2 Kings 17:7-23

Exile Because of Idolatry

7And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, awho had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 band walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, cand in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. 9And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, dfrom watchtower to fortified city. 10They set up for themselves epillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, 12and they served idols, fof which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13Yet the Lord gwarned Israel and Judah hby every prophet iand every seer, saying, jTurn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

14But they would not listen, kbut were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15They despised his statutes land his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after mfalse idols nand became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the oLord had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of ptwo calves; and they qmade an Asherah and rworshiped all the host of heaven and served sBaal. 17 tAnd they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings
Or made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire
and used vdivination and womens and xsold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
18Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but ythe tribe of Judah only.

19 zJudah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. 20And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them aaand gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

21 abWhen he had torn Israel from the house of David, acthey made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord adand made them commit great sin. 22The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, 23until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, aeas he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. afSo Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.

2 Chronicles 36:14-16

14All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.

15The Lord, the God of their fathers, agsent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 ahBut they kept mocking the messengers of God, aidespising his words and scoffing at his prophets, ajuntil the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

Isaiah 50:1-2

Israel’s Sin and the Servant’s Obedience

1 Thus says the Lord:
Where is akyour mother’s certificate of divorce,
with which alI sent her away?
Or amwhich of my creditors is it
to whom I have sold you?
anBehold, for your iniquities you were sold,
and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 aoWhy, when I came, was there no man;
why, when I called, was there no one to answer?
apIs my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
aqBehold, by my rebuke arI dry up the sea,
asI make the rivers a desert;
attheir fish stink for lack of water
and die of thirst.

Isaiah 59:1-15

Evil and Oppression

1 Behold, authe Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 avbut your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
3 awFor your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 axNo one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
aythey conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5They hatch adderseggs;
they weave the spider’s web;
he who eats their eggs dies,
and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
6 azTheir webs will not serve as clothing;
men will not cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds of violence are in their hands.
7 baTheir feet run to evil,
and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
desolation and destruction are in their highways.
8The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked;
bbno one who treads on them knows peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
bcwe hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 bdWe grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
beamong those in full vigor we are like dead men.
11We all growl like bears;
bfwe moan and moan like doves;
bgwe hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13transgressing, and denying the Lord,
and turning back from following our God,
bhspeaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

Judgment and Redemption

14 biJustice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
Hebrew  and it was evil in his eyes

that there was no justice.

Jeremiah 2:17

17 bkHave you not brought this upon yourself
by forsaking the Lord your God,
when blhe led you in the way?

Jeremiah 2:19

19 bmYour evil will chastise you,
and bnyour apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and bobitter
for bpyou to forsake the Lord your God;
the fear of me is not in you,

declares the Lord God of hosts.
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