You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob! Because they are filled with diviners, and soothsayers, like the Philistines; with foreigners they clasp hands.
This, then, shall be the expiation of Jacob’s guilt, this the result of removing his sin: He shall pulverize all the stones of the altars like pieces of chalk; no asherahs or incense altars shall stand.
“How long, O Lord?” I asked. And he replied: Until the cities are desolate, without inhabitants, Houses, without people, and the land is a desolate waste.
The Lord has devoured without pity all of Jacob’s dwellings; In his fury he has razed daughter Judah’s defenses, Has brought to the ground in dishonor a kingdom and its princes.
You will say, “I will invade a land of open villages and attack a peaceful people who live in security—all of them living without city walls, bars, or gates”—
The clamor of war shall break out among your people and all your fortresses shall be ravaged As Salman ravaged Beth-arbel on the day of war, smashing mothers along with their children.