9. Oh, that Moab had wingsso she could fly away,for her towns will be left empty,with no one living in them.
10. Cursed are those who refuse to do the lord’s work,who hold back their swords from shedding blood!
11. “From his earliest history, Moab has lived in peace,never going into exile.He is like wine that has been allowed to settle.He has not been poured from flask to flask,and he is now fragrant and smooth.
12. But the time is coming soon,” says the lord,“when I will send men to pour him from his jar.They will pour him out,then shatter the jar!
13. At last Moab will be ashamed of his idol Chemosh,as the people of Israel were ashamed of their gold calf at Bethel.
14. “You used to boast, ‘We are heroes,mighty men of war.’
15. But now Moab and his towns will be destroyed.His most promising youth are doomed to slaughter,”says the King, whose name is the lord of Heaven’s Armies.
16. “Destruction is coming fast for Moab;calamity threatens ominously.