All of this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them up out of Egypt. He had brought them out from under the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. But they worshiped other gods.

这是因以色列人得罪那领他们出埃及地、脱离埃及王法老手的耶和华他们的神，去敬畏别神，

这是因为以色列人得罪了那领他们出埃及地、脱离埃及王法老之手的耶和华—他们的上帝，去敬畏别神，

这是因为以色列人得罪了那领他们出埃及地、脱离埃及王法老之手的耶和华—他们的神，去敬畏别神，

以色列人之所以有如此下场，是因为他们的上帝耶和华领他们出埃及，从埃及王法老手中救出他们，他们却犯罪得罪祂。他们祭拜别的神明，

这是因为以色列人得罪了那曾带领他们从埃及王法老的手下离开埃及的耶和华他们的神，去敬畏别的神。

這是因以色列人得罪那領他們出埃及地、脫離埃及王法老手的耶和華－他們的神，去敬畏別神，

這是因為以色列人得罪了那領他們出埃及地、脫離埃及王法老之手的耶和華－他們的上帝，去敬畏別神，

這是因為以色列人得罪了那領他們出埃及地、脫離埃及王法老之手的耶和華－他們的神，去敬畏別神，

以色列人之所以有如此下場，是因為他們的上帝耶和華領他們出埃及，從埃及王法老手中救出他們，他們卻犯罪得罪祂。他們祭拜別的神明，

這是因為以色列人得罪了那曾帶領他們從埃及王法老的手下離開埃及的耶和華他們的神，去敬畏別的神。

這是因為以色列人犯罪得罪了那領他們從埃及地上來、使他們脫離埃及王法老手下的、永恆主他們的上帝、去敬畏別的神，

此因以色列人獲罪於其上帝耶和華、即導之出埃及、脫於埃及王法老手者、彼乃寅畏他神、

昔以色列族之上帝耶和華、導民出埃及、脫於法老之手、厥後以色列族獲罪於耶和華寅畏他上帝。

此因以色列人獲罪於主其天主、天主昔導之出伊及、脫於伊及王法老之手、彼反敬畏他神、

All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods

And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods

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.

This disaster happened because the people of Israel sinned against the LORD their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt and because they worshiped other gods.

Now this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods.

For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods,

And it was so, because the children of Israel had sinned against Jehovah their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

This disaster happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt and because they had worshiped other gods.

For[ so] it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

This happened because the Israelites sinned against the LORD their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods;

It was so because the children of Israel had sinned against Yahweh their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

Suppose you break the covenant the Lord your God made with you. He commanded you to obey it. But suppose you go and serve other gods. And you bow down to them. Then the Lord will be very angry with you. You will quickly be destroyed. You will be removed from the good land he has given you.”

“ I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt. That is the land where you were slaves.

“ But they didn’t obey you. Instead, they turned against you. They turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets. The prophets had warned them to return to you. But they did very evil things that dishonored you.

Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 16 years. Ahaz didn’t do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He didn’t do what King David had done.

People of Israel, listen to the Lord’ s message. He is bringing charges against you who live in Israel. He says,“ There is no faithfulness or love in the land. No one recognizes me as God.People curse one another. They tell lies and commit murder. They steal and commit adultery. They break all my laws. They keep spilling the blood of other people.That is why the land is drying up. All those who live in it are getting weaker and weaker. The wild animals and the birds in the sky are dying. So are the fish in the ocean.

I said to you,“ I am the Lord your God. You are now living in the land of the Amorites. Do not worship their gods.” But you have not listened to me.’ ”

When Israel grew fat, they became stubborn. When they were filled with food, they became fat and heavy. They left the God who made them. They turned away from the Rock who saved them.They made him jealous by serving false gods. They made him angry by worshiping statues of gods. He hated those gods.The people sacrificed to those false gods, not to God. They hadn’t known anything about those false gods. Those gods were new to them. Their people of long ago didn’t worship them.But then they deserted the Rock. He was their Father. They forgot the God who created them.When the Lord saw this, he turned away from them. His sons and daughters made him angry.“ I will turn my face away from them,” he said.“ I will see what will happen to them in the end. They are sinful people. They are unfaithful children.They made me jealous by serving what is not even a god. They made me angry by worshiping worthless statues of gods. I will use people who are not a nation to make them jealous. A nation that has no understanding will make them angry.My anger will start a fire. It will burn all the way down to the kingdom of the dead. It will eat up the earth and its crops. It will set the base of the mountains on fire.“ I will pile troubles on my people. I will shoot all my arrows at them.I will send them hunger. It will make them weak. I will send terrible sickness. I will send deadly plagues. I will send wild animals that will tear them apart. Snakes that glide through the dust will bite them.In the streets their children will be killed by swords. Their homes will be filled with terror. The young men and women will die. The babies and old people will die.I said I would scatter them. I said I would erase their name from human memory.But I was afraid their enemies would make fun of that. I was afraid their attackers would not understand. I was sure they would say,‘ We’re the ones who’ve beaten them! The Lord isn’t the one who did it.’ ”Israel is a nation that doesn’t have any sense. They can’t understand anything.I wish they were wise. Then they would understand what’s coming. They’d realize what would happen to them in the end.How could one person chase a thousand? How could two make ten thousand run away? It couldn’t happen unless their Rock had deserted them. It couldn’t take place unless the Lord had given them up.Their rock is not like our Rock. Even our enemies know that.Their vine comes from the vines of Sodom. It comes from the vineyards of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison. Their bunches of grapes taste bitter.Their wine is like the poison of snakes. It’s like the deadly poison of cobras.The Lord says,“ I have kept all those terrible things stored away. I have kept them sealed up in my strongbox.I punish people. I will pay them back. The time will come when their feet will slip. Their day of trouble is near. Very soon they will be destroyed.”The Lord will come to the aid of his people. He’ll show tender love to those who serve him. He will know when their strength is gone. He’ll see that no one at all is left.He’ll say,“ Where are their gods now? Where is the rock they went to for safety?Where are the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices? Where are the gods who drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let those gods rise up to help you! Let them keep you safe!“ Look! I am the One! There is no other God except me. I put some people to death. I bring others to life. I have wounded, and I will heal. No one can save you from my power.I raise my hand to heaven. Here is the promise I make. You can be sure that I live forever.And you can be just as sure that I will sharpen my flashing sword. My hand will hold it when I judge. I will get even with my enemies. I will pay back those who hate me.I will make my arrows drip with blood. My sword will destroy people. It will kill some. It will even kill prisoners. It will cut off the heads of enemy leaders.”You nations, be full of joy. Be joyful together with God’s people. The Lord will get even with his enemies. He will pay them back for killing those who serve him. He will wipe away the sin of his land and people.Moses spoke all the words of this song to the people. Joshua, the son of Nun, was with him.Moses finished speaking all these words to all the Israelites.Then he said to them,“ Think carefully about all the words I have announced to you today. I want you to command your children to be careful to obey all the words of this law.They aren’t just useless words for you. They are your very life. If you obey them, you will live in the land for a long time. It’s the land you are going across the Jordan River to take as your own.”On that same day the Lord said to Moses,“ Go up into the Abarim mountains. Go to Mount Nebo in Moab. It is across from Jericho. From there look out over Canaan. It is the land I am giving the Israelites to take as their own.You will die there on the mountain you have climbed. You will join the members of your family who have already died. In the same way, your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor. He joined the members of his family who had already died.You and Aaron disobeyed me in front of the Israelites. It happened at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin. You did not honor me among the Israelites as the holy God.So you will see the land, but only from far away. You will not enter the land I am giving to the Israelites.”

And that’s not all. The people and all the leaders of the priests became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. The people and leaders made the Lord’ s temple“ unclean.” The Lord had set the temple in Jerusalem apart in a special way for himself.The Lord, the God of Israel, sent word to his people through his messengers. He sent it to them again and again. He took pity on his people. He also took pity on the temple where he lived.But God’s people made fun of his messengers. They hated his words. They laughed at his prophets. Finally the Lord’ s great anger was stirred up against his people. Nothing could save them.

The Lord became angry with the Israelites. So he handed them over to robbers. The robbers stole everything from them. The Lord handed the Israelites over to their enemies all around them. Israel wasn’t able to fight against them anymore and win.When the Israelites went out to fight, the Lord’ s power was against them. He let their enemies win the battle over them. The Lord had warned them that it would happen. And now they were suffering terribly.Then the Lord gave them leaders. The leaders saved them from the power of those robbers.But the people wouldn’t listen to their leaders. They weren’t faithful to the Lord. They served other gods and worshiped them. They didn’t obey the Lord’ s commands as their people before them had done. They quickly turned away from the path their people had taken.

“ Son of man, once there were two women. They had the same mother.They became prostitutes in Egypt. They have been unfaithful to me since they were young. In that land they allowed their breasts to be touched. They permitted their virgin breasts to be kissed.The older sister was named Oholah. The younger one was Oholibah. They belonged to me. Sons and daughters were born to them. Oholah stands for Samaria. And Oholibah stands for Jerusalem.“ Oholah was unfaithful to me even while she still belonged to me. She longed for her Assyrian lovers. They included soldierswho wore blue uniforms. They also included governors and commanders. All of them were young and handsome. They rode horses.She gave herself as a prostitute to all Assyria’s finest warriors. She made herself impure with the statues of the gods of everyone she longed for.She started being a prostitute in Egypt. And she never stopped. When she was young, men had sex with her. They kissed her virgin breasts. They used up all their sinful desires on her.“ So I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers. She longed for them.They stripped her naked. They took away her sons and daughters. And they killed her with their swords. Other women laughed when that happened. I was the one who had punished her.“ Her sister Oholibah saw it. But her evil desire for sexual sin was worse than her sister’s.She too longed for the men of Assyria. They included governors and commanders. They included soldiers who wore fancy uniforms. They also included men who rode horses. All of them were young and handsome.I saw that she too made herself impure. So both sisters did the same evil things.“ But Oholibah went even further with her sexual sins. She saw pictures of men drawn on a wall. They were figures of Babylonians drawn in red.They had belts around their waists. They wore flowing turbans on their heads. All of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers. They were from the land of the Chaldeans.As soon as she saw the pictures, she longed for the men. So she sent messengers to them in Babylon.

I know that after I’m dead you will certainly become very sinful. You will turn away from the path I’ve commanded you to take. In days to come, trouble will fall on you. That’s because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. You will make him very angry because of the statues of gods your hands have made.”

The Lord made a covenant with the Israelites. At that time he commanded them,“ Do not worship any other gods. Do not bow down to them. Do not serve them or sacrifice to them.

The Lord says,“ People of Samaria, throw out your god that looks like a calf! I am very angry with them. How long will it be until they are able to remain faithful to me?Their calf is not God. A skilled worker from Israel made it. But that calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces.”The Lord says,“ Worshiping other gods is like worshiping the wind. It is like planting worthless seeds. Assyria is like a windstorm. That is all my people will harvest. There are no heads of grain on the stems that will come up. So they will not produce any flour. Even if they did produce grain, the Assyrians would eat all of it up.So the people of Israel are swallowed up. Now they are among the nations like something no one wants.They have gone up to Assyria for help. They are like a wild donkey that wanders around by itself. Ephraim’s people have sold themselves to their Assyrian lovers.They have sold themselves to the nations to get their help. But now I will gather them together. They will get weaker and weaker. The mighty kings of Assyria will crush them.“ Ephraim built many altars where they sacrificed sin offerings to other gods. So their altars have become places where they commit sin.In my law I wrote down many things for their good. But they considered those things as something strange.They offer sacrifices as gifts to me. They eat the meat of the animals they bring. But the Lord is not pleased with any of this. He will remember the evil things they have done. He will punish them for their sins. And they will return to Egypt.Israel has forgotten the God who made them. They have built palaces for themselves. Judah has built forts in many towns. But I will send down fire on their cities. It will burn up their forts.”

The Lord spoke to Moses. He said,“ You are going to join the members of your family who have already died. The Israelites will not be faithful to me. They will soon join themselves to the false gods that are worshiped in the land they are entering. The people will desert me. They will break the covenant I made with them.In that day I will become angry with them. I will desert them. I will turn my face away from them. And they will be destroyed. Many horrible troubles and hard times will come on them. On that day they will say,‘ Trouble has come on us. Our God isn’t with us!’

The statues of their gods can’t speak. They are like scarecrows in a field of cucumbers. Their statues have to be carried around because they can’t walk. So do not be afraid of their gods. They can’t do you any harm. And they can’t do you any good either.”

Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord his God.

Abijah committed all the sins his father had committed before him. Abijah didn’t obey the Lord his God with all his heart. He didn’t do what King David had done.

Instead, they mixed with those nations and adopted their ways.They worshiped statues of their gods. That became a trap for them.They sacrificed their sons and daughters as offerings to false gods.They killed those who weren’t guilty of doing anything wrong. They killed their own sons and daughters. They sacrificed them as offerings to statues of the gods of Canaan. The land became“ unclean” because of the blood of their children.The people made themselves impure by what they had done. They weren’t faithful to the Lord.So the Lord became angry with his people. He turned away from his own children.He handed them over to the nations. Their enemies ruled over them.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said,“ Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people of Israel to move on.Hold out your walking stick. Reach out your hand over the Red Sea to divide the water. Then the people can go through the sea on dry ground.I will make the Egyptians stubborn. They will go in after the Israelites. I will gain glory for myself because of what will happen to Pharaoh, his army, chariots and horsemen.The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. I will gain glory because of what will happen to Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”The angel of God had been traveling in front of Israel’s army. Now he moved back and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved away from in front of them. Now it stood behind them.It came between the armies of Egypt and Israel. All through the night the cloud brought darkness to one side and light to the other. Neither army went near the other all night long.Then Moses reached out his hand over the Red Sea. All that night the Lord pushed the sea back with a strong east wind. He turned the sea into dry land. The waters were divided.The people of Israel went through the sea on dry ground. There was a wall of water on their right side and on their left.The Egyptians chased them. All Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea.Near the end of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud. He saw the Egyptian army and threw it into a panic.He jammed the wheels of their chariots. That made the chariots hard to drive. The Egyptians said,“ Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for Israel against Egypt.”Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said,“ Reach out your hand over the sea. The waters will flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.”So Moses reached out his hand over the sea. At sunrise the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians tried to run away from the sea. But the Lord swept them into it.The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen. It covered the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the people of Israel into the sea. Not one of the Egyptians was left.But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground. There was a wall of water on their right side and on their left.That day the Lord saved Israel from the power of Egypt. The Israelites saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.

As Solomon grew older, his wives turned his heart toward other gods. He didn’t follow the Lord his God with all his heart. So he wasn’t like his father David.