Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her cities will become desolate, with no one to dwell in them.
Parallel translations
- WEB Give wings to Moab, that she may fly and get herself away: and her cities will become a desolation, without anyone to dwell in them.
- KJV Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
- NKJV “Givewings to Moab, That she may flee and get away; For her cities shall be desolate, Without any to dwell in them.
- NASB “Give wings to Moab, For she will flee away; And her cities will become a desolation, Without inhabitants in them.
- NLT Oh, that Moab had wings so she could fly away, for her towns will be left empty, with no one living in them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Give Moab wings to flee, for her cities will become uninhabited ruins.
Overview
The bitter image of giving Moab wings to escape only emphasizes that her cities will be left desolate and empty. Flight cannot reverse the appointed devastation. The picture of abandoned ruins is a sobering testimony that what people build apart from God will not endure, while His kingdom in Christ stands forever.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Isa 16:2Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:
- Jer 48:28Abandon the towns and settle among the rocks, O dwellers of Moab! Be like a dove that nests at the mouth of a cave.
- Ps 11:1For the choirmaster. Of David. In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain!
- Ps 55:6I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest.
- Zeph 2:9Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”
- Rev 12:14But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
- Jer 46:19Pack your bags for exile, O daughter dwelling in Egypt! For Memphis will be laid waste, destroyed and uninhabited.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 48:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.