7:14 from the heart. A responsible and loyal response, as suggested by a similar expression used in a contemporary Assyrian treaty.

wail upon their beds. This phrase could mean that they cried out to their gods on the beds of fertility-cult prostitution. If “gash themselves” is the best translation, this self-mutilation was yet another appeal to pagan gods (Deut. 14:1; 1 Kin. 18:26–29).