56 Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:

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56 But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.

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11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:

12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.

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11 Then the Israelites did evil(A) in the eyes of the Lord(B) and served the Baals.(C) 12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods(D) of the peoples around them.(E) They aroused(F) the Lord’s anger(G)

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15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

16 And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

18 And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.

19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord God.

20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,

21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.

23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord God;)

24 That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.

25 Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.

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15 “‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by(A) and your beauty became his.(B) 16 You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places,(C) where you carried on your prostitution.(D) You went to him, and he possessed your beauty.[a] 17 You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them.(E) 18 And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense(F) before them. 19 Also the food I provided for you—the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign Lord.(G)

20 “‘And you took your sons and daughters(H) whom you bore to me(I) and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough?(J) 21 You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols.(K) 22 In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth,(L) when you were naked and bare,(M) kicking about in your blood.(N)

23 “‘Woe!(O) Woe to you, declares the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness, 24 you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine(P) in every public square.(Q) 25 At every street corner(R) you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by.(S) 26 You engaged in prostitution(T) with the Egyptians,(U) your neighbors with large genitals, and aroused my anger(V) with your increasing promiscuity.(W)

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 16:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.

40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

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40 How often they rebelled(A) against him in the wilderness(B)
    and grieved him(C) in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;(D)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.(E)

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25 And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

26 Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

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25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land;(A) they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things,(B) wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished;(C) they reveled in your great goodness.(D)

26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law.(E) They killed(F) your prophets,(G) who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies.(H)

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For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.

And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:

11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger:

12 For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.

13 Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God.

15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.

16 And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.

19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

20 And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

21 For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin.

22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;

23 Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

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Israel Exiled Because of Sin

All this took place because the Israelites had sinned(A) against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt(B) from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations(C) the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city(D) they built themselves high places in all their towns. 10 They set up sacred stones(E) and Asherah poles(F) on every high hill and under every spreading tree.(G) 11 At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s anger. 12 They worshiped idols,(H) though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.”[a] 13 The Lord warned(I) Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers:(J) “Turn from your evil ways.(K) Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”(L)

14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked(M) as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. 15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant(N) he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols(O) and themselves became worthless.(P) They imitated the nations(Q) around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

16 They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves,(R) and an Asherah(S) pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts,(T) and they worshiped Baal.(U) 17 They sacrificed(V) their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens(W) and sold(X) themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

18 So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence.(Y) Only the tribe of Judah was left, 19 and even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced.(Z) 20 Therefore the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers,(AA) until he thrust them from his presence.(AB)

21 When he tore(AC) Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king.(AD) Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit a great sin.(AE) 22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them 23 until the Lord removed them from his presence,(AF) as he had warned(AG) through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland(AH) into exile in Assyria, and they are still there.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 17:12 Exodus 20:4,5

15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

19 And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.

20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

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15 Jeshurun[a](A) grew fat(B) and kicked;
    filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned(C) the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock(D) their Savior.
16 They made him jealous(E) with their foreign gods
    and angered(F) him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed(G) to false gods,(H) which are not God—
    gods they had not known,(I)
    gods that recently appeared,(J)
    gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot(K) the God who gave you birth.

19 The Lord saw this and rejected them(L)
    because he was angered by his sons and daughters.(M)
20 “I will hide my face(N) from them,” he said,
    “and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,(O)
    children who are unfaithful.(P)
21 They made me jealous(Q) by what is no god
    and angered me with their worthless idols.(R)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
    I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.(S)

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.

16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?

18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.

19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

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16 And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,(A) and these people will soon prostitute(B) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake(C) me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry(D) with them and forsake(E) them; I will hide(F) my face(G) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters(H) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’(I) 18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

19 “Now write(J) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness(K) for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,(L) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods(M) and worship them,(N) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.(O)

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