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.’

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!’

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.

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.”

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 cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying,‘ Thus says the Lord:“ I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown.

“ When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah saw his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb; Yet he cannot cure you, Nor heal you of your wound.

When they had pasture, they were filled; They were filled and their heart was exalted; Therefore they forgot Me.

Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are You not He, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait for You, Since You have made all these.

Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister; They were Mine, And they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

Why do you gad about so much to change your way? Also you shall be ashamed of Egypt as you were ashamed of Assyria.Indeed you will go forth from him With your hands on your head; For the Lord has rejected your trusted allies, And you will not prosper by them.“ They say,‘ If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man’s, May he return to her again?’ Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me,” says the Lord.

Who walk to go down to Egypt, And have not asked My advice, To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!Therefore the strength of Pharaoh Shall be your shame, And trust in the shadow of Egypt Shall be your humiliation.

But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, If they can save you in the time of your trouble; For according to the number of your cities Are your gods, O Judah.

not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.

And you said,“ No, for we will flee on horses”— Therefore you shall flee! And,“ We will ride on swift horses”— Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!

And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”

“ Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD:‘ Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you, From whom you have alienated yourself, And I will bring them against you from every side:

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, Who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the Lord!Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster, And will not call back His words, But will arise against the house of evildoers, And against the help of those who work iniquity.Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out His hand, Both he who helps will fall, And he who is helped will fall down; They all will perish together.

And they took strong cities and a rich land, And possessed houses full of all goods, Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, And fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and grew fat, And delighted themselves in Your great goodness.“ Nevertheless they were disobedient And rebelled against You, Cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets, who testified against them To turn them to Yourself; And they worked great provocations.

“ He made him ride in the heights of the earth, That he might eat the produce of the fields; He made him draw honey from the rock, And oil from the flinty rock;Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs; And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the choicest wheat; And you drank wine, the blood of the grapes.“ But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

“ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:‘ You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained bull; Restore me, and I will return, For You are the Lord my God.

Also Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him and distressed him, and did not assist him.For Ahaz took part of the treasures from the house of the Lord, from the house of the king, and from the leaders, and he gave it to the king of Assyria; but he did not help him.Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz.

“ For thus says the Lord:‘ Your affliction is incurable, Your wound is severe.There is no one to plead your cause, That you may be bound up; You have no healing medicines.All your lovers have forgotten you; They do not seek you; For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, With the chastisement of a cruel one, For the multitude of your iniquities, Because your sins have increased.Why do you cry about your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable. Because of the multitude of your iniquities, Because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you.

“ In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,“ The children of Israel shall come, They and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, And seek the Lord their God.They shall ask the way to Zion, With their faces toward it, saying,‘ Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord In a perpetual covenant That will not be forgotten.’

Return to your rest, O my soul, For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

O Israel, return to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity;

“ When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord God.

I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.

then you say in your heart,‘ My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’“ And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

You took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set My oil and My incense before them.

What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say,‘ We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone.’

“ Return, you backsliding children, And I will heal your backslidings.”“ Indeed we do come to You, For You are the Lord our God.Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, And from the multitude of mountains; Truly, in the Lord our God Is the salvation of Israel.For shame has devoured The labor of our fathers from our youth— Their flocks and their herds, Their sons and their daughters.We lie down in our shame, And our reproach covers us. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, We and our fathers, From our youth even to this day, And have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”

Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the Lord;Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven.We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned.

‘ This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’

“ So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build,houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant— when you have eaten and are full—then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.

“ But when he came to himself, he said,‘ How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him,“ Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’“ And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.