This is what the Lord says:“ The people of Judah have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They have rejected the instruction of the Lord, refusing to obey his decrees. They have been led astray by the same lies that deceived their ancestors.

耶和华如此说：“犹大人三番四次地犯罪，我必不免去他们的刑罚；因为他们厌弃耶和华的训诲，不遵守他的律例。他们列祖所随从虚假的偶像使他们走迷了。

耶和华如此说：“犹大三番四次犯罪，厌弃耶和华的训诲，不遵守他的律例；他们祖先所随从虚假的偶像使他们走迷了，我必不撤销对它的惩罚。

耶和华如此说：“犹大三番四次犯罪，厌弃耶和华的训诲，不遵守他的律例；他们祖先所随从虚假的偶像使他们走迷了，我必不撤销对它的惩罚。

耶和华说：“犹大人三番四次地犯罪，我必不收回对他们的惩罚，因为他们厌弃耶和华的训诲，不遵守我的律例。他们祖先祭拜的偶像使他们走入歧途。

“耶和华这样说：‘犹大三番四次犯罪，我必不收回惩罚他的命令；因为他弃绝耶和华的律法，不遵守他的典章；反被他们列祖跟从的偶像，使他们走错了路。

耶和華如此說：猶大人三番四次地犯罪，我必不免去他們的刑罰；因為他們厭棄耶和華的訓誨，不遵守他的律例。他們列祖所隨從虛假的偶像使他們走迷了。

耶和華如此說：「猶大三番四次犯罪，厭棄耶和華的訓誨，不遵守他的律例；他們祖先所隨從虛假的偶像使他們走迷了，我必不撤銷對它的懲罰。

耶和華如此說：「猶大三番四次犯罪，厭棄耶和華的訓誨，不遵守他的律例；他們祖先所隨從虛假的偶像使他們走迷了，我必不撤銷對它的懲罰。

耶和華說：「猶大人三番四次地犯罪，我必不收回對他們的懲罰，因為他們厭棄耶和華的訓誨，不遵守我的律例。他們祖先祭拜的偶像使他們走入歧途。

“耶和華這樣說：‘猶大三番四次犯罪，我必不收回懲罰他的命令；因為他棄絕耶和華的律法，不遵守他的典章；反被他們列祖跟從的偶像，使他們走錯了路。

永恆主這麼說：『猶大三番四次地悖逆，我必不收回成命，因為他們棄絕了永恆主的指教，不遵守他的律例；他們的偶像——虛謊——就是他們列祖所隨從的、使他們走迷了路了。

耶和華曰、猶大干罪、至三至四、我不挽回厥罰、以其棄耶和華之法律、不守其典章、厥祖所行之虛誕、使之迷惘、

耶和華又曰、猶大犯罪、至三至四、更藐視我法度、不守我禮儀、其祖奉事虛偽、彼亦昏迷於道、故我必罰其罪、

主如是云、猶大人犯罪、至三至四、更藐視主之律法、不守其律例、其祖崇事虛偽、彼亦為斯虛偽所迷、故我降罰以報之、必不挽回、

This is what the Lord says:“ For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent. Because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed,

The Lord says,“ The people of Judah have sinned again and again. So I will judge them. They have refused to obey my law. They have not kept my rules. Other gods have led them astray. Their people of long ago worshiped those gods.

Thus says the Lord:“ For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked.

The LORD says: I will not relent from punishing Judah for three crimes, even four, because they have rejected the instruction of the LORD and have not kept his statutes. The lies that their ancestors followed have led them astray.

This is what the Lord says:“ For three offenses of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke its punishment, Because they rejected the Law of the Lord And have not kept His statutes; Their lies also have led them astray, Those which their fathers followed.

Thus says the Lord:“ For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they have despised the law of the Lord, And have not kept His commandments. Their lies lead them astray, Lies which their fathers followed.

Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have caused them to err, after which their fathers did walk.

The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Judah for three crimes, even four, because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord and have not kept His statutes. The lies that their ancestors followed have led them astray.

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away[ the punishment] thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:

This is what the LORD says:“ Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They rejected the LORD’s law; they did not obey his commands. Their false gods, to which their fathers were loyal, led them astray.

Yahweh says:“ For three transgressions of Judah, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have rejected Yahweh’s law, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked;

because they did not obey my regulations. They scorned my decrees by violating my Sabbath days and longing for the idols of their ancestors.

For they had rejected my regulations, refused to follow my decrees, and violated my Sabbath days. Their hearts were given to their idols.

“ But the people of Israel rebelled against me, and they refused to obey my decrees there in the wilderness. They wouldn’t obey my regulations even though obedience would have given them life. They also violated my Sabbath days. So I threatened to pour out my fury on them, and I made plans to utterly consume them in the wilderness.

Now the Lord is bringing charges against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways, and pay him back for all he has done.

You boast,“ We have struck a bargain to cheat death and have made a deal to dodge the grave. The coming destruction can never touch us, for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.”

“ What good is an idol carved by man, or a cast image that deceives you? How foolish to trust in your own creation— a god that can’t even talk!

The leaders of Israel are the head, and the lying prophets are the tail.For the leaders of the people have misled them. They have led them down the path of destruction.

But even the people of Judah refused to obey the commands of the Lord their God, for they followed the evil practices that Israel had introduced.

We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.

They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair.Then he gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the court secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal adviser:“ Go to the Temple and speak to the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah. Inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been found. For the Lord’s great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing everything it says we must do.”So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the New Quarter of Jerusalem to consult with the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, the keeper of the Temple wardrobe.She said to them,“ The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken! Go back and tell the man who sent you,‘ This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this city and its people. All the words written in the scroll that the king of Judah has read will come true.For my people have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done. My anger will burn against this place, and it will not be quenched.’

Therefore, just as fire licks up stubble and dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will rot and their flowers wither. For they have rejected the law of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies; they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.That is why the Lord’s anger burns against his people, and why he has raised his fist to crush them. The mountains tremble, and the corpses of his people litter the streets like garbage. But even then the Lord’s anger is not satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike!

“ From among all the families on the earth, I have been intimate with you alone. That is why I must punish you for all your sins.”

“ However, if you do not listen to me or obey all these commands,and if you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations with contempt, and refusing to obey my commands,

“ Then I warned their children not to follow in their parents’ footsteps, defiling themselves with their idols.

Lord, you are my strength and fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble! Nations from around the world will come to you and say,“ Our ancestors left us a foolish heritage, for they worshiped worthless idols.Can people make their own gods? These are not real gods at all!”

These wise teachers will fall into the trap of their own foolishness, for they have rejected the word of the Lord. Are they so wise after all?

Instead, they have stubbornly followed their own desires and worshiped the images of Baal, as their ancestors taught them.

Instead, they have told lies and made false predictions. They say,‘ This message is from the Lord,’ even though the Lord never sent them. And yet they expect him to fulfill their prophecies!Can your visions be anything but false if you claim,‘ This message is from the Lord,’ when I have not even spoken to you?“ Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because what you say is false and your visions are a lie, I will stand against you, says the Sovereign Lord.I will raise my fist against all the prophets who see false visions and make lying predictions, and they will be banished from the community of Israel. I will blot their names from Israel’s record books, and they will never again set foot in their own land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.“ This will happen because these evil prophets deceive my people by saying,‘ All is peaceful’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash!Tell these whitewashers that their wall will soon fall down. A heavy rainstorm will undermine it; great hailstones and mighty winds will knock it down.And when the wall falls, the people will cry out,‘ What happened to your whitewash?’“ Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will sweep away your whitewashed wall with a storm of indignation, with a great flood of anger, and with hailstones of fury.I will break down your wall right to its foundation, and when it falls, it will crush you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.At last my anger against the wall and those who covered it with whitewash will be satisfied. Then I will say to you:‘ The wall and those who whitewashed it are both gone.They were lying prophets who claimed peace would come to Jerusalem when there was no peace. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’

Then another message came to me from the Lord:“ Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins.Give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth.No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die.“ But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said,‘ Live!’And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked.And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.“ Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin.I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather.I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces,a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head.And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and costly fabric and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods— choice flour, honey, and olive oil— and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were!Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign Lord.“ But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking.You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen?You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me!You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them.Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign Lord.“ Then you took your sons and daughters— the children you had borne to me— and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough?Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols?In all your years of adultery and detestable sin, you have not once remembered the days long ago when you lay naked in a field, kicking about in your own blood.“ What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness,you built a pagan shrine and put altars to idols in every town square.On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution.Then you added lustful Egypt to your lovers, provoking my anger with your increasing promiscuity.That is why I struck you with my fist and reduced your boundaries. I handed you over to your enemies, the Philistines, and even they were shocked by your lewd conduct.You have prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, too. It seems you can never find enough new lovers! And after your prostitution there, you still were not satisfied.You added to your lovers by embracing Babylonia, the land of merchants, but you still weren’t satisfied.“ What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign Lord, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute.You build your pagan shrines on every street corner and your altars to idols in every square. In fact, you have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even demanded payment.Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband.Prostitutes charge for their services— but not you! You give gifts to your lovers, bribing them to come and have sex with you.So you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay your lovers instead of their paying you!“ Therefore, you prostitute, listen to this message from the Lord!This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you have poured out your lust and exposed yourself in prostitution to all your lovers, and because you have worshiped detestable idols, and because you have slaughtered your children as sacrifices to your gods,this is what I am going to do. I will gather together all your allies— the lovers with whom you have sinned, both those you loved and those you hated— and I will strip you naked in front of them so they can stare at you.I will punish you for your murder and adultery. I will cover you with blood in my jealous fury.Then I will give you to these many nations who are your lovers, and they will destroy you. They will knock down your pagan shrines and the altars to your idols. They will strip you and take your beautiful jewels, leaving you stark naked.They will band together in a mob to stone you and cut you up with swords.They will burn your homes and punish you in front of many women. I will stop your prostitution and end your payments to your many lovers.“ Then at last my fury against you will be spent, and my jealous anger will subside. I will be calm and will not be angry with you anymore.But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by doing all these evil things, I will fully repay you for all of your sins, says the Sovereign Lord. For you have added lewd acts to all your detestable sins.Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you,‘ Like mother, like daughter.’For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and so do you. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.“ Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south.But you have not merely sinned as they did. You quickly surpassed them in corruption.As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters.Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door.She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen.“ Even Samaria did not commit half your sins. You have done far more detestable things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you.Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous.“ But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too.Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison.Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored.In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt.But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned— by Edom and all her neighbors and by Philistia.This is your punishment for all your lewdness and detestable sins, says the Lord.“ Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant.Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant.And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord.You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all.

Do not be like your ancestors and relatives who abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and became an object of derision, as you yourselves can see.

Listen, all the earth! I will bring disaster on my people. It is the fruit of their own schemes, because they refuse to listen to me. They have rejected my word.

“ But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They turned their backs on your Law, they killed your prophets who warned them to return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies.

“ O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you, though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people.

You have discouraged the righteous with your lies, but I didn’t want them to be sad. And you have encouraged the wicked by promising them life, even though they continue in their sins.

“ A time is coming,” says the Lord,“ when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit—the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in the desert in remote places, and yes, even the people of Judah. And like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts.”

You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest.

Likewise, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the Lord that had been consecrated in Jerusalem.The Lord, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and his Temple.But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the Lord’s anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.So the Lord brought the king of Babylon against them. The Babylonians killed Judah’s young men, even chasing after them into the Temple. They had no pity on the people, killing both young men and young women, the old and the infirm. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.

“ I saw that the prophets of Samaria were terribly evil, for they prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people of Israel into sin.But now I see that the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! They commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil so that no one turns away from their sins. These prophets are as wicked as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once were.”Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says concerning the prophets:“ I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. For it is because of Jerusalem’s prophets that wickedness has filled this land.”

“ Yet even though Oholibah saw what had happened to Oholah, her sister, she followed right in her footsteps. And she was even more depraved, abandoning herself to her lust and prostitution.She fawned over all the Assyrian officers— those captains and commanders in handsome uniforms, those charioteers driving their horses— all of them attractive young men.I saw the way she was going, defiling herself just like her older sister.“ Then she carried her prostitution even further. She fell in love with pictures that were painted on a wall— pictures of Babylonian military officers, outfitted in striking red uniforms.Handsome belts encircled their waists, and flowing turbans crowned their heads. They were dressed like chariot officers from the land of Babylonia.When she saw these paintings, she longed to give herself to them, so she sent messengers to Babylonia to invite them to come to her.So they came and committed adultery with her, defiling her in the bed of love. After being defiled, however, she rejected them in disgust.“ In the same way, I became disgusted with Oholibah and rejected her, just as I had rejected her sister, because she flaunted herself before them and gave herself to satisfy their lusts.Yet she turned to even greater prostitution, remembering her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt.She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like those of a horse.And so, Oholibah, you relived your former days as a young girl in Egypt, when you first allowed your breasts to be fondled.

And you are even worse than your ancestors! You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me.

The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that can’t help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask,“ Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”

“ I have heard these prophets say,‘ Listen to the dream I had from God last night.’ And then they proceed to tell lies in my name.How long will this go on? If they are prophets, they are prophets of deceit, inventing everything they say.By telling these false dreams, they are trying to get my people to forget me, just as their ancestors did by worshiping the idols of Baal.“ Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my every word. There is a difference between straw and grain!Does not my word burn like fire?” says the Lord.“ Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?“ Therefore,” says the Lord,“ I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me.I am against these smooth tongued prophets who say,‘ This prophecy is from the Lord!’I am against these false prophets. Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin. I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all for my people. I, the Lord, have spoken!

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.

Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

The Lord said to Moses,“ You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin to worship foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I have made with them.Then my anger will blaze forth against them. I will abandon them, hiding my face from them, and they will be devoured. Terrible trouble will come down on them, and on that day they will say,‘ These disasters have come down on us because God is no longer among us!’At that time I will hide my face from them on account of all the evil they commit by worshiping other gods.

And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say,‘ My message is from the Sovereign Lord,’ when the Lord hasn’t spoken a single word to them.

Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife.From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.

“ Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: Do you plan to pollute yourselves just as your ancestors did? Do you intend to keep prostituting yourselves by worshiping vile images?

But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations.We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.“ Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you.O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets.All Israel has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice.“ So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin.You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem.

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah,“ Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, but the people believe your lies.Therefore, this is what the Lord says:‘ You must die. Your life will end this very year because you have rebelled against the Lord.’”

They will spread out their bones on the ground before the sun, moon, and stars— the gods my people have loved, served, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up again or buried but will be scattered on the ground like manure.

“ But Israel soon became fat and unruly; the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed! Then they abandoned the God who had made them; they made light of the Rock of their salvation.They stirred up his jealousy by worshiping foreign gods; they provoked his fury with detestable deeds.They offered sacrifices to demons, which are not God, to gods they had not known before, to new gods only recently arrived, to gods their ancestors had never feared.You neglected the Rock who had fathered you; you forgot the God who had given you birth.“ The Lord saw this and drew back, provoked to anger by his own sons and daughters.He said,‘ I will abandon them; then see what becomes of them. For they are a twisted generation, children without integrity.They have roused my jealousy by worshiping things that are not God; they have provoked my anger with their useless idols. Now I will rouse their jealousy through people who are not even a people; I will provoke their anger through the foolish Gentiles.For my anger blazes forth like fire and burns to the depths of the grave. It devours the earth and all its crops and ignites the foundations of the mountains.I will heap disasters upon them and shoot them down with my arrows.I will weaken them with famine, burning fever, and deadly disease. I will send the fangs of wild beasts and poisonous snakes that glide in the dust.Outside, the sword will bring death, and inside, terror will strike both young men and young women, both infants and the aged.I would have annihilated them, wiping out even the memory of them.But I feared the taunt of Israel’s enemy, who might misunderstand and say,“ Our own power has triumphed! The Lord had nothing to do with this!”’

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal.They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord.They abandoned the Lord to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth.This made the Lord burn with anger against Israel, so he handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them.Every time Israel went out to battle, the Lord fought against them, causing them to be defeated, just as he had warned. And the people were in great distress.Then the Lord raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers.Yet Israel did not listen to the judges but prostituted themselves by worshiping other gods. How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands.Whenever the Lord raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the Lord took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering.But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways, behaving worse than those who had lived before them. They went after other gods, serving and worshiping them. And they refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.So the Lord burned with anger against Israel. He said,“ Because these people have violated my covenant, which I made with their ancestors, and have ignored my commands,

I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.“ When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were, Israel turned to Assyria— to the great king there— but he could neither help nor cure them.

“ You warned them to return to your Law, but they became proud and obstinate and disobeyed your commands. They did not follow your regulations, by which people will find life if only they obey. They stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to listen.In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit, who warned them through the prophets. But still they wouldn’t listen! So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them.