moab’s destruction. “Let’s destroy that nation!” You will be silenced, city of Madmen. Death will come after you.
This is the divine revelation about Moab. In a single night Ar in Moab is laid waste and destroyed! In a single night Kir in Moab is laid waste and destroyed!
My heart cries out for Moab. Its people flee as far as Zoar at Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the mountain road to Luhith. They cry loudly over the destruction on the way to Horonaim.
But now the Lord says, “Moab’s honor will be despised within three years. I will count them like workers count the years left of their contracts. In spite of their great number, the survivors will be very few and powerless.”
This is what the Lord God of Israel said to me: Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my fury, and make all the nations to whom I’m sending you drink from it.
“Haven’t you noticed what these people have said? They have said that the Lord has rejected the two families he has chosen. They despise my people, and they no longer consider them a nation.
Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,” declares the Lord. “I am with you. I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will correct you with justice. I won’t let you go entirely unpunished.”
“Those who flee will stand exhausted in the shadow of Heshbon. A fire will come out of Heshbon and a flame from Sihon. It will burn the foreheads of the people of Moab and the skulls of those noisy people.
Cry loudly, Heshbon, because Ai is destroyed. Cry, people of Rabbah, put on your sackcloth, and mourn. Run back and forth between the walls. Milcom will be taken away into captivity with its priests and officials.
I’ll defeat the people of Elam in the presence of their enemies, in the presence of those who want to kill them. I’ll bring disaster with my burning anger, declares the Lord. I’ll send armies after them until I put an end to them.