²³ Do not live according to the customs of the people I am driving out before you. It is because they do these shameful things that I detest them.

⁵ It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

²⁴ “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.

³⁰ So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the people who lived in the land before you. I am the Lord your God.”

³ So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life.

³⁰ do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’ ³¹ You must not worship the Lord your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods.

²⁷ “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.

⁸ I got rid of their three evil shepherds in a single month.

But I became impatient with these sheep, and they hated me, too.

Idolatry Brings Destruction

10 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O Israel! ² This is what the Lord says: