1. This is what the Lord Almighty said about Moab:“Pity the people of Nebo —their town is destroyed!Kiriathaim is captured,its mighty fortress torn down,and its people put to shame;
2. the splendour of Moab is gone.The enemy have captured Heshbonand plot to destroy the nation of Moab.The town of Madmen will be silenced;armies will march against it.
3. The people of Horonaim cry out,‘Violence! Destruction!’
4. “Moab has been destroyed;listen to the children crying.
5. Hear the sound of their sobsalong the road up to Luhith,the cries of distresson the way down to Horonaim.
6. ‘Quick, run for your lives!’ they say.‘Run like a wild desert donkey!’
7. “Moab, you trusted in your strength and your wealth,but now even you will be conquered;your god Chemosh will go into exile,along with his princes and priests.
8. Not a town will escape the destruction;both valley and plain will be ruined.I, the Lord, have spoken.
9. Set up a tombstone for Moab;it will soon be destroyed.Its towns will be left in ruins,and no one will live there again.”
10. (Curse those who do not do the Lord's work with all their heart! Curse those who do not slash and kill!)
11. The 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.
13. Then the Moabites will be disillusioned with their god Chemosh, just as the Israelites were disillusioned with Bethel, a god in whom they trusted.
14. “Men of Moab, why do you claim to be heroes,brave soldiers tested in war?
15. Moab and its cities are destroyed;its finest young men have been slaughtered.I am the king, the Lord Almighty,and I have spoken.