But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite officer, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they made fun of us and laughed at us. They said, “What are you doing? Are you turning against the king?”
Women, you are calm now, but you should shake with fear. Women, you feel safe now, but you should tremble. Take off your nice clothes and put rough cloth around your waist to show your sadness.
“The people of Moab have never known trouble. They are like wine left to settle; they have never been poured from one jar to another. They have not been taken into captivity. So they taste as they did before, and their smell has not changed.
Moab, you made fun of Israel. Israel was caught in the middle of a gang of thieves. When you spoke about Israel, you shook your head and acted as if you were better than it.
How terrible it will be for those who have an easy life in Jerusalem, for those who feel safe living on Mount Samaria. You think you are the important people of the best nation in the world; the Israelites come to you for help.
When they tell evil lies about us, we speak nice words about them. Even today, we are treated as though we were the garbage of the world—the filth of the earth.