Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, And say, "Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, And see what unrest is in her, And what oppression is among them."
In the midst thereof - Admitted within her, domiciled, reigning there in her very center, and never departing out of her, as the Psalmist says, “Wickedness is in the midst thereof; deciet and guile depart not from her streets” Psalms 55:11. Aforetime, God spared His people, that “His Name Ezekiel 20:9 should not be polluted before the pagan, among whom they were, in whose sight I made Myself known unto them in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.” Now He summons those same pagan as witnesses that Israel was justly condemned. These sins, being sins against the moral law, the pagan would condemn. People condemn in others, what they do themselves. But so they would see that God hated sin, for which He spared not His own people, and could the less triumph over God, when they saw the people whom God had established and protected, given up to the king of Assyria.