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¹A pronouncement concerning Moab: Ar in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night. Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night.

²Dibon went up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails on Nebo and at Medeba. Every head is shaved; every beard is chopped short.

³In its streets they wear sackcloth; on its rooftops and in its public squares everyone wails, falling down and weeping.

⁴Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz. Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out, and they tremble.

⁵My heart cries out over Moab, whose fugitives flee as far as Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah; they go up the Ascent of Luhith weeping; they raise a cry of destruction on the road to Horonaim.

⁶The Waters of Nimrim are desolate; the grass is withered, the foliage is gone, and the vegetation has vanished.

⁷So they carry their wealth and belongings over the Wadi of the Willows.

⁸For their cry echoes throughout the territory of Moab. Their wailing reaches Eglaim; their wailing reaches Beer-elim.

⁹The Waters of Dibon are full of blood, but I will bring on Dibon even more than this — a lion for those who escape from Moab, and for the survivors in the land.

¹Send lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mountain of Daughter Zion.

²Like a bird fleeing, forced from the nest, the daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon.

³Give us counsel and make a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade that is as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees.

⁴Let my refugees stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the aggressor. When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ended, and marauders have vanished from the land,

⁵a throne will be established in love, and one will sit on it faithfully in the tent of David, judging and pursuing what is right, quick to execute justice.

⁶We have heard of Moab’s pride  — how very proud he is — his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance, and his empty boasting.

⁷Therefore let Moab wail; let every one of them wail for Moab. You who are completely devastated, mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

⁸For Heshbon’s terraced vineyards and the grapevines of Sibmah have withered. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choice vines that reached as far as Jazer and spread to the desert. Their shoots spread out and reached the sea.

⁹So I join with Jazer to weep for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest.

¹⁰Joy and rejoicing have been removed from the orchard; no one is singing or shouting for joy in the vineyards. No one tramples grapes in the winepresses. I have put an end to the shouting.

¹¹Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab, as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.

¹²When Moab appears and tires himself out on the high place and comes to his sanctuary to pray, it will do him no good.

¹³This is the message that the LORD previously announced about Moab.

¹⁴And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak.”

¹A pronouncement concerning Damascus: Look, Damascus is no longer a city. It has become a ruined heap.

²The cities of Aroer are abandoned; they will be places for flocks. They will lie down without fear.

³The fortress disappears from Ephraim, and a kingdom from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites. This is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.

⁴On that day the splendor of Jacob will fade, and his healthy body will become emaciated.

⁵It will be as if a reaper had gathered standing grain — his arm harvesting the heads of grain — and as if one had gleaned heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

⁶Only gleanings will be left in Israel, as if an olive tree had been beaten — two or three olives at the very top of the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches. This is the declaration of the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁷On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.

⁸They will not look to the altars they made with their hands or to the Asherahs and shrines they made with their fingers.

⁹On that day their strong cities will be like the abandoned woods and mountaintops that were abandoned because of the Israelites; there will be desolation.

¹⁰For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and you have failed to remember the rock of your strength; therefore you will plant beautiful plants and set out cuttings from exotic vines.

¹¹On the day that you plant, you will help them to grow, and in the morning you will help your seed to sprout, but the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.

¹²Ah! The roar of many peoples — they roar like the roaring of the seas. The raging of the nations — they rage like the rumble of rushing water.

¹³The nations rage like the rumble of a huge torrent. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills and like tumbleweeds before a gale.

¹⁴In the evening — sudden terror! Before morning — it is gone! This is the fate of those who plunder us and the lot of those who ravage us.

¹Woe to the land of buzzing insect wings beyond the rivers of Cush,

²which sends envoys by sea, in reed vessels over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and near, a powerful nation with a strange language, whose land is divided by rivers.

³All you inhabitants of the world and you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet sounds, listen!

⁴For the LORD said to me: I will quietly look out from my place, like shimmering heat in sunshine, like a rain cloud in harvest heat.

⁵For before the harvest, when the blossoming is over and the blossom becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife, and tear away and remove the branches.

⁶They will all be left for the birds of prey on the hills and for the wild animals of the land. The birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, and all the wild animals the winter.

⁷At that time a gift will be brought to the LORD of Armies from a people tall and smooth-skinned, a people feared far and near, a powerful nation with a strange language, whose land is divided by rivers — to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the LORD of Armies.

¹A pronouncement concerning Egypt: Look, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. Egypt’s idols will tremble before him, and Egypt will lose heart.

²I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians; each will fight against his brother and each against his friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

³Egypt’s spirit will be disturbed within it, and I will frustrate its plans. Then they will inquire of idols, ghosts, and spiritists.

⁴I will hand over Egypt to harsh masters, and a strong king will rule it. This is the declaration of the Lord GOD of Armies.

⁵The water of the sea will dry up, and the river will be parched and dry.

⁶The channels will stink; they will dwindle, and Egypt’s canals will be parched. Reed and rush will wilt.

⁷The reeds by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the cultivated areas of the Nile will wither, blow away, and vanish.

⁸Then the fishermen will mourn. All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the water will give up.

⁹Those who work with flax will be dismayed; those combing it and weaving linen will turn pale.

¹⁰Egypt’s weavers will be dejected; all her wage earners will be demoralized.

¹¹The princes of Zoan are complete fools; Pharaoh’s wisest advisers give stupid advice! How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a student of eastern kings”?

¹²Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Armies has planned against Egypt.

¹³The princes of Zoan have been fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. Her tribal chieftains have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of confusion. The leaders have made Egypt stagger in all she does, as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.

¹⁵No head or tail, palm or reed, will be able to do anything for Egypt.

¹⁶On that day Egypt will be like women and will tremble with fear because of the threatening hand of the LORD of Armies when he raises it against them.

¹⁷The land of Judah will terrify Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble because of what the LORD of Armies has planned against it.

¹⁸On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear loyalty to the LORD of Armies. One of the cities will be called the City of the Sun.

¹⁹On that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the center of the land of Egypt and a pillar to the LORD near her border.

²⁰It will be a sign and witness to the LORD of Armies in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and leader, and he will rescue them.

²¹The LORD will make himself known to Egypt, and Egypt will know the LORD on that day. They will offer sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and fulfill them.

²²The LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing. Then they will turn to the LORD and he will be receptive to their prayers and heal them.

²³On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. Assyria will go to Egypt, Egypt to Assyria, and Egypt will worship with Assyria.

²⁴On that day Israel will form a triple alliance with Egypt and Assyria — a blessing within the land.

²⁵The LORD of Armies will bless them, saying, “Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance are blessed.”