The sound of crying is heard on the hills. It is the crying and the pleading of the people of Israel. They have become crooked and have forgotten the Lord their God.
The people of Dibon go to the temple, to the worship sites, to cry. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved bald, and every beard is cut off.
You have forgotten the God of your salvation. You haven’t remembered the rock, your stronghold. Instead, you have planted the best plants and have set out the imported grapevines.
Whom did you dread and fear so much that you lied to me? You haven’t remembered me or cared about me. I’ve been silent for a long time. Is that why you don’t fear me?
But my people have forgotten me. They burn incense as an offering to worthless idols, and they stumble along the way, on the ancient path. They go on side roads and not on major highways.
“Look at the bare hills, and see. You have had sex with men in every place. You sat by the roadside waiting for them like a nomad in the desert. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
They will cry as they return. They will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams on a level path where they will not stumble. I will be a Father to Israel, and Ephraim will be my firstborn.
“Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the bare hills, because in his anger the Lord has rejected and abandoned the people of this generation.
The people of Israel have built palaces, and they have forgotten their maker. The people of Judah have built many fortified cities. I will send a fire on their cities and burn down their palaces.”
The Messenger of the Lord asked him, “Why have you hit your donkey three times like this? I’ve come here to stop you because the trip you’re taking is evil.
In fact, to be distressed in a godly way causes people to change the way they think and act and leads them to be saved. No one can regret that. But the distress that the world causes brings only death.