Then you will know that I am the Lord. You have not obeyed my rules. You have not kept my laws. Instead, you have lived by the standards of the nations around you.’ ”

你们就知道我是耶和华；因为你们没有遵行我的律例，也没有顺从我的典章，却随从你们四围列国的恶规。”

你们就知道我是耶和华；因为你们不遵行我的律例，也不顺从我的典章，却随从你们四围列国的规条。”

你们就知道我是耶和华；因为你们不遵行我的律例，也不顺从我的典章，却随从你们四围列国的规条。”

这样你们就知道我是耶和华。因为你们没有遵行我的律例，没有顺从我的典章，却效法你们四邻外族的规矩。’”

你们就知道我是耶和华。这是因为你们没有遵行我的律例，也没有遵守我的典章，却效法你们周围列国的习俗去行。’”

你們就知道我是耶和華；因為你們沒有遵行我的律例，也沒有順從我的典章，卻隨從你們四圍列國的惡規。」

你們就知道我是耶和華；因為你們不遵行我的律例，也不順從我的典章，卻隨從你們四圍列國的規條。」

你們就知道我是耶和華；因為你們不遵行我的律例，也不順從我的典章，卻隨從你們四圍列國的規條。」

這樣你們就知道我是耶和華。因為你們沒有遵行我的律例，沒有順從我的典章，卻效法你們四鄰外族的規矩。』」

你們就知道我是耶和華。這是因為你們沒有遵行我的律例，也沒有遵守我的典章，卻效法你們周圍列國的習俗去行。’”

你們就知道我乃是永恆主；因為你們沒有遵行我的律例，沒有實行我的典章，反而依照你們四圍列國的規矩去行。』

爾則知我乃耶和華、蓋爾不循我典章、不行我律例、乃從四周列國之律例、

使知我乃耶和華、蓋爾不遵我律例、不守我法度、乃從四周列邦之所為。

爾曹則知我乃主、因爾不遵我之律例、不守我之法度、乃從四周異邦之習俗、習俗或作規例

And you will know that I am the Lord, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.”

and you shall know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.”

and you will know that I am the Lord. For you have refused to obey my decrees and regulations; instead, you have copied the standards of the nations around you.”

so you will know that I am the LORD, whose statutes you have not followed and whose ordinances you have not practiced. Instead, you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.’”

So you will know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes, nor have you executed My ordinances, but you have acted in accordance with the ordinances of the nations around you.” ’ ”

And you shall know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you.”’”

and ye shall know that I am Jehovah: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither have ye executed mine ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you.

so you will know that I am Yahweh, whose statutes you have not followed and whose ordinances you have not practiced. Instead, you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.”

And ye shall know that I[ am] the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that[ are] round about you.

Then you will know that I am the LORD, whose statutes you have not followed and whose regulations you have not carried out. Instead you have behaved according to the regulations of the nations around you!’”

You will know that I am Yahweh, for you have not walked in my statutes, You have not executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you.”’”

So I went in and looked. All over the walls were pictures of all kinds of crawling things and“ unclean” animals. The Lord hates it when people worship those things. There were also carvings of the gods of the people of Israel.

Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’ s house. I saw women sitting there. They were mourning for the god named Tammuz.

Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of the Lord’ s house. About 25 men were there. They were at the entrance to the Lord’ s temple between the porch and the altar. Their backs were turned toward the temple. Their faces were turned toward the east. And they were bowing down to the sun.

Instead, they mixed with those nations and adopted their ways.They worshiped statues of their gods. That became a trap for them.They sacrificed their sons and daughters as offerings to false gods.They killed those who weren’t guilty of doing anything wrong. They killed their own sons and daughters. They sacrificed them as offerings to statues of the gods of Canaan. The land became“ unclean” because of the blood of their children.The people made themselves impure by what they had done. They weren’t faithful to the Lord.

Do not do what the people of Egypt do. You used to live there. And do not do what the people of Canaan do. I am bringing you into their land. Do not follow their practices.

He obeys my rules. He is faithful in keeping my laws. He always does what is right. You can be sure he will live,” announces the Lord and King.

They had not obeyed my laws. They had turned their backs on my rules. They had misused my Sabbath days. They only wanted to worship the statues of their parents’ gods.

He says,“ Do not follow the practices of other nations. Do not be terrified by warnings in the sky. Do not be afraid, even though the nations are terrified by them.

We are filled with it. It has been like that ever since the days of our people who lived long ago. Kings of other countries have killed many of us and our kings and priests with their swords. They’ve forced others to leave their own land. They’ve taken them away as prisoners. They’ve robbed others. They’ve made still others feel ashamed and dishonored. All these things have happened to us because we’ve committed so many sins. And that’s how things still are to this day.

They didn’t keep the covenant God had made with them. They refused to live by his law.

Our kings and leaders didn’t follow your law. Our priests and our people before us didn’t follow it either. They didn’t pay any attention to your commands or rules that you warned them to keep.

He followed the ways of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his son in the fire to another god. He followed the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. He had driven out those nations to make room for the Israelites.

“‘ But suppose you admit that both you and your people who lived before you have sinned. You admit the evil and dishonest things you have done against me. And you admit you have become my enemy.

But they turned their backs on my laws. They did not obey my rules. They misused my Sabbath days. Their hearts were committed to worshiping the statues of their gods.

The Lord had driven out nations to make room for Israel. But the Israelites burned incense at every high place, just as those nations had done. The Israelites did evil things that made the Lord very angry.They worshiped statues of gods. They did it even though the Lord had said,“ Do not do that.”The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers. He said,“ Turn from your evil ways. Keep my commands and rules. Obey every part of my Law. I commanded your people who lived long ago to obey it. And I gave it to you through my servants the prophets.”But the people wouldn’t listen. They were as stubborn as their people of long ago had been. Those people didn’t trust in the Lord their God.They refused to obey his rules. They broke the covenant he had made with them. They didn’t pay any attention to the rules he had warned them to keep. They worshiped worthless statues of gods. Then they themselves became worthless. They followed the example of the nations around them. They did it even though the Lord had ordered them not to. He had said,“ Do not do as they do.”They turned away from all the commands of the Lord their God. They made two statues of gods for themselves. The statues were shaped like calves. They made a pole used to worship the female god named Asherah. They bowed down to all the stars. And they worshiped the god named Baal.They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced all kinds of evil magic. They gave up following God’s rules. They did only what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. All these things made him very angry.So the Lord was very angry with Israel. He removed them from his land. Only the tribe of Judah was left.And even Judah didn’t obey the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had started.So the Lord turned his back on all the people of Israel. He made them suffer. He handed them over to people who stole everything they had. And finally he threw them out of his land.The Lord took control of Israel away from the royal house of David. The Israelites made Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, their king. Jeroboam tried to get Israel to stop following the Lord. He caused them to commit a terrible sin.The Israelites were stubborn. They continued to commit all the sins Jeroboam had committed. They didn’t turn away from them.So the Lord removed them from his land. That’s what he had warned them he would do. He had given that warning through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken away from their country. They were forced to go to Assyria. And that’s where they still are.

He deserted the Lord, the God of his people. He didn’t obey the Lord.

But some people have hearts that are committed to worshiping the statues of their evil gods. I hate those gods. Anything that happens to those people will be their own fault,” announces the Lord and King.

I will do these things because the tribes have deserted me. They have worshiped Ashtoreth, the female god of the people of Sidon. They have worshiped Chemosh, the god of the people of Moab. And they have worshiped Molek, the god of the people of Ammon. They have not lived the way I wanted them to. They have not done what is right in my eyes. They have not obeyed my rules and laws as Solomon’s father David did.

Manasseh did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He followed the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. The Lord had driven out those nations to make room for the Israelites.Manasseh rebuilt the high places. His father Hezekiah had destroyed them. Manasseh also set up altars to the gods that were named Baal. He made poles used to worship the female god named Asherah. He even bowed down to all the stars and worshiped them.He built altars in the Lord’ s temple. The Lord had said about his temple,“ My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”In the two courtyards of the Lord’ s temple Manasseh built altars to honor all the stars in the sky.He sacrificed his children in the fire to other gods. He did it in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He practiced all kinds of evil magic. He took part in worshiping evil powers. He got messages from people who had died. He talked to the spirits of people who have died. He did many things that were evil in the eyes of the Lord. Manasseh made the Lord very angry.Manasseh had carved a statue of a god. He put it in God’s temple. God had spoken to David and his son Solomon about the temple. He had said,“ My Name will be in this temple and in Jerusalem forever. Out of all the cities in the tribes of Israel I have chosen Jerusalem.I gave this land to your people who lived long ago. I will not make the Israelites leave it again. But they must be careful to do everything I commanded them. They must follow all the laws, directions, and rules I gave them through Moses.”But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray. They did more evil things than the nations the Lord had destroyed to make room for the Israelites.

Then King Ahaz went to Damascus. He went there to see Tiglath- Pileser, the king of Assyria. Ahaz saw an altar in Damascus. He sent a drawing of it to Uriah the priest. Ahaz also sent him plans for building it.So Uriah the priest built an altar. He followed all the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. He finished it before Ahaz returned.

“ All those who use proverbs will use this one about you. They will say,‘ Like mother, like daughter.’You are a true daughter of your mother. She hated her husband and children. And you are a true sister of your sisters. They hated their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite. Your father was an Amorite.Your older sister was Samaria. She lived north of you with her daughters. Your younger sister was Sodom. She lived south of you with her daughters.You lived exactly the way they did. You copied their evil practices. I hate those practices. Everything you did was so sinful that you soon became even worse than they were.

You are the Lord our God. But we haven’t obeyed you. We haven’t kept the laws you gave us through your servants the prophets.

But you drove out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron. You also drove out the Levites. You appointed your own priests. That’s what the people of other nations do. Anyone can come and set himself apart. All he has to do is sacrifice a young bull and seven rams. Then he becomes a priest of gods that aren’t really gods at all!

“‘ “But their children refused to obey me. They did not follow my rules. They were not careful to keep my laws. The person who obeys them will live by them. They misused my Sabbath days. So I said I would pour out all my great anger on them in the desert.

“‘ Do not make yourselves“ unclean” in any of these ways. That is how other nations became“ unclean.” So I am going to drive those nations out of the land to make room for you.Even their land was not“ clean.” So I punished it because of its sin. The land itself threw out the people who lived there.But you must keep my rules and my laws. You must not do any of the things I hate. It does not matter whether you are Israelites or outsiders.All these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you. That is how the land became“ unclean.”If you make the land“ unclean,” it will throw you out. It will get rid of you just as it got rid of the nations there before you.

These things happened because the Israelites hadn’t obeyed the Lord their God. They had broken the covenant he had made with them. They had refused to do everything Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded. They hadn’t paid any attention to those commands. They hadn’t obeyed them.

Manasseh did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He followed the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. He had driven those nations out to make room for the Israelites.

The Lord tells the people of Judah,“ Stand where the roads cross, and look around. Ask where the old paths are. Ask for the good path, and walk on it. Then your hearts will find rest in me. But you said,‘ We won’t walk on it.’

He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He sacrificed his children in the fire to other gods. He followed the practices of the nations. The Lord hates these practices. The Lord had driven out those nations to make room for the people of Israel.

And that’s not all. The people and all the leaders of the priests became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. The people and leaders made the Lord’ s temple“ unclean.” The Lord had set the temple in Jerusalem apart in a special way for himself.

They will be destroyed to make room for you. But when they are destroyed, be careful. Don’t be trapped. Don’t ask questions about their gods. Don’t say,“ How do these nations serve their gods? We’ll do it in the same way.”You must not worship the Lord your God the way they worship their gods. When they worship, they do all kinds of evil things the Lord hates. They even burn up their children in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.