“ 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.

“只是你仗着自己的美貌，又因你的名声就行邪淫。你纵情淫乱，使过路的任意而行。

“只是你仗着自己美貌，又凭着你的名声行淫。你向路人纵情淫乱，你的美貌就属于他的了。

“只是你仗着自己美貌，又凭着你的名声行淫。你向路人纵情淫乱，你的美貌就属于他的了。

“‘你却仗着自己的美貌和名声纵情淫乱，与所有过路的人苟合。

“‘可是你倚仗你的美丽，又凭着你的名声去行淫；你向每一个过路的人纵情淫乱（《马索拉文本》在本节最后有“而那便成了属他的”；现参照《七十士译本》和其他古译本的较短读文翻译）。

「只是你仗着自己的美貌，又因你的名聲就行邪淫。你縱情淫亂，使過路的任意而行。

「只是你仗着自己美貌，又憑着你的名聲行淫。你向路人縱情淫亂，你的美貌就屬於他的了。

「只是你仗着自己美貌，又憑着你的名聲行淫。你向路人縱情淫亂，你的美貌就屬於他的了。

「『你卻仗著自己的美貌和名聲縱情淫亂，與所有過路的人苟合。

“‘可是你倚仗你的美麗，又憑著你的名聲去行淫；你向每一個過路的人縱情淫亂（《馬索拉文本》在本節最後有“而那便成了屬他的”；現參照《七十士譯本》和其他古譯本的較短讀文翻譯）。

『但是你倚靠你的美麗，竟憑着你的名聲而行淫；你向任何過路人傾瀉出你的淫亂媚態，而那便成了屬他的。

惟爾恃己豔麗、名譽洋溢、遂縱淫欲、過者則與行淫、為其所有、

惟爾自恃其美、聲名洋溢、故縱私欲、無論何人、隨在與之行淫。

惟爾自恃爾美、因爾聲名徧揚、遂徇欲行淫、無論何人經過、爾即放縱嗜慾、與之苟合、爾之身即歸於彼、

“‘ But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his.

“‘ “But you trusted in your beauty. You used your fame to become a prostitute. You offered your body freely to anyone who passed by. In fact, you gave yourself to anyone who wanted you.

“ But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his.

“‘ But you trusted in your beauty and acted like a prostitute because of your fame. You lavished your sexual favors on everyone who passed by. Your beauty became his.

“ But you trusted in your beauty and became unfaithful because of your fame, and you poured out your obscene practices on every passer by to whom it might be tempting.

“ But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it.

But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by; his it was.

“ But you were confident in your beauty and acted like a prostitute because of your fame. You lavished your sexual favors on everyone who passed by. Your beauty became his.

But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

“‘ But you trusted in your beauty and capitalized on your fame by becoming a prostitute. You offered your sexual favors to every man who passed by so that your beauty became his.

“‘“ But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by. It was his.

“ Long ago I broke the yoke that oppressed you and tore away the chains of your slavery, but still you said,‘ I will not serve you.’ On every hill and under every green tree, you have prostituted yourselves by bowing down to idols.

On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution.

You have put pagan symbols on your doorposts and behind your doors. You have left me and climbed into bed with these detestable gods. You have committed yourselves to them. You love to look at their naked bodies.

They became prostitutes in Egypt. Even as young girls, they allowed men to fondle their breasts.

But don’t be fooled by those who promise you safety simply because the Lord’s Temple is here. They chant,“ The Lord’s Temple is here! The Lord’s Temple is here!”

See how Jerusalem, once so faithful, has become a prostitute. Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled with murderers.

When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him,“ Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”

For when she left Egypt, she did not leave her spirit of prostitution behind. She was still as lewd as in her youth, when the Egyptians slept with her, fondled her breasts, and used her as a prostitute.

“ But they rebelled against me and would not listen. They did not get rid of the vile images they were obsessed with, or forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I threatened to pour out my fury on them to satisfy my anger while they were still in Egypt.

A mysterious name was written on her forehead:“ Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.”

So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to the people,“ It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!”

On that day you will no longer need to be ashamed, for you will no longer be rebels against me. I will remove all proud and arrogant people from among you. There will be no more haughtiness on my holy mountain.

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.

“ 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.

Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.

You rulers make decisions based on bribes; you priests teach God’s laws only for a price; you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid. Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord.“ No harm can come to us,” you say,“ for the Lord is here among us.”

This disaster came upon the people of Israel because they worshiped other gods. They sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them safely out of Egypt and had rescued them from the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

“ Listen to me, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and born into the family of Judah. Listen, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and call on the God of Israel. You don’t keep your promises,

While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women.These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab.

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.

They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the Lord

and they intermarried with them. Israelite sons married their daughters, and Israelite daughters were given in marriage to their sons. And the Israelites served their gods.

The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.The Lord told Moses,“ Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying,‘ These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”Then the Lord said,“ I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are.Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God.“ O Lord!” he said.“ Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand?Why let the Egyptians say,‘ Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people!Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying,‘ I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’”So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.Then Moses turned and went down the mountain. He held in his hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.These tablets were God’s work; the words on them were written by God himself.When Joshua heard the boisterous noise of the people shouting below them, he exclaimed to Moses,“ It sounds like war in the camp!”But Moses replied,“ No, it’s not a shout of victory nor the wailing of defeat. I hear the sound of a celebration.”When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain.He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it.Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded,“ What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?”“ Don’t get so upset, my lord,” Aaron replied.“ You yourself know how evil these people are.They said to me,‘ Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’So I told them,‘ Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire— and out came this calf!”Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted,“ All of you who are on the Lord’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.Moses told them,“ This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone— even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.”The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.Then Moses told the Levites,“ Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the Lord, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Today you have earned a blessing.”The next day Moses said to the people,“ You have committed a terrible sin, but I will go back up to the Lord on the mountain. Perhaps I will be able to obtain forgiveness for your sin.”So Moses returned to the Lord and said,“ Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves.But now, if you will only forgive their sin— but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!”But the Lord replied to Moses,“ No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me.Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Look! My angel will lead the way before you. And when I come to call the people to account, I will certainly hold them responsible for their sins.”Then the Lord sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.

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.

He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had destroyed. He constructed altars for Baal and set up an Asherah pole, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped them.

When I tell righteous people that they will live, but then they sin, expecting their past righteousness to save them, then none of their righteous acts will be remembered. I will destroy them for their sins.

Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.

“ If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to me?” says the Lord.

“ 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.

Don’t just say to each other,‘ We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.

that mighty gateway to the sea, the trading center of the world. Give Tyre this message from the Sovereign Lord:“ You boasted, O Tyre,‘ My beauty is perfect!’