12 The people of Moab will go to their\par places of worship. {\cf2\super [173]} \par The people will try to pray.\par But they will see what happened,\par and they will be too weak to pray.”\par
12 And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.
12 It shall be that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself [worshiping] on the high place [of idolatry], he will come to his sanctuary [of Chemosh, god of Moab], but he will not prevail. [Then will he be ashamed of his god.] [Jer. 48:13.]
12 And it shall come to pass, when Moab presenteth himself, when he wearieth himself upon the high place, and shall come to his sanctuary to pray, that he shall not prevail.
The king’s family and the people\par of Dibon {\cf2\super [158]} \par are going to the places of worship {\cf2\super [159]} to cry.\par The people of Moab are crying\par for Nebo {\cf2\super [160]} and Medeba. {\cf2\super [161]} \par The people shaved their heads and beards\par \{to show they are sad\}.\par
I will stop Moab from making burnt offerings on the high places. {\cf2\super [388]} I will stop them from making sacrifices to their gods.” The Lord said those things.\par
The afternoon passed but the fire still had not started. The prophets continued to act wild [205] until the time came for the evening sacrifice. But nothing happened—there was no answer from Baal. There was no sound. There was no one listening!
So Balak led Balaam to Watchmen Hills. [293] This was on top of Mount Pisgah. At that place, Balak built seven altars. [294] And then Balak killed a bull and a ram on each altar as a sacrifice.
It will be bad for you, Moab.\par Chemosh’s {\cf2\super [392]} people are being destroyed.\par Your sons and daughters\par are being taken away\par as prisoners and captives. {\cf2\super [393]} \par
Then the people of Moab will be ashamed of their false god, Chemosh. {\cf2\super [382]} The people of Israel trusted that \{false god\} in Bethel. {\cf2\super [383]} And the people of Israel were embarrassed \{when that false god did not help them\}. Moab will be like that.
You trust in the things you made\par and in your wealth.\par So you will be captured.\par The god Chemosh {\cf2\super [379]} \par will be taken into captivity.\par And his priests and officials\par will be taken with him.\par
The idols of the other nations are like\par a scarecrow in a cucumber field.\par Those idols can’t walk.\par They can’t talk.\par And the people must carry them.\par So don’t be afraid of those idols.\par They can’t hurt you.\par
You have many, many advisers.\par Are you tired of the advice they give?\par Then send out your men that read\par the stars.\par They are able to tell when the month starts.\par So maybe they can tell you\par when your troubles will come.\par
One day, Sennacherib was in the temple of his god, Nisroch, worshiping him. At that time his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with a sword. Then the sons ran away to Ararat. {\cf2\super [359]} So Sennacherib’s son Esarhaddon became the new king of Assyria.
The gods of those nations did not save their people. My ancestors [235] destroyed them all. They destroyed Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Tel Assar!
Then the king of Moab took his oldest son. This was the son who would become the next king after him. On the wall around the city, the king of Moab offered his son as a burnt offering. This upset the people of Israel very much. So the people of Israel left the king of Moab and went back to their own land.
Solomon built a place for worshiping Chemosh. Chemosh was that horrible idol of the Moabite people. Solomon built that worship place on a hill next to Jerusalem. On that same hill, Solomon built a worship place for Molech. Molech was that horrible idol of the Ammonite people.
“I see the Lord coming, but not now.
I see him coming, but not soon.
A star will come from
the family of Jacob. [301] A new ruler will come from
the people of Israel.
That ruler will crush the heads
of the Moabite people.
That ruler will crush the heads
of all the sons of Sheth. [302]