“ If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to me?” says the Lord.

“有话说：人若休妻，妻离他而去，作了别人的妻，前夫岂能再收回她来？若收回她来，那地岂不是大大玷污了吗？但你和许多亲爱的行邪淫，还可以归向我。这是耶和华说的。

耶和华说：“人若休妻，妻离他而去，做了别人的妻子，前夫岂能再回到她那里呢？那地岂不是大大污秽了吗？但你和许多情郎行淫，还是可以回到我这里。这是耶和华说的。

耶和华说：“人若休妻，妻离他而去，做了别人的妻子，前夫岂能再回到她那里呢？那地岂不是大大污秽了吗？但你和许多情郎行淫，还是可以回到我这里。这是耶和华说的。

耶和华说：“如果丈夫休掉妻子，妻子离去另嫁别人，前夫怎会再娶她呢？那样做岂不完全玷污了土地吗？你曾与许多情人苟合，现在要归向我吗？

耶和华说：“人若是休妻，妻子离开了他，又嫁了别人，前夫怎能与她复合呢？如果复合，那地不是大大玷污了吗？你曾与许多情人行淫，还想归向我。”这是耶和华的宣告。

有話說：人若休妻，妻離他而去，作了別人的妻，前夫豈能再收回她來？若收回她來，那地豈不是大大玷污了嗎？但你和許多親愛的行邪淫，還可以歸向我。這是耶和華說的。

耶和華說：「人若休妻，妻離他而去，做了別人的妻子，前夫豈能再回到她那裏呢？那地豈不是大大污穢了嗎？但你和許多情郎行淫，還是可以回到我這裏。這是耶和華說的。

耶和華說：「人若休妻，妻離他而去，做了別人的妻子，前夫豈能再回到她那裏呢？那地豈不是大大污穢了嗎？但你和許多情郎行淫，還是可以回到我這裏。這是耶和華說的。

耶和華說：「如果丈夫休掉妻子，妻子離去另嫁別人，前夫怎會再娶她呢？那樣做豈不完全玷污了土地嗎？你曾與許多情人苟合，現在要歸向我嗎？

耶和華說：“人若是休妻，妻子離開了他，又嫁了別人，前夫怎能與她復合呢？如果復合，那地不是大大玷污了嗎？你曾與許多情人行淫，還想歸向我。”這是耶和華的宣告。

永恆主的話傳與我，說：『人若把妻子離出去，而妻子離開他而去，做了別人的妻子，她哪能再回轉來歸前夫呢？那麼那婦人豈不是大大被玷污了麼？然而你，你和許多情人行淫，還要回轉來歸於我？永恆主發神諭說。

有曰、人出其妻、妻離之而他適、前夫豈復納之、若然、斯地非受污之甚乎、耶和華曰、惟爾相愛者眾、與之行淫、猶思歸我乎、

有言出妻、任其他適、既出勿納、恐斯邦染其污衊。耶和華曰、惟爾縱欲背予、崇事他上帝、今使爾歸試於我、

主有言諭我曰、人若出妻、遂離之為他人之妻、前夫豈可復娶之乎、如復娶、豈不使地沾染污穢乎、爾從事多神、若婦之與多人行淫、猶思歸我乎、爾從事多神若婦之與多人行淫猶思歸我乎或作爾雖崇事多神若婦之與多人行淫我仍命爾當歸誠於我此乃主所言、

“ If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers— would you now return to me?” declares the Lord.

“ 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.

“ If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord.

If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Wouldn’t such a land become totally defiled? But you! You have prostituted yourself with many partners— can you return to me? This is the LORD’s declaration.

God says,“ If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man’s wife, Will he return to her again? Would that land not be completely defiled? But you are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares the Lord.

“ 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.

They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, will he return unto her again? will not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith Jehovah.

If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Wouldn’t such a land become totally defiled? But you! You have played the prostitute with many partners— can you return to Me? This is the Lord’s declaration.

They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.

“ If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife, he may not take her back again. Doing that would utterly defile the land. But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. So what makes you think you can return to me?” says the LORD.

“ They say,‘ If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me,” says Yahweh.

“ Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house.When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man.But if the second husband also turns against her, writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away, or if he dies,the first husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession.

“ 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.

Then you added lustful Egypt to your lovers, provoking my anger with your increasing promiscuity.

“ Long ago I broke the yoke that oppressed you and tore away the chains of your slavery, but still you said,‘ I will not serve you.’ On every hill and under every green tree, you have prostituted yourselves by bowing down to idols.

Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said,‘ I’ll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.’“ For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way.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.’

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down.Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord. Say to him,“ Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises.Assyria cannot save us, nor can our warhorses. Never again will we say to the idols we have made,‘ You are our gods.’ No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy.”The Lord says,“ Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever.

But she became angry with him and returned to her father’s home in Bethlehem. After about four months,

“ You say,‘ That’s not true! I haven’t worshiped the images of Baal!’ But how can you say that? Go and look in any valley in the land! Face the awful sins you have done. You are like a restless female camel desperately searching for a mate.

The older girl was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. I married them, and they bore me sons and daughters. I am speaking of Samaria and Jerusalem, for Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.“ 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.“ Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will send your lovers against you from every direction— those very nations from which you turned away in disgust.For the Babylonians will come with all the Chaldeans from Pekod and Shoa and Koa. And all the Assyrians will come with them— handsome young captains, commanders, chariot officers, and other high ranking officers, all riding their horses.They will all come against you from the north with chariots, wagons, and a great army prepared for attack. They will take up positions on every side, surrounding you with men armed with shields and helmets. And I will hand you over to them for punishment so they can do with you as they please.I will turn my jealous anger against you, and they will deal harshly with you. They will cut off your nose and ears, and any survivors will then be slaughtered by the sword. Your children will be taken away as captives, and everything that is left will be burned.They will strip you of your beautiful clothes and jewels.In this way, I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you brought from Egypt. You will never again cast longing eyes on those things or fondly remember your time in Egypt.“ For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will surely hand you over to your enemies, to those you loathe, those you rejected.They will treat you with hatred and rob you of all you own, leaving you stark naked. The shame of your prostitution will be exposed to all the world.You brought all this on yourself by prostituting yourself to other nations, defiling yourself with all their idols.Because you have followed in your sister’s footsteps, I will force you to drink the same cup of terror she drank.“ Yes, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:“ You will drink from your sister’s cup of terror, a cup that is large and deep. It is filled to the brim with scorn and derision.Drunkenness and anguish will fill you, for your cup is filled to the brim with distress and desolation, the same cup your sister Samaria drank.You will drain that cup of terror to the very bottom. Then you will smash it to pieces and beat your breast in anguish. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!“ And because you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You must bear the consequences of all your lewdness and prostitution.”The Lord said to me,“ Son of man, you must accuse Oholah and Oholibah of all their detestable sins.They have committed both adultery and murder— adultery by worshiping idols and murder by burning as sacrifices the children they bore to me.Furthermore, they have defiled my Temple and violated my Sabbath day!On the very day that they sacrificed their children to their idols, they boldly came into my Temple to worship! They came in and defiled my house.“ You sisters sent messengers to distant lands to get men. Then when they arrived, you bathed yourselves, painted your eyelids, and put on your finest jewels for them.You sat with them on a beautifully embroidered couch and put my incense and my special oil on a table that was spread before you.From your room came the sound of many men carousing. They were lustful men and drunkards from the wilderness, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your heads.Then I said,‘ If they really want to have sex with old worn out prostitutes like these, let them!’And that is what they did. They had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, these shameless prostitutes.But righteous people will judge these sister cities for what they really are— adulterers and murderers.“ Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Bring an army against them and hand them over to be terrorized and plundered.For their enemies will stone them and kill them with swords. They will butcher their sons and daughters and burn their homes.In this way, I will put an end to lewdness and idolatry in the land, and my judgment will be a warning to all women not to follow your wicked example.You will be fully repaid for all your prostitution— your worship of idols. Yes, you will suffer the full penalty. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.”

The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.“ When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself,‘ At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!I will go home to my father and say,“ Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’“ So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.His son said to him,‘ Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’“ But his father said to the servants,‘ Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

“ Jeremiah, say to the people,‘ This is what the Lord says:“‘ When people fall down, don’t they get up again? When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?Then why do these people stay on their self destructive path? Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back? They cling tightly to their lies and will not turn around.I listen to their conversations and don’t hear a word of truth. Is anyone sorry for doing wrong? Does anyone say,“ What a terrible thing I have done”? No! All are running down the path of sin as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!

But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.“ In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what he tells you.For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.

Therefore, say to the people,‘ This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’

Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.“ My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.“ And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?

Israel treated it all so lightly— she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted.

You have prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, too. It seems you can never find enough new lovers! And after your prostitution there, you still were not satisfied.You added to your lovers by embracing Babylonia, the land of merchants, but you still weren’t satisfied.

O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart that you may be saved. How long will you harbor your evil thoughts?

When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him,“ Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”

“ And when I brought you into a fruitful land to enjoy its bounty and goodness, you defiled my land and corrupted the possession I had promised you.

Therefore, go and give this message to Israel. This is what the Lord says:“ O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever.Only acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God and committed adultery against him by worshiping idols under every green tree. Confess that you refused to listen to my voice. I, the Lord, have spoken!“ Return home, you wayward children,” says the Lord,“ for I am your master. I will bring you back to the land of Israel— one from this town and two from that family— from wherever you are scattered.

Up! Begone! This is no longer your land and home, for you have filled it with sin and ruined it completely.

“ My wayward children,” says the Lord,“ come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.”“ Yes, we’re coming,” the people reply,“ for you are the Lord our God.

“ Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in all these ways.Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out.You must obey all my decrees and regulations. You must not commit any of these detestable sins. This applies both to native born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.“ All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I am taking you, and this is how the land has become defiled.So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now.

The woman must be taken to the door of her father’s home, and there the men of the town must stone her to death, for she has committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her parents’ home. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.

The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted God’s instructions, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant.