My people have made up their minds to turn away from me. Even if they call me the Most High God, I will certainly not honor them.”

我的民偏要背道离开我；众先知虽然招呼他们归向至上的主，却无人尊崇主。

我的百姓偏要背离我，他们虽向至高者呼求，他却不抬举他们。

我的百姓偏要背离我，他们虽向至高者呼求，他却不抬举他们。

我的子民执意离我而去，他们虽然求告至高的我，我也不会拯救他们。

我的子民决要背道离开我，他们因着所负的轭而呼求，却没有人给他们卸下。

我的民偏要背道離開我；眾先知雖然招呼他們歸向至上的主，卻無人尊崇主。

我的百姓偏要背離我，他們雖向至高者呼求，他卻不抬舉他們。

我的百姓偏要背離我，他們雖向至高者呼求，他卻不抬舉他們。

我的子民執意離我而去，他們雖然求告至高的我，我也不會拯救他們。

我的子民決要背道離開我，他們因著所負的軛而呼求，卻沒有人給他們卸下。

我的人民偏要背道離開我；故此他們被派去負軛，沒有人能給除去。

我民決志違離我、雖有召之向上、興者迄無一人、

我民心偏、專背我旨、先知呼民、歸我至上之主、崇我者迄無一人、

我民當歸誠於我、乃游移不定、我民當歸誠於我乃游移不定或作我民專心背叛我先知勸之歸至上之主、無一人奮興、

My people are determined to turn from me. Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them.

My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all.

For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don’t truly honor me.

My people are bent on turning from me. Though they call to him on high, he will not exalt them at all.

So My people are determined to turn from Me. Though they call them to the One on high, None at all exalts Him.

My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, None at all exalt Him.

And my people are bent on backsliding from me: though they call them to him that is on high, none at all will exalt him.

My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to Him on high, He will not exalt them at all.

And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt[ him].

My people are obsessed with turning away from me; they call to Baal, but he will never exalt them!

My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won’t exalt them.

Then why have the people of Jerusalem turned away from me? Why do they always turn away? They keep on telling lies. They refuse to come back to me.

They were like their people who lived long ago. They turned away from him and were not faithful. They were like a bow that doesn’t shoot straight. They couldn’t be trusted.They made God angry by going to their high places. They made him jealous by worshiping the statues of their gods.

Those who aren’t faithful will be paid back for what they’ve done. And good people will receive rewards for how they’ve lived.

But the more I called out to Israel, the more they went away from me. They brought sacrifices to the statues of the gods that were named Baal. And they burned incense to them.

“ But my people wouldn’t listen to me. Israel wouldn’t obey me.

Then the Lord will answer,“ My people always wander away from me. But I will put an end to that. My anger has turned away from them. Now I will love them freely.

The Lord speaks to the people of Israel. He says,“ Look to me and live.Do not look to Bethel. Do not go to Gilgal. Do not travel to Beersheba. The people of Gilgal will be taken away as prisoners. Nothing will be left of Bethel.”Israel, look to the Lord and live. If you don’t, he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire. It will burn everything up. And Bethel won’t have anyone to put it out.

I am the Most High God. But they do not turn to me. They are like a bow that does not shoot straight. Their leaders will be killed by swords. They will die because they have spoken too proudly. The people of Egypt will make fun of them.”

Look to what is good, not to what is evil. Then you will live. And the Lord God who rules over all will be with you, just as you say he is.Hate evil and love good. Do what is fair in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God who rules over all will have mercy on you. After all, you are the only ones left in the family line of Joseph.

During the time Josiah was king, the Lord spoke to me. He said,“ Have you seen what the people of Israel have done? They have not been faithful to me. They have committed adultery with other gods. They worshiped them on every high hill and under every green tree.I thought that after they had done all this, they would return to me. But they did not. Their sister nation Judah saw them doing this. And they were not faithful to me either.I gave Israel their letter of divorce. I sent them away because they were unfaithful to me so many times. But I saw that their sister nation Judah did not have any respect for me. They were not faithful to me either. They also went out and committed adultery with other gods.

Lord, our sins are a witness against us. But do something for the honor of your name. We have often turned away from you. We’ve sinned against you.

The Lord said to me,“ Israel and Judah have not been faithful to me. But Israel was not as bad as Judah was.

Hezekiah sent a message to all the people of Israel and Judah. He also wrote letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He invited everyone to come to the Lord’ s temple in Jerusalem. He wanted them to celebrate the Passover Feast to honor the Lord. He is the God of Israel.The king, his officials and the whole community in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover Feast in the second month.They hadn’t been able to celebrate it at the regular time. That’s because there weren’t enough priests who had set themselves apart to the Lord. Also, the people hadn’t gathered together in Jerusalem.The plan seemed good to the king and the whole community.They decided to send a message all through Israel. It was sent out from Beersheba all the way to Dan. The message invited the people to come to Jerusalem. It invited them to celebrate the Passover Feast to honor the Lord, the God of Israel. The Passover Feast hadn’t been celebrated by large numbers of people for a long time. It hadn’t been done in keeping with what was written in the law.Messengers went all through Israel and Judah. They carried letters from the king and his officials. The king had ordered them to do that. The letters said,“ People of Israel, return to the Lord. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Return to him. Then he will return to you who are left in the land. You have escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria.Don’t be like your parents and the rest of your people. They weren’t faithful to the Lord, the God of their people. That’s why he punished them. He made them look so bad that everyone was shocked when they saw them. You can see it for yourselves.Don’t be stubborn. Don’t be as your people were. Obey the Lord. Come to his temple. He has set it apart to himself forever. Serve the Lord your God. Then he’ll stop being angry with you.Suppose you return to the Lord. Then those who captured your relatives and children will be kind to them. In fact, your relatives and children will come back to this land. The Lord your God is kind and tender. He won’t turn away from you if you return to him.”The messengers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh. They went all the way to Zebulun. But people laughed and made fun of them.In spite of that, some people from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun made themselves humble. They went to Jerusalem.

The people of Israel are stubborn. They are as stubborn as a young cow. So how can I take care of them like lambs in a meadow?