Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Jeremiah, chapters 48 and 49. Chapter 48. Against
Moab. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel. Woe to Nebo, for it is plundered. Kirjathim
is shamed and taken. The high stronghold is shamed
and dismayed. No more praise of Moab. In Hejbon
they have devised evil against her. Come and
let us cut her off as a nation. You also shall
be cut down, O madmen. The sword shall pursue
you. A voice of crying shall be from Horonim,
plundering and great destruction. Moab is destroyed.
Her little ones have caused the cry to be heard.
For in the ascent of Luhit they ascend with continual
weeping. For in the descent of Horonim the enemies
have heard a cry of destruction. Flee, save your
lives, and be like the juniper in the wilderness.
For because you have trusted in your works and
your treasures, you also shall be taken. And
Shemash shall go forth into captivity, his priests
and his princes together. And the plunderer shall
come against every city. No one shall escape.
The valley also shall perish, and the plain shall
be destroyed, as the Lord has spoken. Give wings
to Moab, that she may flee and get away. for
her cities shall be desolate without any to dwell
in them. Cursed is he who does the work of the
Lord deceitfully, and cursed is he who keeps
back his sword from blood. Moab has been at ease
from his youth. He has settled on his dregs,
and he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel.
Nor has he gone into captivity, therefore his
taste remained in him, and his scent has not
changed. Therefore, behold, the days are coming.
says the lord that i shall send him wine workers
who will tip him over and empty his vessels and
break the bottles moab shall be ashamed of shamash
as the house of israel was ashamed of bethel
their confidence how can you say we are mighty
and strong men for the war moab is plundered
and gone up from her cities her chosen young
men have gone down to the slaughter says the
king whose name is the lord of hosts The calamity
of Moab is near at hand, and his affliction comes
quickly. Bemoan him, all you who are around him,
and all you who know his name, say how the strong
staff is broken, the beautiful rod. O daughter
inhabiting Dibon, come down from your glory,
and sit in thirst, for the plunderer of Moab
has come against you. He has destroyed your strongholds,
O inhabitant of Aror. Stand by the way, and watch.
Ask him who flees, and her who escapes, say,
What has happened? Moab is shamed, for he is
broken down. Wail and cry. Tell it in Arnon,
that Moab is plundered. And judgment has come
on the plain country, on Holon, and Jasa, and
Mephat, on Debon, and Nebo, and Beit Deblatim,
on Kirjasim, and Beit Gamul, and Beit Meon, on
Kiryat, and Buzra, on all the cities of the land
of Moab, far or near. The horn of Moab is cut
off, and his arm is broken, says the Lord. Make
him drunk, because he exalted himself against
the Lord. Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and
he shall also be in derision. For was not Israel
a derision to you? Was he found among thieves?
For whenever you speak of him, you shake your
head in scorn. You who dwell in Moab, leave the
cities and dwell in the rock, and be like the
dove which makes her nest in the sides of the
cave's mouth. We have heard the pride of Moab,
he is exceedingly proud, of his loftiness and
arrogance and pride, and the haughtiness of his
heart. I know his wrath, says the Lord, but it
is not right. His lies have made nothing right.
Therefore I will wail for Moab, and I will cry
out for all Moab. I will mourn for the men of
Kir Heres, O vine of Sibma. I will weep for you
with the weeping of Jazer. Your plans have gone
over the sea, they reach to the sea of Jazer.
The plunderer has fallen on your summer fruit
and your vintage. Joy and gladness are taken.
From the plentiful field and from the land of
Moab, I have caused wine to fail from the wine
presses. No one will tread with joyous shouting,
not joyous shouting. From the cry of Heshbon
to Eliela and to Jehaz, they have uttered their
voice, from Zohar to Horonim, like a three -year
-old heifer. For the waters of Nimrim also shall
be desolate. Moreover, says the Lord, I will
cause to cease in Moab the one who offers sacrifices
in the high places and burns incense to his gods.
Therefore my heart shall wail like flutes for
Moab, and like flutes my heart shall wail for
the men of Kirheris. Therefore the riches they
have acquired have perished. For every head shall
be bald and every beard clipped. On all the hands
shall be cuts and on the loins sackcloth. A general
lamentation on all the housetops of Moab and
in its streets. For I have broken Moab like a
vessel in which is no pleasure, says the Lord.
They shall wail how she is broken down, how Moab
has turned her back with shame. So Moab shall
be a derision and a dismay to all those about
her. For thus says the Lord, Behold, one shall
fly like an eagle, and spread his wings over
Moab. Kiriath is taken, and the strongholds are
surprised. The mighty men's hearts in Moab on
that day shall be like the heart of a woman in
birth pangs. And Moab shall be destroyed as a
people, because he exalted himself against the
Lord. Fear in the pit and the snare shall be
upon you, O inhabitant of Moab, says the Lord.
He who flees from the fear shall fall into the
pit. And he who gets out of the pit shall be
caught in a snare. For upon Moab, upon it I will
bring the year of their punishment, says the
Lord. Those who fled stood under the shadow of
Hezbon because of exhaustion. But a fire shall
come out of Hezbon, a flame from the midst of
Sihon, and shall devour the brow of Moab, the
crown of the head of the sons of Tumult. Woe
to you, O Moab! the people of Shemesh perish,
for your sons have been taken captive and your
daughters captive. Yet I will bring back the
captives of Moab in the latter days, says the
Lord. Thus far is the judgment of Moab. Chapter
49 Against the Ammonites Thus says the Lord,
Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then
does Milcom inherit Gad, and his people dwell
in its cities? Therefore behold, the days are
coming, says the Lord. that I will cause to be
heard an alarm of war in Rabah of the Ammonites.
It shall be a desolate mound, and her villages
shall be burned with fire. Then Israel shall
take possession of his inheritance, says the
Lord. Wail, O Heshbon, for I is plundered. Cry,
you daughters of Rabah. Gird yourselves with
sackcloth. Lament and run to and fro by the walls.
For Milcom shall go into captivity with his priests
and his princes together. Why do you boast in
the valleys, your flowing valley, O backsliding
daughter, who trusted in her treasures, saying,
Who will come against me? Behold, I will bring
fear upon you, says the Lord God of hosts. From
all those who are around you, you shall be driven
out, everyone headlong, and no one will gather
those who wander off. But afterward I will bring
back the captives of the people of Ammon, says
the Lord. against Edom, thus says the Lord of
hosts. Is wisdom no more in Timan? Has counsel
perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?
Flee, turn back, dwell in the depth, O inhabitants
of Dedan, for I will bring the calamity of Esau
upon him, the time that I will punish him. If
grape -gatherers came to you, would they not
leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night,
would they not destroy until they have enough?
But I have made Esau bare. I have uncovered his
secret places, and he shall not be able to hide
himself. His descendants are plundered, his brethren
and his neighbors, and he is no more. Leave your
fatherless children. I will preserve them alive,
and let your widows trust in me. For thus says
the Lord, Behold, those whose judgment was not
to drink of the cup have assuredly drunk. And
are you the one who will altogether go unpunished?
You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely
drink of it. For I have sworn by myself, says
the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation,
a reproach, a waste, and a curse, and all its
cities shall be perpetual wastes. I have heard
a message from the Lord, and an ambassador has
been sent to the nations. Gather together, come
against her, and rise up to battle. For indeed
I will make you small among nations, despised
among men. Your fierceness has deceived you,
the pride of your heart. O you who dwell in the
clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the
hill! Though you make your nest as high as the
eagle, I will bring you down from there, says
the Lord. Edom also shall be an astonishment.
Everyone who goes by it will be astonished, and
will hiss at all its plagues, as in the overthrow
of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors, says
the Lord. No one shall remain there, nor shall
a son of man dwell in it. Behold, he shall come
up like a lion from the floodplain of the Jordan
against the dwelling place of the strong. But
I will suddenly make him run away from her. And
who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her?
For who is like me? Who will arraign me? And
who is that shepherd who will withstand me? Therefore
hear the counsel of the Lord that he has taken
against Edom, and his purposes that he has proposed
against the inhabitants of Teman. Surely the
least of the flock shall draw them out. Surely
he shall make their dwelling places desolate
with them. The earth shakes at the noise of their
fall, and the cry its noise is heard at the Red
Sea. Behold, he shall come up and fly like an
eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah. The
heart of the mighty men of Edom in that day shall
be like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.
Against Damascus Hamath and Arpad are shamed,
for they have heard bad news, they are faint
-hearted. There is trouble on the sea, it cannot
be quiet. Damascus has grown feeble, she turns
to flee, and fear has seized her. Anguish and
sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor.
Why is the city of praise not deserted, the city
of my joy? Therefore her young men shall fall
in her streets, and all the men of war shall
be cut off in that day, says the Lord of hosts.
I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
and it shall consume the palaces of Ben -Hadad.
Against Kedar and against the kingdoms of Hazor,
which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, shall
strike, thus says the Lord. Arise, go up to Kedar,
and devastate the men of the east. Their tents
and their flocks they shall take away. They shall
take for themselves their curtains, all their
vessels and their camels, and they shall cry
out to them, Fear is on every side. Flee, get
far away. Dwell in the depth, O inhabitants of
Hazor, says the Lord. For Nebuchadnezzar, king
of Babylon, has taken counsel against you, and
has conceived a plan against you. Arise, go up
to the wealthy nation that dwells securely, says
the Lord, which has neither gates nor bars. dwelling
alone. Their camels shall be for booty, and the
multitude of their cattle for plunder. I will
scatter to all winds those in the farthest corners,
and I will bring their calamity from all its
sides, says the Lord. Hazor shall be a dwelling
for jackals, a desolation for ever. No one shall
reside there, nor son of man dwell in it. The
word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet
against Elam in the beginning of the reign of
Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, Thus says the
Lord of hosts, Behold, I will break the bow of
Elam, the foremost of their might. Against Elam
I will bring the four winds from the four quarters
of heaven, and scatter them toward all those
winds. There shall be no nations where the outcasts
of Elam will not go. For I will cause Elam to
be dismayed before their enemies and before those
who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon
them, my fierce anger, says the Lord. And I will
send the sword after them until I have consumed
them. I will set my throne in Elam and will destroy
from there the king and the princes, says the
Lord. But it shall come to pass in the latter
days I will bring back the captives of Elam,
says the Lord. I hope you enjoyed today's reading
as much as I did and I look forward to seeing
you again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.