The big picture
God's word through Jeremiah turns to Moab, a nation east of the Dead Sea. Its towns, wealth, and long security have fostered pride. The coming invasion will expose that trust and carry its god Chemosh into captivity with his attendants. Yet the warning does not speak of the people's suffering without grief. Cries, lost harvests, and mourning fill the chapter beside the charge of arrogance against the Lord. After a sequence of failed escapes, a final promise looks towards Moab's restoration in later days.
In this chapter
- Town After Town Faces the Invader Jeremiah 48:1-10
The warning names towns overtaken by attack, with cries sounding along roads and slopes.
- Settled Wine Is Poured Out Jeremiah 48:11-17
Moab is compared to wine left undisturbed on its sediment.
- News of Ruin Reaches Every District Jeremiah 48:18-25
Dibon, one of Moab's towns, is told to leave its honoured position and sit thirsty.
- Pride Gives Way to Grief and Lost Harvests Jeremiah 48:26-35
Moab will reel like a drunkard because it magnified itself against the Lord.
- Mourning Spreads Through Homes and Streets Jeremiah 48:36-39
The speaker's heart sounds like mourning pipes for Moab because its wealth has perished.
- Escape Routes Close Before a Final Promise Jeremiah 48:40-47
The attacker spreads like an eagle over the land.
Central truth
Moab's pride and misplaced trust bring ruin, but the announced judgement includes grief for its people and a closing promise of restoration.
Scripture beside the summary
Jeremiah · King James Version · 47Jeremiah 48:1-10
Town After Town Faces the Invader
The warning names towns overtaken by attack, with cries sounding along roads and slopes. Even children are heard in the distress. People must flee for their lives. Their trust in wealth and achievements will not save them. Chemosh, their god, will go into captivity with priests and leaders. No city, valley, or plain will escape the invader, and homes will stand empty. The warning ends by cursing whoever carries out the Lord's work carelessly or holds back the sword. It presents this violence as appointed judgement, not merely a stronger neighbour's ambition.
In everyday life
A displacement researcher marks emptied towns on a map as families arrive with accounts of flight. Wealthier districts appear beside poorer ones, and none can be left off because of past prestige. She records the loss without reenacting attacks. Jeremiah also commands the execution of divine judgement, which a researcher has no authority to do.
Notice
Jeremiah 48:7 The charge names trust in work and treasure before captivity. Resources are not treated as protection when they have become the basis of the nation's confidence.
Jeremiah 48:1-10
King James Version1Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
2There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
3A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.
4Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.
6Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
7For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.
8And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.
9Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
10Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
Jeremiah 48:11-17
Settled Wine Is Poured Out
Moab is compared to wine left undisturbed on its sediment. It has long lived at ease, without being poured from vessel to vessel through exile. Now God will send people to empty the jars and break them. Chemosh will bring shame, as Beth-el, a sanctuary trusted by Israel, God's people, once did. Claims of military strength will fail when chosen young men are killed. Disaster is near, and neighbours are called to mourn the broken staff of power. Long stability has left the nation unprepared for the overturning now announced.
In everyday life
A cellar keeper opens a vessel left untouched for years and watches its settled contents poured into a new container. What looked permanent changes in one act, leaving the old jar empty. She cannot preserve it by pointing to its age. Moab faces violent displacement and failed worship, not the planned handling of wine.
Notice
Jeremiah 48:11 The wine has not been moved from vessel to vessel. The image explains unbroken ease through lack of exile, preparing the threat that this settled condition will end.
Jeremiah 48:11-17
King James Version11Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
12Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
13And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence.
14How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
15Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
16The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.
17All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!
Jeremiah 48:18-25
News of Ruin Reaches Every District
Dibon, one of Moab's towns, is told to leave its honoured position and sit thirsty. Its strongholds will be destroyed. Aroer, another town, must watch the road and question fleeing people. Their answer is that Moab has been broken. The message runs through a list of places across the plain, near and far. God then pictures the nation's horn cut off and its arm broken, images of strength removed. The many names make the loss spread across real inhabited places rather than remain a distant statement about the kingdom as a whole.
In everyday life
The radio operator takes calls from one damaged district after another and writes each place on a board. A caller from the next town asks what has happened, then hears that the same danger is approaching there. The list makes the reach visible. God declares Moab's strength broken; the operator passes on reports without that authority.
Notice
Jeremiah 48:25 The horn and arm both picture strength, and both are disabled. The paired images deny that another source of national power remains untouched after the towns fall.
Jeremiah 48:18-25
King James Version18Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.
19O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?
20Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
21And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
22And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim,
23And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon,
24And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 48:26-35
Pride Gives Way to Grief and Lost Harvests
Moab will reel like a drunkard because it magnified itself against the Lord. It mocked Israel's distress, but now becomes an object of scorn itself. People are urged to leave towns for rocky refuges. God knows the nation's pride and empty claims. Yet grief rises for its people and vineyards as invaders take summer fruit and grapes. Winepress joy falls silent, and cries travel through the land. Waters are ruined, and God will end the offerings made at high places. The charge of arrogance does not make the suffering light or amusing.
In everyday life
A harvest support volunteer enters a wine-growing village whose presses stand silent after forced flight. Families who once expected shared meals now need help tracing one another. She lets their losses be heard without celebrating the fall of a proud district. Jeremiah links the ruin to defiance of God and ends its false worship.
Notice
Jeremiah 48:33 The harvest shout is removed along with the wine. The loss reaches shared pleasure and livelihood, not only the soldiers and defences named elsewhere.
Jeremiah 48:26-35
King James Version26Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
27For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
28O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth.
29We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.
30I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.
31Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres.
32O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.
33And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.
34From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.
35Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.
Jeremiah 48:36-39
Mourning Spreads Through Homes and Streets
The speaker's heart sounds like mourning pipes for Moab because its wealth has perished. Heads are shaved, beards cut, hands wounded, and rough cloth worn as signs of grief. Mourning fills roofs and streets. God says he has broken Moab like a vessel he no longer desires. People cry out at how it has fallen and turned away in shame. Neighbours look on with both scorn and alarm. The nation's former confidence is answered by public loss, while the repeated lament keeps attention on the people bearing it.
In everyday life
A funeral musician waits on a street where household after household has requested a lament. The repeated tune does not make the losses interchangeable; each doorway holds different names and absences. He pauses before beginning again. Jeremiah's lament accompanies God's declared breaking of a nation, not only the human work of mourning.
Notice
Jeremiah 48:38 Mourning is found on rooftops and in streets. The grief is spread across private and public life, leaving no picture of an untouched prosperous centre.
Jeremiah 48:36-39
King James Version36Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.
37For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
38There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.
39They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him.
Jeremiah 48:40-47
Escape Routes Close Before a Final Promise
The attacker spreads like an eagle over the land. Fortified places are seized, and warriors fear like women in labour. Moab's defiance of God brings destruction. Flight leads into a pit, and climbing out leads into a trap. Even shelter by a town brings danger from fire. Sons and daughters are carried captive as Chemosh's people perish. Yet the final word promises that God will restore Moab's fortunes in later days. The chapter closes its judgement with hope, without describing that future as an escape from the disaster already announced.
In everyday life
A resettlement adviser traces several failed escape routes on a survivor's map before discussing a verified future return plan. She does not erase the losses along the way to make the ending sound hopeful. The present harm still matters. God promises Moab's later restoration, while an adviser can only work with human arrangements.
Notice
Jeremiah 48:47 Restoration is promised after the long sequence of judgement. The final line adds a future for Moab without withdrawing the warnings that fill the chapter.
Jeremiah 48:40-47
King James Version40For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.
41Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD.
43Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.
44He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
45They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.
47Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Jeremiah 48:1 begins with “Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded…”
Where the chapter turns
Jeremiah 48:27 forms a natural hinge: “For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.”
The final note
Jeremiah 48:47 leaves the reader with “Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Moab, LORD, taken, broken, heart, Beth help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- lees
- Sediment left at the bottom of wine as it settles.
- vintage
- The grape harvest or the grapes gathered for making wine.
- sackcloth
- Rough cloth worn as an outward sign of grief or distress.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
