“ If you, Israel, will return,” announces the Lord,“ then return to me. Put the statues of your gods out of my sight. I hate them. Stop going astray.

耶和华说：“以色列啊，你若回来归向我，若从我眼前除掉你可憎的偶像，你就不被迁移。

耶和华说：“以色列啊，你若回转，回转归向我，若从我眼前除掉你可憎的偶像，不再犹疑不定，

耶和华说：“以色列啊，你若回转，回转归向我，若从我眼前除掉你可憎的偶像，不再犹疑不定，

耶和华说：“以色列啊，如果你回转归向我，回转归向我，从我眼前除掉可憎的神像，不再离开我；

“以色列啊！你要是回转，就当回转归向我。”这是耶和华的宣告。“如果你从我面前除掉你可憎的偶像，不到处浪荡；

耶和華說：以色列啊，你若回來歸向我，若從我眼前除掉你可憎的偶像，你就不被遷移。

耶和華說：「以色列啊，你若回轉，回轉歸向我，若從我眼前除掉你可憎的偶像，不再猶疑不定，

耶和華說：「以色列啊，你若回轉，回轉歸向我，若從我眼前除掉你可憎的偶像，不再猶疑不定，

耶和華說：「以色列啊，如果你回轉歸向我，回轉歸向我，從我眼前除掉可憎的神像，不再離開我；

“以色列啊！你要是回轉，就當回轉歸向我。”這是耶和華的宣告。“如果你從我面前除掉你可憎的偶像，不到處浪蕩；

永恆主發神諭說：『以色列啊，你若轉回，轉回來歸我吧！你若從我面前除掉你可憎之像，而不漫遊無拘，

耶和華曰、以色列歟、爾若返而歸我、若於我前屏爾可憎之物、則不被遷移、

耶和華曰、以色列族與、如爾歸誠、則可返爾故士、如爾棄可惡之物、則我不遷徙爾。

主曰、以色列歟、如爾歸誠於我、則爾必返故土、如於我前除爾可憎之事、則爾必不復流離、流離或作被遷徙

“ If you, Israel, will return, then return to me,” declares the Lord.“ If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray,

“ If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver,

“ O Israel,” says the Lord,“ if you wanted to return to me, you could. You could throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more.

If you return, Israel— this is the LORD’s declaration— you will return to me, if you remove your abhorrent idols from my presence and do not waver,

“ If you will return, Israel,” declares the Lord,“ Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detestable things from My presence, And will not waver,

“ If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord,“ Return to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be moved.

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith Jehovah, if thou wilt return unto me, and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight; then shalt thou not be removed;

If you return, Israel— this is the Lord’s declaration— you will return to Me, if you remove your detestable idols from My presence and do not waver,

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

“ If you, Israel, want to come back,” says the LORD,“ if you want to come back to me you must get those disgusting idols out of my sight and must no longer go astray.

“ If you will return, Israel,” says Yahweh,“ if you will return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you will not be removed;

The Lord announces to his people,“ Return to me with all your heart. There is still time. Do not eat any food. Weep and mourn.”

“ You have not been faithful,” says the Lord.“ Return to me. I will heal you. Then you will not turn away from me anymore.”“ Yes,” the people say.“ We will come to you. You are the Lord our God.

“ 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.

You were taught not to live the way you used to. You must get rid of your old way of life. That’s because it has been made impure by the desire for things that lead you astray.You were taught to be made new in your thinking.You were taught to start living a new life. It is created to be truly good and holy, just as God is.So each of you must get rid of your lying. Speak the truth to your neighbor. We are all parts of one body.Scripture says,“ When you are angry, do not sin.”( Psalm 4:4) Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.Don’t give the devil a chance.Anyone who has been stealing must never steal again. Instead, they must work. They must do something useful with their own hands. Then they will have something to give to people in need.Don’t let any evil talk come out of your mouths. Say only what will help to build others up and meet their needs. Then what you say will help those who listen.Do not make God’s Holy Spirit mourn. The Holy Spirit is the proof that you belong to God. And the Spirit is the proof that God will set you completely free.Get rid of all hard feelings, anger and rage. Stop all fighting and lying. Don’t have anything to do with any kind of hatred.

So Jacob spoke to his family and to everyone with him. He said,“ Get rid of the statues of false gods you have with you. Make yourselves pure by washing and changing your clothes.

People of Israel, return to the Lord. He’s the God you have so strongly opposed.

Go. Announce this message to the people in the north. Tell them,“‘ Israel, you have not been faithful,’ announces the Lord.‘ Return to me. Then I will do good things for you again. That’s because I am faithful,’ announces the Lord.‘ I will not be angry with you forever.

So Samuel spoke to all the Israelites. He said,“ Do you really want to return to the Lord with all your hearts? If you do, get rid of your false gods. Get rid of your statues of female gods that are named Ashtoreth. Commit yourselves to the Lord. Serve him only. Then he will save you from the power of the Philistines.”

“ Tell your mother she is wrong. Tell her she is wrong. She isn’t acting like a wife to me anymore. She no longer treats me as her husband. Tell her to stop looking and acting like a prostitute. Tell her not to let her lovers lie on her breasts anymore.

I said to them,‘ Each of you must get rid of the statues of the evil gods you worship. Do not make yourselves“ unclean” by worshiping the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’“‘ “But they refused to obey me. They would not listen to me. They did not get rid of the evil gods they worshiped. And they did not turn away from Egypt’s gods. So I said I would pour out all my great anger on them in Egypt.

And that’s not all. Josiah got rid of those who got messages from people who had died. He got rid of those who talked to the spirits of people who had died. He got rid of the statues of family gods and the statues of other gods. He got rid of everything else the Lord hates that was in Judah and Jerusalem. He did it to carry out what the law required. That law was written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the Lord’ s temple.

People of Judah and you who live in Jerusalem, obey me. Do not let your hearts be stubborn. If you do, my anger will blaze out against you. It will burn like fire because of the evil things you have done. No one will be able to put it out.

“ You people have not been faithful,” announces the Lord.“ Return to me. I am your husband. I will choose one of you from each town. I will choose two from each territory. And I will bring you to the city of Zion.

“ So have respect for the Lord. Serve him. Be completely faithful to him. Throw away the gods your people worshiped east of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord.

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.”

“ They will return to it. They will remove all its statues of evil gods. I hate those gods.

Israel, return to the Lord your God. Your sins have destroyed you!

They said,‘ Each of you must turn from your evil ways and practices. Then you can stay in the land forever. It’s the land the Lord gave you and your people of long ago.

He charges interest when he lends money to poor people. He makes money from them. Will a man like that live? He will not! He must be put to death. And what happens to him will be his own fault. He did many things I hate.

The Lord says,“ Do what is fair and right. Save those who have been robbed. Set them free from the people who have treated them badly. Do not do anything wrong to outsiders or widows in this place. Do not harm children whose fathers have died. Do not kill those who are not guilty of doing anything wrong.Be careful to obey these commands. Then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace. They will come riding in chariots and on horses. Their officials and their people will come along with them.But suppose you do not obey these commands,” announces the Lord.“ Then I promise you that this palace will be destroyed. You can be as sure of this promise as you are sure that I live.” ’ ”

Asa heard that prophecy. He paid attention to the words of Azariah the prophet, the son of Oded. So Asa became bolder than ever. He removed the statues of gods from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin. He also removed them from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He did it because the Lord hated those gods. Asa repaired the altar of the Lord. It was in front of the porch of the Lord’ s temple.

I will make all the kingdoms on earth hate them. That will happen because of what Manasseh did in Jerusalem. He was king of Judah and the son of Hezekiah.

I will make all the kingdoms on earth displeased with them. In fact, they will hate them a great deal. They will shake their heads at them. They will curse them and make fun of them. All this will happen no matter where I force them to go.

The people of Judah will hear about all the trouble I plan to bring on them. Maybe then each of them will turn from their evil ways. If they do, I will forgive their sins and the evil things they have done.”

The king also destroyed the high places that were east of Jerusalem. They were at the southern end of the Mount of Olives. They were the ones Solomon, the king of Israel, had built. He had built a high place for worshiping Ashtoreth. She was the evil female god of the people of Sidon. Solomon had also built one for worshiping Chemosh. He was the evil god of Moab. And Solomon had built one for worshiping Molek. He was the god of the people of Ammon. The Lord hated that god.

Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said,‘ Each of you must turn from your evil ways. You must change the way you act. Do not worship other gods. Do not serve them. Then you will live in the land. I gave it to you and your people of long ago.’ But you have not paid any attention. You have not listened to me.

Then they got rid of the false gods that were among them. They served the Lord. And he couldn’t stand to see Israel suffer anymore.

Now let them stop serving other gods. Let them stop making funeral offerings for their kings. If they obey me, I will live among them forever.

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.”

“ May anyone who makes a statue of a god and sets it up in secret be under the Lord’ s curse. That statue is made by a skilled worker. And the Lord hates it.” Then all the people will say,“ Amen!”