Thematic Bible: National Sins
Thematic Bible
national Sins » Often caused by prosperity
Look! This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: Pride, abundance of food, and {prosperous ease} was to her and to her daughters, and {she did not sustain the needy and the poor}.
By the abundance of your wisdom in your trading you [have] increased your wealth and your heart was proud in your wealth." '"
And Jeshurun grew fat, and he kicked; you grew fat, you bloated, and you became obstinate; and he abandoned God, his maker, and he scoffed [at] the rock of his salvation.
Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has been quiet on his dregs, and he has not been poured out from vessel to vessel, and he has not gone into exile. {Therefore} his taste has remained unchanged, and his fragrance has not changed.
But when they had rest they returned to doing evil before you, and you abandoned them in the hand of their enemies, and they ruled over them. Then they returned and cried out to you, and from the heavens you heard and many times rescued them according to your compassions.
national Sins » Often caused and encouraged by rulers
Then Jeroboam {said to himself}, "Now the kingdom will return to the house of David if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem. The heart of this people will return to their master Rehoboam the king of Judah, and they shall kill me and {return to him}." And the king had decided, so he made two golden calves and he said to them, "{You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough}; here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." read more.
He put one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. This thing became a sin, and the people walked before the one as far as Dan. Then he built the houses on the high places, and he appointed priests {from all walks of life} who were not from the sons of Levi. Jeroboam also inaugurated a religious feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the religious feast which was in Judah, and he offered [sacrifices] on the altar. Thus he did in Bethel, by sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. He offered [sacrifices] on the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month which his heart had devised. He inaugurated a religious feast for the {Israelites}, and he went up to the altar to offer incense.
He put one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. This thing became a sin, and the people walked before the one as far as Dan. Then he built the houses on the high places, and he appointed priests {from all walks of life} who were not from the sons of Levi. Jeroboam also inaugurated a religious feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the religious feast which was in Judah, and he offered [sacrifices] on the altar. Thus he did in Bethel, by sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. He offered [sacrifices] on the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month which his heart had devised. He inaugurated a religious feast for the {Israelites}, and he went up to the altar to offer incense.
He will give up Israel because of the sin of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he caused Israel to sin."
Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah, and he enticed the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful, and he led Judah astray. And a letter from Elijah the prophet came to him, saying, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: 'Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father or in the ways of Asa, the king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful like the unfaithfulness of the house of Ahab, and have also murdered your brothers of the house of your father who [were] better than you,
national Sins » Ministers should » Testify against
"Call with [the] throat; you must not keep back! lift up your voice like trumpet, and declare to my people their rebellion, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Now go, write it on a tablet with them, and inscribe it on a scroll, {that} it may be {for the time to come}, forever, forever.
"Get up! Go to the great city Nineveh and cry out against her, because their evil has come up {before me}."
And he said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the {Israelites}, to nations [who are] rebelling, who rebelled against me, they and their ancestors, they transgressed against me {until this very day}. And the children [are] {impudent} and {stubborn}, [and so] I am sending you to them, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh!' And they, whether they listen or whether they fail [to listen], for they [are] a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet was in their midst.
"And you, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the {bloody city}? Then you must make known [to] her all of her detestable things!
national Sins » Should be » Confessed
and you return to Yahweh and you listen to his voice according to all that I am commanding you {today}, [both] you and your children, with all your heart and with all your inner self,
Then the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh, saying, "We have sinned against you; we have abandoned our God and served the Baals."
" 'But when they confess their guilt and the guilt of their ancestors in their infidelity that they displayed against me, and moreover that they went against me in hostility--
and then they return their heart in the land where they have been taken captive and they return and plead to you in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned and we did wrong. We acted wickedly,' if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive and they pray to you toward their land which you gave to their ancestors, the city that you have chosen and the house that you built for your name,
national Sins » Punishment for
{And then} when [the] seventy years [are] fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' {declares} Yahweh, 'for their iniquity, and [the] land of [the] Chaldeans, and I will make it {an everlasting waste}.
But if they do not listen, then {I will completely uproot and destroy that nation}." {declares} Yahweh.
For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen because their speech and their deeds [are] against Yahweh, defying the eyes of his glory.
therefore look! I [am] bringing strangers over you, [the most] ruthless of [the] peoples, and they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and they will defile your splendor. They will thrust you down to the pit, and you will die {a violent death} in [the] heart of [the] seas. {Will you indeed still say} "I [am] a god!" before the face of your killers? And [in fact] you [are] a human and not a god in the hand of {those who pierce you}. read more.
You will die [the] death of [the] uncircumcised by the hand of strangers, for {I myself} have spoken!" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
You will die [the] death of [the] uncircumcised by the hand of strangers, for {I myself} have spoken!" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
national Sins » Denunciations against
"Oh rebellious children!" {declares} Yahweh, "to make a plan, but not from me, and pour out a libation, but not [from] my Spirit, {so as to add} sin to sin.
Therefore, the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: "Ah, I will be relieved of my enemies, and I will avenge myself on my foes.
Because of these [things] shall I not punish?" {declares} Yahweh, "and on a nation who [is] like this, shall I not take revenge?
"I have made you an assayer among my people, a fortification, so that you may know and put to the test their ways. All of them [are] stubborn rebels, going about [talking] slander. [They are] bronze and iron, they [are] all behaving corruptly. [The] bellows are burned up, lead is consumed by fire. {In vain} {he keeps on refining}, but [the] wicked are not torn apart. read more.
{They are called} rejected silver, For Yahweh has rejected them."
{They are called} rejected silver, For Yahweh has rejected them."
national Sins » Ministers should » Mourn over
Between the colonnade and the altar, let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep. And let them say, "Take pity, Yahweh, on your people. Do not make your inheritance a reproach, a byword among [the] nations. Why should they say among the nations, 'Where [is] their God?'"
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Clap your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, "Alas, for all of the detestable things of the evil of the house of Israel, {because of which} they will fall with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague.
But if you will not listen to it, my inner self will weep in secret places, because of {the presence of} [your] pride. And my eyes will weep bitterly, and they will melt [in] tears, because the flock of Yahweh has been taken captive.
And then at his command to the man clothed in linen, {saying}, "Take fire from among the wheel area from among the cherubim," he went and stood beside the wheel.
national Sins » Aggravated by privileges
Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not revoke [the punishment], because they have rejected the law of Yahweh and have not kept his rules, and their lies have led them astray, {after which their ancestors walked}!
What more [was there] to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why did I hope for [it] to yield grapes, and it yielded wild grapes? And now let me tell you what I myself am about to do to my vineyard. [I will] remove its hedge, and it shall become a devastation. [I will] break down its wall, and it shall become a trampling. And I will make it a wasteland; it shall not be pruned and hoed, and it shall be overgrown [with] briers and thornbushes. And concerning the clouds, I will command {them not to send} rain down upon it. read more.
For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts [is] the house of Israel, and the man of Judah [is] the plantation of his delight. [And] he waited for justice, but look! Bloodshed! For righteousness, but look! A cry of distress!
For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts [is] the house of Israel, and the man of Judah [is] the plantation of his delight. [And] he waited for justice, but look! Bloodshed! For righteousness, but look! A cry of distress!
and I gave my statutes to them, and my regulations I made known to them, which, if a person does them, then he will live by them. And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be a sign between me and between them {so they would know} that I, Yahweh, [am] [the one] sanctifying them. "But in the desert the house of Israel rebelled against me; {they did not walk in my statutes}, and they rejected my regulations, which, if a person does them, he will live by them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths, and I decided to pour out my rage on them in the desert to destroy them,
Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole clan that I brought up from the land of Egypt: "You only have I {chosen} of all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
national Sins » National worship rejected on account of
Hear, O earth, look, I [am] about to bring disaster to this people, the fruit of their plans, because they have not listened attentively to my words, and my teaching, they have rejected it also.
Hear the word of Yahweh, rulers of Sodom! Listen [to] the teaching of our God, people of Gomorrah! What [is the] abundance of your sacrifices to me? says Yahweh. I have had enough [of] burnt offerings of rams and [the] fat [of] fattened animals and I do not delight in [the] blood of bulls and ram-lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked for this from your hand: you trampling my courts? read more.
You must not {continue} to bring offerings of futility, incense--it [is] an abomination to me; new moon and Sabbath, [the] calling of a convocation-- I cannot endure iniquity with [solemn] assembly. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become to me like burden, I am not able to bear [them].
You must not {continue} to bring offerings of futility, incense--it [is] an abomination to me; new moon and Sabbath, [the] calling of a convocation-- I cannot endure iniquity with [solemn] assembly. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become to me like burden, I am not able to bear [them].
Will you steal? Will you murder? And will you commit adultery? And will you swear {falsely}? And will you make a smoke offering to the Baal? And will you go after other gods whom you have not known? And then you come and you stand {before} me in this house, which is called {by my name}, and you say, 'we are safe {to go on doing} all of these detestable things.' Has this house, which is called {by my name}, become a cave of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I, have seen [it]," {declares} Yahweh. read more.
"For go now to my place that [was] in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell in the beginning, and see what I did to it {because of} the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because of your doing all these things," {declares} Yahweh, "and {I have spoken to you over and over again}, and you have not listened, and I called you, and you have not answered, therefore I will do to the house that is called {by my name}, in which you [are] trusting, and to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors {what} I did to Shiloh.
"For go now to my place that [was] in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell in the beginning, and see what I did to it {because of} the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because of your doing all these things," {declares} Yahweh, "and {I have spoken to you over and over again}, and you have not listened, and I called you, and you have not answered, therefore I will do to the house that is called {by my name}, in which you [are] trusting, and to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors {what} I did to Shiloh.
national Sins » Cause the withdrawal of privileges
Look, the days are coming," {declares} my Lord Yahweh, "when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine for bread and not a thirst for water, but {of hearing} the words of Yahweh!
Her gates have sunk into the earth; he has ruined and broken her bars, her kings and its princes [are] among the nations; there is no more law. Also, her prophets have not found a revelation from Yahweh.
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How many times I wanted to gather your children together {the way} a hen gathers her young together under [her] wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house has been left to you desolate For I tell you, you will never see me from now [on] until you say, 'Blessed [is] the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"
national Sins » Pervade all ranks
Why do you want to be beaten again? You continue [in] rebellion. [The] whole of [the] head [is] sick, and [the] whole of [the] heart [is] faint.
"For from the smallest of them to the greatest of them, {everyone} makes profit for unlawful gain. And from the prophet to the priest, {everyone} practices deceit.
"Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem, and look please, and take note, and search at its public squares, if you can find a person [who] does justice, [who] seeks honesty, so that I may forgive it. And though they say, '{As Yahweh lives},' {therefore} they swear falsely." Yahweh, do not your eyes [look] for honesty? You have struck them, but they felt no pain, you have destroyed them, they refused to take discipline. They have hardened their faces more than rock, they have refused to turn back. read more.
Then I said, "[They are] just simple people, they are foolish, for they know not the way of Yahweh, the law of their God. Let me go to the great, and let me speak with them, for they know the way of Yahweh, the law of their God." However, they together have broken [the] yoke, they have torn to pieces [the] bonds.
Then I said, "[They are] just simple people, they are foolish, for they know not the way of Yahweh, the law of their God. Let me go to the great, and let me speak with them, for they know the way of Yahweh, the law of their God." However, they together have broken [the] yoke, they have torn to pieces [the] bonds.
national Sins » Punishment for, averted on repentance
Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "Yahweh [is] righteous." And when Yahweh saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, saying, "They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy. I will give to them some way of escape, that my anger not be poured out against Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
And the {Israelites} said to Yahweh, "We have sinned; {do to us accordingly as you see fit}; only please deliver us this day." So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served Yahweh; and {he could no longer bear} the misery of Israel.
national Sins » Defile » The land
So the land became unclean, and {I have brought the punishment of} its guilt upon it, and the land has vomited out its inhabitants.
So you will not pollute the land in which you are; because blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is poured out on it except with the blood of the one who poured it out. You will not defile the land on which you [are] living because I [am] living in the midst of it; I am Yahweh; I [am] living in the midst of the {Israelites}.'"
national Sins » Defile » The people
" 'You must not make yourself unclean in any of these [things], because the nations whom I am driving out from your presence were made unclean by all of these.
so that the house of Israel will not go astray again {from me}, and they will not make themselves unclean again with all of their transgressions, and they will be for me a people, and I will be for them as God," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
national Sins » Defile » National worship
Hear the word of Yahweh, rulers of Sodom! Listen [to] the teaching of our God, people of Gomorrah! What [is the] abundance of your sacrifices to me? says Yahweh. I have had enough [of] burnt offerings of rams and [the] fat [of] fattened animals and I do not delight in [the] blood of bulls and ram-lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked for this from your hand: you trampling my courts? read more.
You must not {continue} to bring offerings of futility, incense--it [is] an abomination to me; new moon and Sabbath, [the] calling of a convocation-- I cannot endure iniquity with [solemn] assembly. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become to me like burden, I am not able to bear [them]. And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I [will] not be listening. Your hands are full of blood.
You must not {continue} to bring offerings of futility, incense--it [is] an abomination to me; new moon and Sabbath, [the] calling of a convocation-- I cannot endure iniquity with [solemn] assembly. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become to me like burden, I am not able to bear [them]. And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I [will] not be listening. Your hands are full of blood.
"I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your assemblies. Yes, [even] if you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept [them], and I will not look at the fellowship offerings of your fattened animals.
national Sins » Lead the heathen to blaspheme
And they came into the nations {to which they went}, and they profaned {my holy name} when they said to them, 'These [are] the people of Yahweh, and from his land they went out.'
And I will consecrate my great name, which [was] profaned among the nations [and] which you have profaned in the midst of them, and the nations will know that I [am] Yahweh!" ' declaration of the Lord Yahweh, {when I show myself holy} {before} their eyes.
national Sins » Bring down national judgments
so that upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous Abel up to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
And all the people answered [and] said, "His blood [be] on us and on our children!"
national Sins » Exemplified
and condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes, having appointed [them] [as] an example for those who are going to be ungodly,
And Moses returned to Yahweh, and he said, "Alas, this people has sinned a great sin and made for themselves gods of gold.
Hear the word of Yahweh, children of Israel, for Yahweh has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or loyalty, there is no knowledge of God in the land. Swearing and lying, murdering and stealing, and adultery break out, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
And Moses said, "When in the evening Yahweh gives you meat to eat and bread in the morning {to fill up on}, {for he hears} your grumblings that you grumble against him--and what [are] we? Your grumblings [are] not against us but against Yahweh."
Then Yahweh said, "Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah [is] great and because their sin [is] very {serious},
They walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh had driven out from before the {Israelites}, which the kings of Israel had introduced. The {Israelites} secretly did things which [were] not right, against Yahweh their God; they built high places for themselves in all their towns, from the watchtower up to the fortified city. They set up for themselves stone pillars and poles of Asherah worship on every high hill and under every green tree. read more.
They burned incense there on all the high places, like the nations which Yahweh deported before them, and they did evil things to provoke Yahweh. They served idols which Yahweh had said to them, "You shall not do this thing!"
They burned incense there on all the high places, like the nations which Yahweh deported before them, and they did evil things to provoke Yahweh. They served idols which Yahweh had said to them, "You shall not do this thing!"
Even Judah did not keep the commands of Yahweh their God, and they walked in the customs of Israel which they introduced,
Hear, heavens, and listen, earth, for Yahweh has spoken: "I reared children and I brought [them] up, but they rebelled against me. An ox knows its owner and a donkey the manger of its master. Israel does not know; my people do not understand. Ah, sinful nation, a people heavy [with] iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly. They have forsaken Yahweh; they have despised the holy one of Israel. They are estranged [and gone] backward. read more.
Why do you want to be beaten again? You continue [in] rebellion. [The] whole of [the] head [is] sick, and [the] whole of [the] heart [is] faint. From the sole of the foot and up to [the] head there is no health in it; bruise and sore and bleeding wound have not been cleansed, and they have not been bound up and not softened with the oil. Your country [is] desolate, your cities [are] burned [with] fire; [As for] your land, aliens are devouring it in your presence, and [it is] desolate, like devastation [by] foreigners.
Why do you want to be beaten again? You continue [in] rebellion. [The] whole of [the] head [is] sick, and [the] whole of [the] heart [is] faint. From the sole of the foot and up to [the] head there is no health in it; bruise and sore and bleeding wound have not been cleansed, and they have not been bound up and not softened with the oil. Your country [is] desolate, your cities [are] burned [with] fire; [As for] your land, aliens are devouring it in your presence, and [it is] desolate, like devastation [by] foreigners.
national Sins » Saints especially mourn over
And Yahweh said to him, "Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and you must place a mark on the foreheads of the men {who are groaning and lamenting} about all of the detestable things {that are being done} in the midst of her."
national Sins » Should be » Turned from
Wash! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil!
Return to Yahweh your God, Israel, for you have stumbled because of your sin. Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Say to him, "Take away all guilt; accept good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips.
national Sins » Should be » Repented of
And the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth--from the greatest of them {to the least important}.
But [if] that nation turns back from its evil that I have threatened against it, then I will relent concerning the disaster that I planned to do to it.
national Sins » National prayer rejected on account of
Rather, your iniquities have been {barriers} between you and your God, and your sins have hidden [his] face from you, from hearing.
And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I [will] not be listening. Your hands are full of blood.
national Sins » Exemplified » Moab
We have heard [of] the pride of Moab --[he is] very proud-- his height, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his insolence," {declares} Yahweh, "and his boastings [are] {false}; they act {falsely}.
national Sins » Ministers should » Pray for forgiveness of
And Moses returned to Yahweh, and he said, "Alas, this people has sinned a great sin and made for themselves gods of gold. And now if you will forgive their sin--and if not, please blot me from your scroll that you have written."
national Sins » Exemplified » Nations of canaan
"You shall not say {to yourself} {when Yahweh your God is driving them out} {before you}, {saying}, 'Because of my righteousness Yahweh brought me to take possession of this land'; but because of the wickedness of these nations Yahweh [is] driving them out {before you}.
national Sins » Ministers should » Try to turn the people from
But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words [to] my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.
national Sins » Are a reproach to a people
Righteousness will exalt a nation, but sin [is] a reproach to a people.
national Sins » Exemplified » Tyre
"Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Because your heart was haughty, and you said, 'I [am] a god; I sit [in the] seat of [the] gods, I sit in [the] heart of [the] seas!' But you are a human, not a god, and you gave your heart to be like [the] heart of a god.
national Sins » Exemplified » Nineveh
Woe to the city [that has shed] {much blood}! {She is a deceiver}, She is filled [with] plunder, {She has hoarded her spoils of war}.
national Sins » Should be » Mourned over
"And even now," {declares} Yahweh, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, and weeping, and wailing."