“ Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Again and again you remind me of your sin and your guilt. You don’t even try to hide it! In everything you do, your sins are obvious for all to see. So now the time of your punishment has come!

主耶和华如此说：“因你们的过犯显露，使你们的罪孽被记念，以致你们的罪恶在行为上都彰显出来；又因你们被记念，就被捉住。

于是，主耶和华如此说：“因你们的过犯显露，你们的罪孽被记得，以致你们的罪恶在你们一切的行为上都彰显出来；你们既被记得，就被掳在掌中。

于是，主耶和华如此说：“因你们的过犯显露，你们的罪孽被记得，以致你们的罪恶在你们一切的行为上都彰显出来；你们既被记得，就被掳在掌中。

“主耶和华说，‘因为你们的过犯昭然若揭，你们的罪恶表露无遗，因此，你们必遭掳掠。

因此，主耶和华这样说：‘你们的过犯显露，你们的罪在你们的一切行为上给人看见；以致你们的罪孽被想起。你们既被想起，就要被人用手掳去。

主耶和華如此說：「因你們的過犯顯露，使你們的罪孽被記念，以致你們的罪惡在行為上都彰顯出來；又因你們被記念，就被捉住。

於是，主耶和華如此說：「因你們的過犯顯露，你們的罪孽被記得，以致你們的罪惡在你們一切的行為上都彰顯出來；你們既被記得，就被擄在掌中。

於是，主耶和華如此說：「因你們的過犯顯露，你們的罪孽被記得，以致你們的罪惡在你們一切的行為上都彰顯出來；你們既被記得，就被擄在掌中。

「主耶和華說，『因為你們的過犯昭然若揭，你們的罪惡表露無遺，因此，你們必遭擄掠。

因此，主耶和華這樣說：‘你們的過犯顯露，你們的罪在你們的一切行為上給人看見；以致你們的罪孽被想起。你們既被想起，就要被人用手擄去。

『因此主永恆主這麼說：你們既使你們的罪孽被記起了；這就是說：你們的過犯既露現出來，以致你們的罪在你們一切的行為上都給人看見——你們既使人記起了，那麼、你們就會被人下手捉住了。

主耶和華曰、因爾使罪見憶、愆尤昭彰、諸行顯爾之惡、爾既見憶、必為其手所獲、

主耶和華曰、巴比倫王知爾背約、厥罪昭彰、所為不善、故為敵所取。

主天主如是云、爾曹使爾之愆被憶、爾曹之尤被露、凡爾曹所為、昭彰爾罪、爾曹既被憶、故為其手所執、

“ Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:‘ Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do— because you have done this, you will be taken captive.

So the Lord and King says,“ You people have reminded everyone of how guilty you are. You have done it by refusing to obey me or any other authority. Everything you do clearly shows how sinful you are. So you will be taken away as prisoners.”

“ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear— because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.

“ Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your actions— since you have done this, you will be captured by them.

“ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:‘ Because you have made your guilt known, in that your offenses are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins are seen— because you have come to mind, you will be seized by the hand.

“ Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:‘ Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear— because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.

Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

“ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your actions, since you have done this, you will be captured by them.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because,[ I say], that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

“ Therefore this is what the sovereign LORD says:‘ Because you have brought up your own guilt by uncovering your transgressions and revealing your sins through all your actions, for this reason you will be taken by force.

“ Therefore the Lord Yahweh says:‘ Because you have caused your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear; because you have come to memory, you will be taken with the hand.

You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another.

Then I saw a vision of the Lord standing beside the altar. He said,“ Strike the tops of the Temple columns, so that the foundation will shake. Bring down the roof on the heads of the people below. I will kill with the sword those who survive. No one will escape!“ Even if they dig down to the place of the dead, I will reach down and pull them up. Even if they climb up into the heavens, I will bring them down.Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel, I will search them out and capture them. Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean, I will send the sea serpent after them to bite them.

You are building Jerusalem on a foundation of murder and corruption.You rulers make decisions based on bribes; you priests teach God’s laws only for a price; you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid. Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord.“ No harm can come to us,” you say,“ for the Lord is here among us.”Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A thicket will grow on the heights where the Temple now stands.

For the blood of her murders is splashed on the rocks. It isn’t even spilled on the ground, where the dust could cover it!

“ Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain.Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land.Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them.Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money!And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say,‘ My message is from the Sovereign Lord,’ when the Lord hasn’t spoken a single word to them.Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.“ I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor, though you didn’t catch them breaking into your houses!

The very look on their faces gives them away. They display their sin like the people of Sodom and don’t even try to hide it. They are doomed! They have brought destruction upon themselves.

You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen?You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me!You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them.Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign Lord.“ Then you took your sons and daughters— the children you had borne to me— and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough?Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols?In all your years of adultery and detestable sin, you have not once remembered the days long ago when you lay naked in a field, kicking about in your own blood.

For the Lord is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you,crumple you into a ball, and toss you away into a distant, barren land. There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless. You are a disgrace to your master!

Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And now they are great and rich.They are fat and sleek, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse to provide justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor.

Are they ashamed of these disgusting actions? Not at all— they don’t even know how to blush! Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered. They will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord.

“ Then Oholah lusted after other lovers instead of me, and she gave her love to the Assyrian officers.They were all attractive young men, captains and commanders dressed in handsome blue, charioteers driving their horses.And so she prostituted herself with the most desirable men of Assyria, worshiping their idols and defiling herself.For when she left Egypt, she did not leave her spirit of prostitution behind. She was still as lewd as in her youth, when the Egyptians slept with her, fondled her breasts, and used her as a prostitute.“ And so I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers, whom she desired so much.They stripped her, took away her children as their slaves, and then killed her. After she received her punishment, her reputation was known to every woman in the land.“ Yet even though Oholibah saw what had happened to Oholah, her sister, she followed right in her footsteps. And she was even more depraved, abandoning herself to her lust and prostitution.She fawned over all the Assyrian officers— those captains and commanders in handsome uniforms, those charioteers driving their horses— all of them attractive young men.I saw the way she was going, defiling herself just like her older sister.“ Then she carried her prostitution even further. She fell in love with pictures that were painted on a wall— pictures of Babylonian military officers, outfitted in striking red uniforms.Handsome belts encircled their waists, and flowing turbans crowned their heads. They were dressed like chariot officers from the land of Babylonia.When she saw these paintings, she longed to give herself to them, so she sent messengers to Babylonia to invite them to come to her.So they came and committed adultery with her, defiling her in the bed of love. After being defiled, however, she rejected them in disgust.“ In the same way, I became disgusted with Oholibah and rejected her, just as I had rejected her sister, because she flaunted herself before them and gave herself to satisfy their lusts.Yet she turned to even greater prostitution, remembering her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt.She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like those of a horse.And so, Oholibah, you relived your former days as a young girl in Egypt, when you first allowed your breasts to be fondled.

Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions? Not at all— they don’t even know how to blush! Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered. They will be brought down when I punish them,” says the Lord.

Oh, that I could go away and forget my people and live in a travelers’ shack in the desert. For they are all adulterers— a pack of treacherous liars.“ My people bend their tongues like bows to shoot out lies. They refuse to stand up for the truth. They only go from bad to worse. They do not know me,” says the Lord.“ Beware of your neighbor! Don’t even trust your brother! For brother takes advantage of brother, and friend slanders friend.They all fool and defraud each other; no one tells the truth. With practiced tongues they tell lies; they wear themselves out with all their sinning.They pile lie upon lie and utterly refuse to acknowledge me,” says the Lord.Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:“ See, I will melt them down in a crucible and test them like metal. What else can I do with my people?

And if they say to you,‘ But where can we go?’ tell them,‘ This is what the Lord says:“‘ Those who are destined for death, to death; those who are destined for war, to war; those who are destined for famine, to famine; those who are destined for captivity, to captivity.’

“ Look at the shrines on every hilltop. Is there any place you have not been defiled by your adultery with other gods? You sit like a prostitute beside the road waiting for a customer. You sit alone like a nomad in the desert. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and your wickedness.

and give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: O city of murderers, doomed and damned— city of idols, filthy and foul—you are guilty because of the blood you have shed. You are defiled because of the idols you have made. Your day of destruction has come! You have reached the end of your years. I will make you an object of mockery throughout the world.O infamous city, filled with confusion, you will be mocked by people far and near.“ Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder.Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you.You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest.People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled with idol worshipers and people who do obscene things.Men sleep with their fathers’ wives and force themselves on women who are menstruating.Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, who defile their daughters in law, or who rape their own sisters.There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign Lord.