Isa 1:21, 50:1, Jer 2:20, 25, 3:1-9, Eze 16:15-16, Hos 2:2, 3:1, 4:5, 12-15 | ESV | STEP | How the faithful city has become a whore , she who was full of justice ! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers .

1 Thus says the Lord:
“Where is ^dyour mother’s certificate of divorce,
with which ^eI sent her away?
Or ^fwhich of my creditors is it
to whom I have sold you?
^gBehold, for your iniquities you were sold,
and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

Jeremiah 2:20

20 “For long ago I ^hbroke your yoke
and burst your bonds;
but you said, ⁱ‘I will not serve.’
Yes, ^jon every high hill
and under every green tree
you bowed down ^klike a whore.

Jeremiah 2:25

25 Keep ^lyour feet from going unshod
and ^myour throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
ⁿfor I have loved foreigners,
and after them I will go.’

Jeremiah 3:1-9

1 ^o“If ^{▼▼Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Saying, “If} a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
^qWould not that land be greatly polluted?
^rYou have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?

declares the Lord.
2 Lift up your eyes to ^sthe bare heights, and see!
Where have you not been ravished?
^tBy the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers
like an Arab in the wilderness.
^uYou have polluted the land
with your vile whoredom.
3 ^vTherefore the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have ^wthe forehead of a whore;
you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Have you not just now ^xcalled to me,
‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
5 ^ywill he be angry forever,
will he be indignant to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you could.”

Faithless Israel Called to Repentance

6 The Lord said to me in the days of ^zKing Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, ^aahow she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there ^abplayed the whore? 7 And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous ^acsister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, ^adI had sent her away with ^aea decree of divorce. ^afYet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went ^agand played the whore. 9 Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with ^ahstone and tree.

Ezekiel 16:15-16

15 ^ai“But you trusted in your beauty ^ajand played the whore ^{▼▼Or were unfaithful; also verses 16, 17, 26, 28} because of your renown ^aland lavished your whorings ^{▼▼Or unfaithfulness; also verses 20, 22, 25, 26, 29, 33, 34, 36} on any passerby; your beauty ^{▼▼Hebrew it} became his. 16 You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be. ^{▼▼The meaning of this Hebrew sentence is uncertain}

Hosea 2:2

2 “Plead with your mother, plead—
for ^apshe is not my wife,
and I am not her husband—
that she put away ^aqher whoring from her face,
and her adultery from between her breasts;

Hosea 3:1

Hosea Redeems His Wife

1 And the Lord said to me, ^ar“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”

Hosea 4:5

5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
and I will destroy ^asyour mother.

Hosea 4:12-15

12 My people ^atinquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For ^aua spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore.
13 ^avThey sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and burn offerings on the hills,
^awunder oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your brides commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for ^axthe men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with ^aycult prostitutes,
and a people ^azwithout understanding shall come to ruin.
15 Though you play the whore, O ^baIsrael,
let not ^bbJudah become guilty.
^bcEnter not into ^bdGilgal,
nor go up to ^beBeth-aven,
and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”