“‘Then Moab
Shall be ashamed
Of Chemosh,
As the house of Israel
Was ashamed
Of Bethel,
Their confidence.
How can you say?
‘We are heroes!
We are the mighty warriors!
The destroyer of Moab
With his towns
Has come up.
The choicest
Of his young men
Have gone down
To slaughter.’
Says the King,
Whose name is
Yahweh of hosts.”
King Yahweh was speaking about Moab, since it was going to be ashamed of their national god Chemosh since his towns were going to be destroyed. Chemosh was compared to the northern Israelite worshiping place of Bethel, the competing place with Jerusalem for worshippers, before the northern kingdom collapsed. There may even have been some Chemosh worshippers in Jerusalem. However, Moab with its heroes and mighty warriors would not be able to withstand the coming attack. Many of its best young men would be slaughtered in the coming invasion.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 