See how the faithful city of Jerusalem has become like a prostitute! Once it was full of people who treated others fairly. Those who did what was right used to live in it. But now murderers live there!

可叹，忠信的城变为妓女！从前充满了公平，公义居在其中，现今却有凶手居住。

忠信的城竟然变为妓女！从前充满了公平，公义居在其中，现今却有凶手居住。

忠信的城竟然变为妓女！从前充满了公平，公义居在其中，现今却有凶手居住。

耶路撒冷啊，你这忠贞的妻子竟变成了妓女！你从前充满公平，是公义之家，现在却住着凶手。

那忠贞的城，怎么会变成妓女！她从前充满公平，有公义居在其中，现在却有凶手居住。

忠信的城竟然变为妓女！这城从前充满公正，有公义居于其中，现在却只有杀人凶手。

可歎，忠信的城變為妓女！從前充滿了公平，公義居在其中，現今卻有兇手居住。

忠信的城竟然變為妓女！從前充滿了公平，公義居在其中，現今卻有兇手居住。

忠信的城竟然變為妓女！從前充滿了公平，公義居在其中，現今卻有兇手居住。

耶路撒冷啊，你這忠貞的妻子竟變成了妓女！你從前充滿公平，是公義之家，現在卻住著兇手。

那忠貞的城，怎麼會變成妓女！她從前充滿公平，有公義居在其中，現在卻有兇手居住。

怎麼啦！她竟變為妓女啊！從前忠信可靠的都市，充滿了公平，有公義居於其中，如今竟為兇手所住了！

忠信的城竟然變為妓女！這城從前充滿公正，有公義居於其中，現在卻只有殺人凶手。

噫、忠信之邑、變為妓矣、昔盈公正、義處其中、今則殺人者居焉、

爾邑自古以來、風俗敦龐、以迄於今、漸流於淫靡矣。昔也行仁義者居之、茲也嗜殺人者處之。

可歎斯邑昔為忠信、今成如妓、昔公平充盈其中、善義託處其間、今則殺人者居之、

See how the faithful city has become a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her— but now murderers!

How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

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

The faithful town— what an adulteress she has become! She was once full of justice. Righteousness once dwelt in her, but now, murderers!

How the faithful city has become a prostitute, She who was full of justice! Righteousness once dwelt in her, But now murderers.

How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; Righteousness lodged in it, But now murderers.

How is the faithful city become a harlot! she that was full of justice! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

The faithful city— what an adulteress she has become! She was once full of justice. Righteousness once dwelt in her— but now, murderers!

How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

How tragic that the once- faithful city has become a prostitute! She was once a center of justice, fairness resided in her, but now only murderers.

How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice. Righteousness lodged in her, but now there are murderers.

He continued,“ I will return to Zion. I will live among my people in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City. And my mountain will be called the Holy Mountain.”

God’s blessings are like a river. They fill the city of God with joy. That city is the holy place where the Most High God lives.

Here are the orders Jehoshaphat gave them. He said,“ Have respect for the Lord. Serve him faithfully. Do it with all your heart.

But you hate what is good. And you love what is evil. You are like someone who tears the skin off my people. You pull the meat off their bones.You eat my people’s bodies. You strip off their skin. You break their bones in pieces. You chop them up like meat. You put them in a cooking pot.”

The vineyard of the Lord who rules over all is the nation of Israel. The people of Judah are the vines he took delight in. He kept looking for them to do what is fair. But all he saw was blood being spilled. He kept looking for them to do what is right. But all he heard were cries of suffering.

Her people have committed many sins. They have become impure. All those who honored Jerusalem now look down on her. They all look at her as if she were a naked woman. The city groans and turns away in shame.Her skirts are dirty. She didn’t think about how things might turn out. Her fall from power amazed everyone. And no one was there to comfort her. She said,“ Lord, please pay attention to how much I’m suffering. My enemies have won the battle over me.”

The Lord is great. He is really worthy of praise. Praise him in the city of our God, his holy mountain.

But you have come to Mount Zion. You have come to the city of the living God. This is the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to a joyful gathering of angels. There are thousands and thousands of them.

David ruled over the whole nation of Israel. He did what was fair and right for all his people.

The Lord says,“ Come here, you children of women who practice evil magic! You are children of prostitutes and those who commit adultery.Who are you making fun of? Who are you laughing at? Who are you sticking your tongue out at? You are people who refuse to obey me. You are just a bunch of liars!You burn with sinful desire among the oak trees. You worship your gods under every green tree. You sacrifice your children in the valleys. You also do it under the cliffs.You have chosen some of the smooth stones in the valleys to be your gods. You have joined yourselves to them. You have even poured out drink offerings to them. You have given grain offerings to them. So why should I take pity on you?You have made your bed on a very high hill. You went up there to offer your sacrifices.You have set up statues to remind you of your gods. You have put them behind your doors and doorposts. You deserted me. You invited other lovers into your bed. You climbed into it and welcomed them. You made a deal with them. And you looked with desire at their naked bodies.You took olive oil to the god named Molek. You took a lot of perfume along with you. You sent your messengers to places far away. You even sent them down to the place of the dead.

How terrible it will be for Jerusalem! Its people crush others. They refuse to obey the Lord. They are“ unclean.”They don’t obey anyone. They don’t accept the Lord’ s warnings. They don’t trust in him. They don’t ask their God for his help.Jerusalem’s officials are like roaring lions. Their rulers are like wolves that hunt in the evening. They don’t leave anything to eat in the morning.

“ Long ago you broke off the yoke I put on you. You tore off the ropes I tied you up with. You said,‘ I won’t serve you!’ In fact, on every high hill you lay down like a prostitute. You worshiped other gods under every green tree.You were like a good vine when I planted you. You were a healthy plant. Then how did you turn against me? How did you become a bad, wild vine?

The leaders of the people made their homes in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots. They did it to choose one person out of every ten of them. That person was chosen to live in the holy city of Jerusalem. The other nine had to stay in their own towns.

“ Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and throw stones in order to kill those who are sent to you. Many times I have wanted to gather your people together. I have wanted to be like a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings. And you would not let me.

What we heard we have also seen. We have seen it in the city of the Lord who rules over all. We have seen it in the city of our God. We have heard and seen that God makes it secure forever.

A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said,“ Son of man, tell the people of Jerusalem the evil things they have done. I hate those things.Tell them,‘ The Lord and King speaks to Jerusalem. He says,“ Your history in the land of Canaan goes back a long way. Your father was an Amorite. Your mother was a Hittite.On the day you were born your cord was not cut. You were not washed with water to clean you up. You were not rubbed with salt. And you were not wrapped in large strips of cloth.No one took pity on you. No one was concerned enough to do any of these things for you. Instead, you were thrown out into an open field. You were hated on the day you were born.“‘ “I was passing by. I saw you kicking around in your blood. As you were lying there, I said to you,‘ Live!’I made you grow like a plant in a field. Soon you had grown up. You became a young adult. Your breasts had formed. Your hair had grown. But you were completely naked.“‘ “Later, I was passing by again. I looked at you. I saw that you were old enough for love. So I married you and took good care of you. I covered your naked body. I made a firm promise to you. I entered into a covenant with you. And you became mine,” announces the Lord and King.“‘ “I bathed you with water. I washed the blood off you. And I put lotions on you.I put a beautiful dress on you. I gave you sandals made out of fine leather. I dressed you in fine linen. I covered you with expensive clothes.I decorated you with jewelry. I put bracelets on your arms. I gave you a necklace for your neck.I put rings on your nose and ears. And I gave you a beautiful crown for your head.So you were decorated with gold and silver. Your clothes were made out of fine linen. They were made out of expensive and beautiful cloth. Your food was made out of honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful. You became a queen.You were so beautiful that your fame spread among the nations. The glory I had given you made your beauty perfect,” announces the Lord and King.“‘ “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.You used some of your clothes to make high places colorful. That is where people worshiped other gods. You were a prostitute there. You went to your lover and he took your beauty.I had given you fine jewelry. It was made out of gold and silver. You used it to make for yourself statues of male gods. You worshiped those gods. You were not faithful to me.You put your beautiful clothes on them. You offered my oil and incense to them.You also offered them food. It was made out of olive oil, honey and the finest flour. I had given it to you to eat. You offered it as sweet- smelling incense to them. That is what you did,” announces the Lord and King.“‘ “Then you took your sons and daughters who belonged to me. And you sacrificed them as food to other gods. Wasn’t it enough for you to be a prostitute?You killed my children. You sacrificed them to other gods.You did not remember the days when you were young. At that time you were completely naked. You were kicking around in your blood. But now you have done evil things. I hate them. You have worshiped other gods. You have not been faithful to me.“‘ “How terrible it will be for you!” announces the Lord and King.“ How terrible for you! You continued to sin against me.Your people built up mounds for themselves in every market. They put little places of worship on them.They set them up at every street corner. Jerusalem, you misused your beauty. You offered your body to anyone who passed by. You did it again and again.You committed shameful acts with the people of Egypt. They were your neighbors who were ready to have sex with you. You offered yourself to them again and again. That made me very angry.So I reached out my powerful hand against you. I made your territory smaller. I handed you over to your Philistine enemies. The people in their towns were shocked by your impure conduct.You also committed shameful acts with the people of Assyria. Nothing ever seemed to satisfy you. You could never get enough.Then you offered yourself to the people of Babylon. But that did not satisfy you either. There are many traders in the land of Babylon.“‘ “I am filled with great anger against you,” announces the Lord and King.“ Just look at all the things you are doing! You are acting like a prostitute who has no shame at all.Your people built up mounds at every street corner. You put little places of worship on them in every market. But you did not really act like a prostitute. That’s because you refused to let your lovers pay you anything.“‘ “You unfaithful wife! You would rather be with strangers than with your own husband!Every prostitute receives gifts. Instead, you give gifts to all your lovers. You offer them money to come to you from everywhere. You want them to sleep with you. You are not faithful to me.As a prostitute, you are the opposite of others. No one runs after you to sleep with you. You are exactly the opposite. You pay them. They do not pay you.” ’ ”You prostitute, listen to the Lord’ s message.The Lord and King says,“ You poured out your desire on your lovers. You took off your clothing and slept with them. You did it again and again. You worshiped other gods. I hate them. You even sacrificed your children to them.So I am going to gather together all the lovers you found pleasure with. They include those you loved and those you hated. I will gather them against you from everywhere. I will take your clothes off right in front of them. Then they will see you completely naked.I will hand down my sentence against you. You will be punished like women who commit adultery and sacrifice their children to other gods. I am so angry with you. So I will sentence you to death for everything you have done.Then I will hand you over to your lovers. They will tear down those mounds you built. They will destroy the little places of worship you put on them. They will take your clothes off. They will remove your fine jewelry. And they will leave you completely naked.They will bring a crowd against you. The crowd will put you to death by throwing stones at you. And they will chop you to pieces with their swords.They will burn down your houses and punish you. Many women will see it. I will not let you be a prostitute anymore. You will no longer pay your lovers.Then my great anger against you will die down. My jealous anger will turn away from you. I will be calm. I will not be angry anymore.“ You did not remember the days when you were young. The things you did made me very angry. So anything that happens to you will be your own fault,” announces the Lord and King.“ You added impure conduct to all the other evil things you did. I hate all those things.“ 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.Your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. And that is just as sure as I am alive,” announces the Lord and King.“ Here is the sin your sister Sodom committed. She and her daughters were proud. They ate too much. They were not concerned about others. They did not help those who were poor and in need.They were very proud. They did many things that were evil in my eyes. I hated those things. So I got rid of Sodom and her daughters, just as you have seen.Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You sinned even more than they did. I hate those sins. Compared to what you did, you made your sisters seem godly.So you will be dishonored. You have given your sisters an excuse for what they did. Your sins were far worse than theirs. In fact, your sisters appear to be more godly than you. So then, be ashamed. You will be dishonored. You have made them appear to be godly.“ I will not only give you back what you had before. I will also do the same thing for Sodom and her daughters. And I will do the same for Samaria and her daughters.That will make you feel dishonored. You will be ashamed of everything you have done. You have made them feel better because you sinned more and were punished more than they were.Your sisters Sodom and Samaria and their daughters will return to what they were before. And you and your daughters will return to what you were before.In the past you would not even mention your sister Sodom. You were proud at that time.That was before your sin was uncovered. Now the daughters of Edom make fun of you. So do all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines. Everyone who lives around you hates you.You will be punished for your impure conduct. I will also punish you for the other evil things you have done. I hate all those things,” announces the Lord.The Lord and King says,“ I will punish you in keeping with what you have done. I sealed with a promise the covenant I made with you. You hated that promise. And you broke my covenant.But I will remember my covenant with you. I made it with you when you were young. Now I will make a new covenant with you. It will last forever.Then you will remember how you have lived. You will be ashamed when I give you Samaria and Sodom. Samaria is your older sister. Sodom is your younger one. I will give them and their daughters to you as daughters. That can’t happen based on my old covenant with you.So I will make my new covenant with you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.I will pay for all the sins you have committed. Then you will remember what you have done. You will be ashamed of it. Because of your shame, you will never speak against me again,” announces the Lord and King.

Their bodies will lie in the main street of the great city. It is also the city where their Lord was nailed to a cross. The city is sometimes compared to Sodom or Egypt.

Was there ever a prophet your people didn’t try to hurt? They even killed those who told about the coming of the Blameless One. And now you have handed him over to his enemies. You have murdered him.

The people of Ephraim tell me nothing but lies. Israel has not been honest with me. And Judah continues to wander away from God. They have deserted the faithful Holy One.

But do not measure the outer courtyard. That’s because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will take over the holy city for 42 months.

You call yourselves citizens of the holy city of Jerusalem. You say you depend on Israel’s God. His name is the Lord Who Rules Over All. He says,

A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said,“ Son of man, are you going to judge Jerusalem? Will you judge this city that has so many murderers in it? Then tell its people they have done many evil things. I hate those things.Tell them,‘ The Lord and King says,“ Your city brings death on itself. You spill blood inside its walls. You make yourselves‘ unclean’ by making statues of gods.You are guilty of spilling blood. Your statues have made you‘ unclean.’ You have brought your days to a close. The end of your years has come. So the nations will make fun of you. All the countries will laugh at you.Those who are near you will tell jokes about you. So will those who are far away. Trouble fills the streets of your sinful city.“‘ “The princes of Israel are in your city. All of them use their power to spill blood.They have made fun of fathers and mothers alike. They have crushed outsiders. They have treated badly the children whose fathers have died. They have done the same thing to widows.You have looked down on the holy things that were set apart to me. You have misused my Sabbath days.You have spread lies about others so you can spill someone’s blood. You eat at the mountain temples. You commit impure acts.You bring shame on your fathers by having sex with their wives. You have sex with women during their monthly period. That is when they are‘ unclean.’One of you has sex with another man’s wife. I hate that sin. Another brings shame on his daughter- in- law by having sex with her. Still another has sex with his sister, even though she is his own father’s daughter.You accept money from people who want special favors. You do this to spill someone’s blood. You charge interest to poor people when you lend them money. You make money from them. You get rich by cheating your neighbors. And you have forgotten me,” announces the Lord and King.“‘ “I will clap my hands because I am so angry. You got rich by cheating others. You spilled blood inside the walls of your city.Will you be brave on the day I deal with you? Will you be strong at that time? I have spoken. I will do this. I am the Lord.I will scatter you among the nations. I will send you to other countries. I will put an end to your‘ uncleanness.’You will be‘ unclean’ in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said,“ Son of man, the people of Israel have become like scum to me. All of them are like the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are only the scum that is removed from silver.”So the Lord and King says,“ People of Israel, all of you have become like scum. So I will gather you together in Jerusalem.People put silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace. They melt it with a blazing fire. In the same way, I will gather you. I will pour out my burning anger on you. I will put you inside the city and melt you.I will gather you together. My burning anger will blaze out at you. And you will be melted inside Jerusalem.Silver is melted in a furnace. And you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I have poured out my burning anger on you. I am the Lord.”Another message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said,

“ Suppose a man divorces his wife. What if she then marries another man? Should her first husband return to her again? If he does, won’t the land become completely‘ unclean’? People of Israel, you have lived like a prostitute. You have loved many other gods. So do you think you can return to me now?” announces the Lord.