the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, “Do you really believe King David is honouring your father by sending these men to comfort you? He probably sent them to spy on our country, so he can come and destroy it.”
They were terribly ashamed. When David found out what had happened to his officials, he sent a message that told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back. Then you can come home.”
But the people only laughed and insulted these prophets. They ignored what the LORD God was trying to tell them, until he finally became so angry that nothing could stop him from punishing Judah and Jerusalem.
Everyone in Dibon has gone up to the temple and the shrines to cry and weep. All of Moab is crying. Heads and beards are shaved because of what happened at Nebo and Medeba.
Everyone in these two countries will be led away naked and barefoot by the king of Assyria. Young or old, they will be taken prisoner, and Egypt will be disgraced.
when eighty men came down the road towards Mizpah from the towns of Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They were on their way to the temple to offer gifts of grain and incense to the LORD. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves, because they were mourning.
The people of Moab mourn on the rooftops and in the streets. Men cut off their beards, people shave their heads; they make cuts on their hands and wear sackcloth. And it's all because I, the LORD, have shattered Moab like a jar that no one wants.