Now the Lord says, “In three years all those people and what they take pride in will be hated. (This is three years as a hired helper would count time.) There will be a few people left, but they will be weak.”
your people will hear the noise of battle, and all your strong, walled cities will be destroyed. It will be like the time King Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in battle, when mothers and their children were bashed to death.
The people from Israel are worried about the calf-shaped idol at Beth Aven. The people will cry about it, and the priests will cry about it. They used to shout for joy about its glory,
Does this mean that something that is good brought death to me? No! Sin used something that is good to bring death to me. This happened so that I could see what sin is really like; the command was used to show that sin is very evil.