Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar - the porch of Solomon's temple on the east (1 Kings 6:3). The altar of burnt offerings outside, in the court of the priests, before the porch (2 Chronicles 8:12: cf. Ezekiel 8:16; Matthew 23:35, "between the temple and the altar"). The suppliants thus were to stand with their backs to the altar, on which they had nothing to offer, their faces toward the place of the Shekinah-presence.
Give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them. This shows that not locusts, but human foes, "the pagan," are intended. The, margin translation, 'use a byword against them,' is not supported by the Hebrew.
Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? - i:e., do not, for thine own honour's sake, let the pagan sneer at the God of Israel, as unable to save His people-a phrase derived from the Psalms (Psalms 79:10; Psalms 115:2).