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Judah Is Unfaithful

“If a man ·divorces [L sends away] his wife
    and she leaves him and marries another man,
should her first husband come back to her again?
    If he went back to her, wouldn’t the land become completely ·unclean [defiled; polluted; C in a ritual sense; such a thing was forbidden by the Law; Deut. 24:1–4]?
But you have acted like a prostitute with many lovers,
    and now you want to come back to me?” says the Lord [Hos. 2:7];
“·Look up [L Lift up your eyes and look] to the bare hilltops, Judah.
    Is there any place where ·you have not been a prostitute [L you have not been lain with; C the hill country contained many pagan altars]?
You have sat by the road waiting for lovers,
    like an Arab in the ·desert [wilderness].
You made the land ·unclean [defiled; polluted; C in a ritual sense],
    because you did evil and were like a prostitute.
So the rain has ·not come [L been withheld],
    and there have not been any spring rains [1 Kin. 17:1].
But ·your face still looks like the face [L you have the forehead] of a prostitute [C unembarrassed].
    You refuse even to be ashamed of what you did.
·Now you are [L Are you not now…?] calling to me,
    ‘My father, you have been my friend since I was young.
Will you always be angry at me?
    Will your anger last ·forever [L to the end]?’
Judah, you said this,
    but you did as much evil as you could!”

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The Polluted Land

That is to say, “If a man divorces his wife
And she goes [away] from him
And becomes another man’s [wife],
Will he return to her again? [Of course not!]
Will not that land [where such a thing happened] be completely desecrated?
But you [rebelled against Me and you] are a prostitute with many lovers;
Yet you turn to Me.” says the Lord.

“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see;
Where have you not been violated?
You sat by the road waiting [eagerly] for them [those man-made gods]
Like an Arab [tribesman who waits to attack] in the desert,
And you have desecrated the land
With your [vile] prostitution and your wickedness (disobedience to God).

“Therefore the showers have been withheld,
And there has been no spring rain.
Yet you have the forehead (appearance) of a prostitute;
You refuse to be ashamed.

“Will you not just now call out to Me,
‘My Father, you were the guide and companion of my youth?

‘Will He be angry forever?
Will He be indignant to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken,
And you have done all the evil things [you could],
And you have had your way and have carried out your wickedness.”

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