Your wise men are put to shame; they are confused and trapped. They have rejected my words; what wisdom do they have now?

Moses took half of the blood of the animals and put it in bowls; and the other half he threw against the altar.

Then Moses took the blood in the bowls and threw it on the people. He said, "This is the blood that seals the covenant which the LORD made with you when he gave all these commands."

"Today you are standing in the presence of the LORD your God, all of you---your leaders and officials, your men,

You are here today to enter into this covenant that the LORD your God is making with you and to accept its obligations,

You are not the only ones with whom the LORD is making this covenant with its obligations.

It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant.

Be sure that you obey all the laws that he has given you.

Do what the LORD says is right and good, and all will go well with you. You will be able to take possession of the fertile land that the LORD promised your ancestors,

The LORD, the God of their ancestors, had continued to send prophets to warn his people, because he wanted to spare them and the Temple.

But they made fun of God's messengers, ignoring his words and laughing at his prophets, until at last the LORD's anger against his people was so great that there was no escape.

"But your people rebelled and disobeyed you; they turned their backs on your Law. They killed the prophets who warned them, who told them to turn back to you. They insulted you time after time,

You warned them to obey your teachings, but in pride they rejected your laws, although keeping your Law is the way to life. Hard-headed and stubborn, they refused to obey.

Year after year you patiently warned them. You inspired your prophets to speak, but your people were deaf, so you let them be conquered by other nations.

I kept sending you my servants the prophets, who told you not to do this terrible thing that I hate.

This present disaster has come on you because you offered sacrifices to other gods and sinned against the LORD by not obeying all his commands."

With their idols they have made me angry, jealous with their so-called gods, gods that are really not gods. So I will use a so-called nation to make them angry; I will make them jealous with a nation of fools.

Their enemies know that their own gods are weak, not mighty like Israel's God.

Don't go after false gods; they cannot help you or save you, for they are not real.

Because of their idolatry and because they led Israel into sin, Baasha and his son Elah had aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel.

May all who made them and who trust in them become like the idols they have made.

All of them are stupid and foolish. What can they learn from wooden idols?

They are worthless and should be despised; they will be destroyed when the LORD comes to deal with them.

and then he told them, "Now draw some water out and take it to the man in charge of the feast." They took him the water,

The LORD says: "What accusation did your ancestors bring against me? What made them turn away from me? They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves.

They know God, but they do not give him the honor that belongs to him, nor do they thank him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness.

instead of worshiping the immortal God, they worship images made to look like mortals or birds or animals or reptiles.

So then, about eating the food offered to idols: we know that an idol stands for something that does not really exist; we know that there is only the one God.

followed the customs of the people whom the LORD had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel.

and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the LORD had driven out of the land. They aroused the LORD's anger with all their wicked deeds

and disobeyed the LORD's command not to worship idols.

After the LORD destroys those nations, make sure that you don't follow their religious practices, because that would be fatal. Don't try to find out how they worship their gods, so that you can worship in the same way.

Do not worship the LORD your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the LORD hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars.

Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the LORD had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the LORD.

Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the LORD had driven out of the land as his people advanced.