“As a thief feels ashamed when he’s caught, so the nation of Israel will feel ashamed. Their kings, princes, priests, and prophets will also feel ashamed.
From our ancestors’ days until now, we have been deep in guilt. Our kings and our priests have been handed over to foreign kings to be executed. We have been taken captive, robbed, and humiliated, as we still are today because of our sins.
Everyone associated with the gods will be put to shame. The craftsmen themselves are only human. Let them all get together and take their stand. They will be frightened and ashamed together.
“The people of Israel and Judah have made me furious because they are evil. The people, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, and the Judeans and those who live in Jerusalem
“When that day comes,” declares the Lord, “the king and the leaders will lose their courage. The priests will be stunned. The prophets will be amazed and astonished.”
People of Moab, didn’t you laugh at the people of Israel? Were they caught among thieves? Whenever you talk about them you shake your heads in contempt.
Your priests violate my teachings and dishonor my holy things. They don’t distinguish between what is holy and what is unholy. They don’t teach the difference between what is clean and what is unclean. They ignore the days to worship me. So I am dishonored among the people.
I will send out a curse, declares the Lord of Armies, and it will enter the houses of thieves and the houses of those who take oaths in my name. It will stay in their houses and destroy the timber and stone.”