Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch them; she will seek them, but she will not find them. Then she will say,“ I will go back to my husband, because I was better off then than I am now.”

她必追随所爱的，却追不上；她必寻找他们，却寻不见，便说：‘我要归回前夫，因我那时的光景比如今还好。’

以致她追随所爱的人，却追不上，寻找他们，却寻不着，就说：“我要回到前夫那里去，因我那时比现在还好。”

以致她追随所爱的人，却追不上，寻找他们，却寻不着，就说：“我要回到前夫那里去，因我那时比现在还好。”

她要追随情人，却追不上；寻找情人，却找不到。于是，她说，‘我倒不如回到丈夫身边，我从前的光景比现在还好。’

她要追赶她那些爱人，却追不上；要寻找他们，却找不着。她就说：‘我要回去，回到前夫那里，因为从前比现在好得多了。’

她必追隨所愛的，卻追不上；她必尋找他們，卻尋不見，便說：我要歸回前夫，因我那時的光景比如今還好。

以致她追隨所愛的人，卻追不上，尋找他們，卻尋不着，就說：「我要回到前夫那裏去，因我那時比現在還好。」

以致她追隨所愛的人，卻追不上，尋找他們，卻尋不着，就說：「我要回到前夫那裏去，因我那時比現在還好。」

她要追隨情人，卻追不上；尋找情人，卻找不到。於是，她說，『我倒不如回到丈夫身邊，我從前的光景比現在還好。』

她要追趕她那些愛人，卻追不上；要尋找他們，卻找不著。她就說：‘我要回去，回到前夫那裡，因為從前比現在好得多了。’

她必追逐她的愛人，卻追不上；她必尋找他們，卻尋不見；便說：「我要去，回歸我的前夫，因為我那時的光景比如今還好。」

彼追情人而不及、尋之而不遇、則曰、我將歸我故夫、彼日之況、較今日尤美也、

彼欲從所懽、而不能、遍索弗得、遂曰我憶昔所懽、其贈余者、多於今日、故必歸之、

彼追隨愛之者不得及、尋之不遇、遂曰、不如歸就前夫、我昔時景況、佳於今日、

She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say,‘ I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.’

She will still chase after her lovers. But she won’t catch them. She’ll look for them. But she won’t find them. Then she’ll say,‘ I’ll go back to my husband. That’s where I was at first. I was better off then than I am now.’

She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say,‘ I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’

When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think,‘ I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’

She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will think,“ I will go back to my former husband, for then it was better for me than now.”

And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say,‘ I will go back to my first husband, Because it was better for me then than now!’

She will chase her lovers, But not overtake them; Yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say,‘ I will go and return to my first husband, For then it was better for me than now.’

And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.

She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will think,“ I will go back to my former husband, for then it was better for me than now.”

And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find[ them]: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then[ was it] better with me than now.

She will follow after her lovers, but she won’t overtake them; and she will seek them, but won’t find them. Then she will say,‘ I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.’

“ Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem:‘ This is what the LORD says:“ I have fond memories of you, how devoted you were to me in your early years. I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and begged its great king for help. But he will not be able to heal you! He cannot cure your wound!

When they were fed, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; as a result, they forgot me!

Do any of the worthless idols of the nations cause rain to fall? Do the skies themselves send showers? Is it not you, O Lord our God, who does this? So we put our hopes in you because you alone do all this.”

Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

Why do you constantly go about changing your political allegiances? You will get no help from Egypt just as you got no help from Assyria.Moreover, you will come away from Egypt with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame because the LORD will not allow your reliance on them to be successful and you will not gain any help from them.“ If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife, he may not take her back again. Doing that would utterly defile the land. But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. So what makes you think you can return to me?” says the LORD.

They travel down to Egypt without seeking my will, seeking Pharaoh’s protection, and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade.But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame, and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them save you when you are in trouble. The sad fact is that you have as many gods as you have towns, Judah.

It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the LORD.

You say,‘ No, we will flee on horses,’ so you will indeed flee. You say,‘ We will ride on fast horses,’ so your pursuers will be fast.

You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.”

“ Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign LORD says: Look here, I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side:

Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, those who rely on war horses, and trust in Egypt’s many chariots and in their many, many horsemen. But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel and do not seek help from the LORD.Yet he too is wise and he will bring disaster; he does not retract his decree. He will attack the wicked nation, and the nation that helps those who commit sin.The Egyptians are mere humans, not God; their horses are made of flesh, not spirit. The LORD will strike with his hand; the one who helps will stumble and the one being helped will fall. Together they will perish.

They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things– wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness.“ Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies.

He enabled him to travel over the high terrain of the land, and he ate of the produce of the fields. He provided honey for him from the cliffs, and olive oil from the hardest of rocks,butter from the herd and milk from the flock, along with the fat of lambs, rams and goats of Bashan, along with the best of the kernels of wheat; and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.But Jeshurun became fat and kicked, you got fat, thick, and stuffed! Then he deserted the God who made him, and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.

I have indeed heard the people of Israel say mournfully,‘ We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. You disciplined us and we learned from it. Let us come back to you and we will do so, for you are the LORD our God.

King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came, but he gave him more trouble than support.Ahaz gathered riches from the LORD’s temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.During his time of trouble King Ahaz was even more unfaithful to the LORD.

Moreover, the LORD says to the people of Zion,“ Your injuries are incurable; your wounds are severe.There is no one to plead your cause. There are no remedies for your wounds. There is no healing for you.All your allies have abandoned you. They no longer have any concern for you. For I have attacked you like an enemy would. I have chastened you cruelly. For your wickedness is so great and your sin is so much.Why do you complain about your injuries, that your pain is incurable? I have done all this to you because your wickedness is so great and your sin is so much.

“ When that time comes,” says the LORD,“ the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together. They will come back with tears of repentance as they seek the LORD their God.They will ask the way to Zion; they will turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.

Rest once more, my soul, for the LORD has vindicated you.

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sin has been your downfall!

“‘ Then I passed by you and watched you, noticing that you had reached the age for love. I spread my cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you and entered into a marriage covenant with you, declares the sovereign LORD, and you became mine.

Then I will return again to my lair until they have suffered their punishment. Then they will seek me; in their distress they will earnestly seek me.“ Come on! Let’s return to the LORD! He himself has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us! He has injured us, but he will bandage our wounds!

Be careful not to say,“ My own ability and skill have gotten me this wealth.”You must remember the LORD your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors, even as he has to this day.

You took your embroidered clothing and used it to cover them; you offered my olive oil and my incense to them.

“‘ What you plan will never happen. You say,“ We will be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.”

Come back to me, you wayward people. I want to cure your waywardness. Say,‘ Here we are. We come to you because you are the LORD our God.We know our noisy worship of false gods on the hills and mountains did not help us. We know that the LORD our God is the only one who can deliver Israel.From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal, has taken away all that our ancestors worked for. It has taken away our flocks and our herds, and even our sons and daughters.Let us acknowledge our shame. Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve. For we have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our ancestors. From earliest times to this very day we have not obeyed the LORD our God.’

Let us carefully examine our ways, and let us return to the LORD.Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven:“ We have blatantly rebelled; you have not forgiven.”ס( Samek)

This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels; this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones, so that those who are alive may understand that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, and he bestows them on whomever he wishes. He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.’

Then when the LORD your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you– a land with large, fine cities you did not build,houses filled with choice things you did not accumulate, hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant– and you eat your fill,be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery.

You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and you will become damp with the dew of the sky. Seven periods of time will pass by for you, before you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.

But when he came to his senses he said,‘ How many of my father’s hired workers have food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger!I will get up and go to my father and say to him,“ Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.”’So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him.

He was driven from human society, his mind was changed to that of an animal, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.