31 Bible Verses about Apostasy in OT

It is said: If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, her first husband should not go back to her again. The land would become completely polluted. You have behaved like a prostitute who has many lovers. Now you want to come back to me! Says Jehovah. Lift up your eyes to the bare hills and see. You have had sex with men in every place. You sat by the roadside waiting for them like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled (corrupted) (profaned) the land with your prostitution and wickedness. Accordingly the rain has been withheld, and there have been no spring showers. Yet, you have the unashamed (conspicuous) (impudent) look of a prostitute, and you refuse to be ashamed.read more.
Now you call to me. You say, 'Father!' You have been my friend ever since I was young. Will you hold a grudge forever? Will you always be angry? You have said and done all the evil things that you could. During the reign of King Josiah, Jehovah asked me: Did you see what unfaithful Israel did? She went up every high mountain and under every large tree, and she acted like a prostitute there. I thought that after she had done all this she would come back to me. But she did not come back, and her treacherous (unstable) (unreliable) (false) sister Judah saw her. Judah saw that I sent unfaithful Israel away because of her adultery and that I gave Israel her divorce papers. But treacherous Judah, her sister, was not afraid. She also acted like a prostitute. Because she was not concerned about her prostitution. She polluted the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. Even after all this, Israel's treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart. She was deceitful, says Jehovah. Jehovah said to me: Treacherous Judah was more reprehensible than unfaithful Israel. Go and proclaim this message to the north: 'Come back, unfaithful Israel. It is Jehovah speaking. I will no longer frown on you because I am merciful,' declares Jehovah. 'I will no longer be angry with you. Admit that you have done wrong! You have rebelled against Jehovah your God. You have given yourself to foreign gods under every large tree. You have not obeyed me,' says Jehovah. Return, you disobedient people, proclaims Jehovah. I am your husband. I will take you, one from every city and two from every family, and bring you to Zion.' I will give you shepherds after my own heart. They will be shepherds who feed (shepherd) (lead) (tend) you with knowledge and understanding (learning) (reasoning) (insight). In those days you will be fertile, and your population will increase in the land, says Jehovah. Men will no longer talk about the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah. It will no longer come to mind. They will not remember it, miss it, or make another one. At that time, they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah. All nations will gather in Jerusalem because the name of Jehovah will be found there. They will no longer follow their own stubborn, evil ways. Then the nation of Judah will live with the nation of Israel. They will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave their ancestors as their own inheritance. I wanted to treat you like children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful property among the nations. I thought you would call me Father and not turn away from me. But like a wife who is unfaithful to her husband, so you, O house of Israel, were unfaithful me, says Jehovah. A voice is heard on the bare hills. It is the crying and the pleading of the people of Israel. They are perverted and have forgotten Jehovah their God. Return you backsliding children, and I will forgive you for being unfaithful. See, we have come to you because you are Jehovah our God. Truly the sound from the hills and mountains is the noise of false worship. Truly Jehovah our God will be our salvation. Ever since we were young, the shameful worship of Baal has taken everything our ancestors worked for, their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters. We must lie down in our shame and let our humiliation cover us. Ever since we were young, we and our fathers have sinned against Jehovah our God. We have not obeyed Jehovah our God.

Still the heat of Jehovah's anger was not turned back from Judah. This is because of all Manasseh had done in moving him to anger. Jehovah said: I will send Judah away from before my face, as I have sent Israel. I will have nothing more to do with this town. It is Jerusalem my town. And the holy house of which I said: 'My name will be there.'

He drove nations out of their way and gave them the land of the nations as their inheritance. He settled the tribes of Israel in their own tents. They tested God Most High and rebelled against him. They did not obey his written instructions. They were disloyal and treacherous like their ancestors. They were like arrows shot from a defective bow.read more.
They provoked him to anger (indignation) because of their illegal worship sites. They made him furious because they worshiped idols. When God heard, he became furious. He greatly abhorred Israel. He abandoned his dwelling place in Shiloh, the tent where he had lived among humans. He allowed his power to be taken captive and handed his glory over to an oppressor. He let swords kill his people. He was furious with those who belonged to him. Fire consumed his best young men, so his virgins were not given in marriage. His priests were cut down with swords. The widows of his priests could not even weep for them.

Do not be like your ancestors and your relatives who were unfaithful to Jehovah the God of their ancestors. He made them something that shocks people, as you have seen. Do not stiffen your neck like your fathers, but yield to Jehovah and enter his sanctuary that he has consecrated from generation to generation. Serve Jehovah your God that His burning anger may turn away from you. If you return to Jehovah, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land. Jehovah your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.

When Joshua let the people go the children of Israel went, every man, to his inheritance to possess the land. The people served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works Jehovah did for Israel. Joshua son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died at the age of a hundred and ten years old.read more.
They buried him on the border of his inheritance in Timnath-Serah, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of Gaash hill. After those generations were gathered to their fathers (died) another generation followed them. This new generation did not know Jehovah or the works he had done for Israel. The children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served Baalim: They forsook Jehovah God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them. They bowed to them and provoked Jehovah to anger. They forsook Jehovah and served Baal and Ashtaroth. The anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel. He delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went the hand of Jehovah was against them for evil. For Jehovah had sworn to them and as Jehovah had sworn they were greatly distressed. Nevertheless Jehovah established judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they would not listen to their judges, but prostituted themselves to other gods. They worshiped them. They turned quickly, out of the way in which their fathers walked obeying the commandments of Jehovah. When Jehovah established judges he supported each judge. He delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days the judge lived. He had compassion for them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. When the judge was dead they returned and corrupted themselves more than their fathers. They followed other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them. They did not give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. The anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel. He said: Because this people have transgressed my covenant, which I commanded their fathers, and have not listened to my voice; I will not drive out any of the nations that Joshua left when he died. That through them I may test Israel, to see whether they will keep the way of Jehovah and walk in it as their fathers did. Therefore Jehovah left those nations, without driving them out. He did not deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

The sons of Ephraim were archers well equipped with bows. Yet they turned and ran in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God. They refused to walk in his law. They forgot his deeds and his miracles that he had shown them.read more.
He wrought wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea and caused them to pass through. He made the waters stand up like a heap. He led them with the cloud by day and with a light of fire by night. He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths. He brought forth streams also from the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers. Yet they still continued to sin against him. They rebelled against the Most High in the desert. In their heart they put God to the test by asking food according to their desire. Then they spoke against God. They said: Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out, and streams were overflowing; Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat for His people? Therefore Jehovah heard and was full of wrath. A fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also mounted against Israel, Because they did not believe in God and did not trust in his salvation. Yet he commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of heaven. He rained down manna upon them to eat and gave them food from heaven. Man did eat the bread of angels. He sent them food in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens and by his power he directed the south wind. He rained meat upon them like the dust, even winged fowl like the sand of the seas, Then he let them fall in the midst of their camp, round about their dwellings. So they ate and were well filled, and their desire he gave to them. Before they had satisfied their desire, while their food was in their mouths, The anger of God rose against them and killed some of their stoutest ones, and subdued the choice men of Israel. In spite of all this they still sinned. They did not believe in his wonderful works. He brought their days to an end like a whisper in the wind. He brought their years to an end in terror. When he killed some of them, the rest searched for him. They turned from their sins and eagerly looked for God. They remembered that God was their rock, that the Most High was their defender. They flattered him with their mouths and lied to him with their tongues. Their hearts were not loyal to him. They were not faithful to his promise. But he is compassionate. He forgave their sin. He did not destroy them. He restrained his anger many times. He did not display all of his fury. He remembered that they were only flesh and blood, a breeze that blows and does not return. How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness! How often they caused him grief in the desert! They tested God again and again, and they pushed the Holy One of Israel to the limit.

This is the vision seen by Isaiah the son of Amoz. It is about Judah and Jerusalem at the time of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Listen, heaven, and pay attention, earth! Jehovah (YHWH) has spoken: I raised my children and helped them grow, but they have rebelled against me. The bull knows its owner, and donkey knows where its master feeds it. But Israel does not know. My people do not understand!read more.
Woe to the sinful nation, people heavy with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, sons who are corrupt! They have forsaken Jehovah! They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They have turned away from him. Why do you still want to be beaten? Why do you continue to rebel? Your whole head is infected. Your whole heart is sick. From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head there is no healthy spot left on your body. You have only bruises, sores, and fresh wounds. They have not been cleansed, bandaged, or soothed with oil.

But they were hard-hearted, and went against your authority. They turned their backs on your law, and murdered your prophets. These prophets gave witness against them with the purpose of turning them back again to you. They did much to make you angry. So you gave them up into the hands of their enemies who were cruel to them. In the time of their trouble, when they prayed to you, you listened to them from heaven. In your great mercy you gave them saviors, who made them free from the hands of their enemies. When they had rest, they did evil again before you: so you gave them into the hands of their enemies who ruled over them. When they came back and prayed to you, you listened to them from heaven; again and again, in your mercy, you gave them salvation.read more.
You admonished them so that you might make them come back again to your law. Their hearts were lifted up, and they paid no attention to your orders. They went against your life giving decisions and turned their backs on you. They were stubborn and did not listen. You put up with them for years. You admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they did not listen. So you gave them up into the hands of the peoples of the lands. Even then, in your great mercy, you did not put an end to them completely, or give them up; for you are a God of grace (loving-kindness) and mercy.

Moses saw that the people were naked. Aaron had made them naked to their shame among their enemies. Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said: Who is on Jehovah's side? Come to me. All the sons of Levi came to him. He said to them, Jehovah, the God of Israel says: 'Each man put his sword by his side. Go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp. Kill each one his brother, and each one his neighbor, and each one his kindred.'read more.
The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. About three thousand men died that day. Moses said: Today you are ordained as Jehovah's. God gave you a blessing today. Each of you fought with your own sons and brothers.

I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and its produce. You came and made my land unclean. You made my heritage disgusting. The priests did not ask: 'Where is Jehovah? Those who deal with my Law did not know me. The rulers rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied in the name of Baal and followed things that could not help (profit) them.' That is why I will bring charges against you, proclaims Jehovah, and I will bring charges against your grandchildren.read more.
Go over to the coasts of Cyprus (Kittim), and see. Send someone to Kedar and observe closely. See if there has ever been such a thing as this. Has any nation ever exchanged gods? Their gods are not really gods. Yet my people have exchanged their glory for something that does not help them. Be horrified over this, heaven. Be terribly afraid, declares Jehovah. My people have done two things wrong: (l) They have abandoned me, the fountain (source) of living waters. They have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. (Revelation 4:11)

They did not destroy the people as Jehovah had told them. Instead, they intermarried with other nations. They learned to do what other nations did. They worshiped their idols, which became a trap for them.read more.
They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their own sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land became polluted with blood. They became filthy because of what they did. They behaved like prostitutes.

The people must stop sacrificing to goat idols (demons) and chasing after them as though they were prostitutes. This is a long lasting law for the people and for future generations.

I will go to the great men (leaders) and talk with them. Surely they know what their God requires, what Jehovah wants them to do. But all of them have rejected Jehovah's authority and refuse to obey him. That is why lions from the forest will kill them. Wolves from the desert will tear them to pieces, and leopards will prowl through their towns. If those people go out, they will be torn apart because their sins are numerous and time after time they have turned from God. Jehovah asked: Why should I forgive the sins of my people? They have abandoned me and have worshiped gods that are not real. I fed my people until they were full, but they committed adultery and spent their time with prostitutes.

Do not rebel against Jehovah. Do not be afraid of the people who live there. We will conquer them easily. Jehovah is with us and has defeated the gods who protected them. Do not be afraid. The whole congregation threatened to stone them to death. Then suddenly the people saw the dazzling light of Jehovah's presence (glory) (splendor) appear over the tent. Jehovah said to Moses: How much longer will these people reject me? How much longer will they refuse to trust in me, even though I have performed many miracles among them?read more.
I will send an epidemic and destroy them. I will make you the father of a nation that is larger and more powerful than they are!

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me. O Ephraim, you have played the harlot and Israel is defiled. They will not consecrate their deeds to their God because the spirit of fornication is in them. They do not know Jehovah.

Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known? Then come and stand before me in this house. It is called by my name. You say, 'We are safe to do all these abominations.' Has this house, called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, declares Jehovah.read more.
But go to my place in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell from the beginning, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. For the reason that you did all these things, says Jehovah, I spoke to you. I rose up early and spoke. But you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer. Consider what I will do to the house that is called by my name. It is the house in which you trust. It is the place I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim.

The wrath (intense anger) of Jehovah came on Israel because they had done evil against Jehovah their God, who took them out of the land of Egypt from under the yoke of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They worshipped other gods. They lived by the rules of the nations whom Jehovah sent out from before the children of Israel. The children of Israel secretly did things that were not right according to Jehovah their God. They built high places for themselves in all their towns, from the watchtower to the walled towns.read more.
They erected pillars of stone and wood on every high hill and under every green tree. They burned their offerings in all the high places, as those nations did whom Jehovah sent away from them. They did evil things, moving Jehovah to anger. They made themselves servants of disgusting things. Even though Jehovah said: You should not do this. Jehovah sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands. The commandments contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors. I handed them on to you through my servants the prophets. They would not obey. They were stubborn like their ancestors. They did not trust in Jehovah their God. They refused to obey his instructions. They did not keep the covenant he made with their ancestors. They disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves. They followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying Jehovah's command not to imitate them. They broke all the laws of Jehovah their God. They made two metal bull-calves to worship. They also made an image of the goddess Asherah. Also they worshiped the stars and served the god Baal. They caused their sons and their daughters to go through the fire to be sacrificed. They made use of secret arts and unnatural powers, and gave themselves up to doing evil in the eyes of Jehovah, till they provoked him to anger. Jehovah was very angry with Israel. He removed them from his sight. Only the tribe of Judah kept its place. But even Judah did not obey the commands of Jehovah their God. They were guided by the rules Israel made. So Jehovah would have nothing to do with all the offspring of Israel. He caused trouble for them. He gave them up into the hands of their attackers, till he had sent them away from before his face.

You said your children would be taken as prisoners of war. Instead, I will bring them into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it. But your bodies will drop dead in this desert. Your children will be shepherds in the desert for forty years. They will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies dead in the desert.read more.
You explored the land for forty days. So for forty years, one year for each day, you will suffer for your sins and know what it means for me to be against you.' I, Jehovah, have spoken. I swear I will do these things to all the people in this whole wicked congregation. For they have joined forces against me. They will meet their end in this desert. Here they will die!'

I wish I had a dwelling in the desert. I would abandon my people and go away from them. They are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

Jehovah said to Moses: You are about to lie down with your fathers in death. This people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land. They will plunge into the midst of it. They will forsake me and break my covenant that I made with them. My anger will be kindled against them in that day. I will abandon them and hide my face from them. They will be consumed by many evils and troubles. They will say in that day: 'Is it because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?' I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil they will do. They will turn to other gods.

When Jehovah first spoke through Hosea, Jehovah said to Hosea, Go and marry an adulterous wife and have children with her for the land commits flagrant adultery. They have abandoned Jehovah.

This is what Jehovah says: Cursed is the person who trusts humans, who makes flesh and blood his strength and whose heart turns away from Jehovah. He will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes. He will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.

The land is full of adulterers! The land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course also is evil and their might is not right. The prophets and priests are godless. Even in my Temple I have found them doing evil, declares Jehovah. That is why their own way will become like a slippery path in the dark. They will be chased away, and they will fall down in the dark. I will bring disaster on them. It is time for them to be punished, proclaims Jehovah.read more.
Say this about the prophets of Samaria: 'I saw something disgusting. The prophets of Samaria prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.' Say this about the prophets of Jerusalem: 'I see something horrible. The prophets of Jerusalem commit adultery and live a lie. They support those who do evil so that no one turns back from his wickedness. They are all like Sodom to me, and those who live in Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.' This is what Jehovah of Hosts says about the prophets: I will give them wormwood to eat and poison to drink. The prophets of Jerusalem have spread godlessness throughout the land.

Jeshurun (Israel) grew fat and disrespectful. You got fat! You were stuffed! You over eat! He abandoned the God who made him and scornfully treated the rock of his salvation. They made God furious because they worshiped foreign gods and angered him (stirred up his zeal) because they worshiped worthless idols. They sacrificed to demons that are not God. They served gods they did not know. These were new gods who came from nearby, gods your ancestors never worshiped.read more.
You ignored the rock that fathered you and forgot the God who gave you life. Jehovah saw this and rejected them. His own sons and daughters made him angry. He said: 'I will turn away from them and find out what will happen to them. They are a devious and perverse generation. They are children who have no faith. They made him furious because they worshiped foreign gods. They angered him because they worshiped worthless idols. So I will use those who are not my people to make them jealous and a nation of godless fools to make them angry.

How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For Jehovah has created a new thing in the earth. A woman will protect a man.

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today hear His voice! Do not harden your hearts, as in the day of strife, as in the day of testing in the wilderness.

They quickly forgot his works and they did not wait for his counsel. They had an unreasonable desire for food in the wilderness. In the desert they tested God. He gave them what they asked for. He also gave them a degenerative disease.read more.
In the camp certain men became envious of Moses. They also became envious of Aaron, Jehovah's holy one. The ground split open and swallowed Dathan. It buried Abiram's followers. A fire broke out among their followers. Flames burned up wicked people. At Mount Horeb they made a statue of a calf. They worshiped an idol made of metal. They traded their glorious God for the statue of a bull that eats grass. They forgot the God of their salvation, the one who did spectacular things in Egypt, miracles in the land of Ham, and terrifying things at the Red Sea. God said he was going to destroy them, but Moses, his chosen one, stood in his way to prevent him from exterminating them. They refused to enter the pleasant land. They did not believe what he said. They complained in their tents. They did not obey Jehovah. Raising his hand, he swore that he would kill them in the wilderness, kill their descendants among the nations, and scatter them throughout various lands. They joined in worshiping the god Baal while they were at Peor. They ate what was sacrificed to the dead. They infuriated God by what they did, and a plague broke out among them. Phinehas stood between God and the people, and the plague was stopped. Because of this, Phinehas was considered righteous forever, throughout every generation. They made God angry by the water at Meribah. Things turned out badly for Moses because of what they did. They made him bitter so that he spoke recklessly.

Scripture says: Today if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Do not be stubborn like those who rebelled. Who were they who heard God and rebelled? All who came out of Egypt with Moses rebelled. With whom was he disgusted for forty years? He was disgusted and angry with those who sinned and died in the desert.read more.
Who did God swear would never enter his rest? He was talking about those who did not obey him. We see that they could not enter in on account of a lack of faith (unbelief) (disobedience).

Then those who escape will remember me among the nations where they are taken captive. I was hurt by their adulterous hearts, which turned away from me, and by their eyes, which lusted after idols. They will hate themselves for the evil and disgusting things that they have done.

But you trusted your beauty. You used your fame to become a prostitute. You had sex with everyone who walked by. You took some of your clothes and made your worship sites colorful. This is where you acted like a prostitute. Such things should not happen. They should not occur. You took your beautiful gold and silver jewelry that I had given you and made male idols for yourself. Then you committed adultery with them.read more.
You took off your embroidered clothes and covered the idols with them. You offered my olive oil and incense in their presence. You also offered them sweet and fragrant sacrifices. You gave flour, olive oil, and honey-all the food that I gave you to eat. This is what happened,' declares the Lord Jehovah. You took your sons and daughters, who belonged to me, and you sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and presented them as burnt offerings to idols. During your disgusting life as a prostitute you never once remembered your childhood, when you were naked, squirming in your own blood.' The Lord Jehovah said: You are doomed! Doomed! You did all that evil, and then by the side of every road you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. You dragged your beauty through the mud. You offered yourself to everyone who came by, and you were more of a prostitute every day. You let your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, go to bed with you, and you used your prostitution to make me angry. Now I have raised my hand to punish you and to take away your share of my blessing. I have handed you over to the Philistines, who hate you. They are also disgusted with your immoral actions. The others did not satisfy you so you ran after the Assyrians. You were their prostitute, but they did not satisfy you either. You were also a prostitute for the Babylonians, that nation of merchants, but they did not satisfy you either. I, the Lord Jehovah am furious with you. You were so disgusting that you would have done anything to get what you wanted. You had sex on every street corner, and when you finished, you refused to accept money. That is worse than being a prostitute! You are an unfaithful wife who would rather have sex with strangers than with your own husband. Prostitutes accept money for having sex, but you bribe men from everywhere to have sex with you. You are not like other prostitutes. Men do not ask you for sex. You offer to pay them! Jerusalem, you prostitute, listen to the word of Jehovah. You chased after lovers, then took off your clothes and had sex. You even worshiped disgusting idols and sacrificed your own children as offerings to them. So I, the Lord Jehovah, will gather every one of your lovers, those you liked and those you hated. They will stand around you, and I will rip off your clothes and let all of those lovers stare at your nakedness. I will judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged. I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy. I will also give you into the hands of your lovers. They will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and will leave you naked and bare. They will incite a crowd against you and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. They will burn your houses with fire and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women. Then I will stop you from playing the harlot. You will also no longer pay your lovers. I will calm my fury against you and my indignation will depart from you. I will be pacified and angry no more.

We have sinned. We have dealt perversely. We have acted wickedly and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances. We have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Jehovah, righteousness belongs to you! Shame belongs to us this day! To the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.read more.
O Jehovah, to us belongs shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To Jehovah our God belong mercies and forgiveness. We have rebelled against him. We have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law and turned aside, that they should not obey your voice. Therefore the curse has been poured out upon us. It is the oath that is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God. We have sinned against you. He confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who ruled us. He brought a great evil on us. Nothing under heaven has been done like what was done to Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us. Yet we have not earnestly requested the favor of Jehovah our God. We should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth. Therefore Jehovah watched over the evil and brought it upon us. Jehovah our God is righteous in all his works. We have not obeyed his voice.