My heart cries out for Moab. Its people flee as far as Zoar at Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the mountain road to Luhith. They cry loudly over the destruction on the way to Horonaim.
Godless fools speak foolishness, and their minds plan evil in order to do ungodly things. They speak falsely about the Lord. They let people go hungry and withhold water from thirsty people.
Let wicked people abandon their ways. Let evil people abandon their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord, and he will show compassion to them. Let them return to our God, because he will freely forgive them.
No longer will you hear about violence in your land or desolation and destruction within your borders. You will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.
So I will choose harsh treatment for them and bring on them what they fear. I called, but no one answered. I spoke, but they didn’t listen. They did what I consider evil. They chose what I don’t like.
He answered me, “The wickedness of the nations of Israel and Judah is terrible. The land is filled with murder, and the city is filled with wrongdoing. They think that the Lord has abandoned the land and that he doesn’t see.
When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he became furious. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys two years old and younger in or near Bethlehem. This matched the exact time he had learned from the wise men.