Jeremiah 41:5

that there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, three cities farther north in the province, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, as a sign of deep mourning, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, such incisions into the skin being forbidden to the children of Israel, as a heathen custom. Leviticus 19:27; Deuteronomy 14:1, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the Lord. These men mourned the destruction of the Temple, but continued their acts of worship even upon its site, covered with ruins as it was. Their road naturally led past the city of Mizpah, and they traveled along without the slightest apprehension of danger.