¹⁹ Also ^(A)Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

³ But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel; indeed ^(A)he made his son pass through the fire, according to the ^(B)abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel.

^22 (A)Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they ^(B)provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. ²³ For they also built for themselves ^(C)high^[a] places, ^(D)sacred pillars, and ^(E)wooden images on every high hill and ^(F)under every green tree.

⁵¹ “Samaria did not commit ^(A)half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and ^(B)have justified your sisters by all the abominations which you have done. ⁵² You who judged your sisters, bear your own shame also, because the sins which you committed were more abominable than theirs; they are more righteous than you. Yes, be disgraced also, and bear your own shame, because you justified your sisters.

⁸ Then I saw that ^(A)for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had ^(B)put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; ^(C)yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. ⁹ So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she ^(D)defiled the land and committed adultery with ^(E)stones and trees. ¹⁰ And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me ^(F)with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.

¹¹ Then the Lord said to me, ^(G)“Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

¹¹ Moreover he made ^[a]high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to ^(A)commit harlotry, and led Judah astray.

The Older Sister, Samaria

The Younger Sister, Jerusalem

¹¹ “Now ^(F)although her sister Oholibah saw this, ^(G)she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry.

² “Now, son of man, ^(A)will you judge, will you judge ^(B)the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations! ³ Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The city sheds ^(C)blood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. ⁴ You have become guilty by the blood which you have ^(D)shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; ^(E)therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries. ⁵ Those near and those far from you will mock you as ^[a]infamous and full of tumult.

⁶ “Look, ^(F)the princes of Israel: each one has used his ^[b]power to shed blood in you. ⁷ In you they have ^(G)made light of father and mother; in your midst they have ^(H)oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the ^[c]fatherless and the widow. ⁸ You have despised My holy things and ^(I)profaned My Sabbaths. ⁹ In you are ^(J)men who slander to cause bloodshed; ^(K)in you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness. ¹⁰ In you men ^(L)uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are ^(M)set apart during their impurity. ¹¹ One commits abomination ^(N)with his neighbor’s wife; ^(O)another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s ^(P)daughter. ¹² In you ^(Q)they take bribes to shed blood; ^(R)you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and ^(S)have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.

¹³ “Behold, therefore, I ^(T)beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. ^14 (U)Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? ^(V)I, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it. ^15 (W)I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and ^(X)remove your filthiness completely from you. ¹⁶ You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then ^(Y)you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”