The LORD Almighty says, "When that day comes, I will break the yoke that is around their neck and remove their chains, and they will no longer be the slaves of foreigners.

and so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile and in which the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live.

I, the LORD your God, brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves. I broke the power that held you down and I let you walk with your head held high."

But you are the people he rescued from Egypt, that blazing furnace. He brought you out to make you his own people, as you are today.

Has any god ever dared to go and take a people from another nation and make them his own, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt? Before your very eyes he used his great power and strength; he brought plagues and war, worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen.

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God set you free; that is why I am now giving you this command.

For you have broken the yoke that burdened them and the rod that beat their shoulders. You have defeated the nation that oppressed and exploited your people, just as you defeated the army of Midian long ago.

When that time comes, I will free you from the power of Assyria, and their yoke will no longer be a burden on your shoulders."

I will destroy the Assyrians in my land of Israel and trample them on my mountains. I will free my people from the Assyrian yoke and from the burdens they have had to bear.

I will now end Assyria's power over you and break the chains that bind you."

Then all the people answered together, "We will do everything that the LORD has said," and Moses reported this to the LORD.

Moses went and told the people all the LORD's commands and all the ordinances, and all the people answered together, "We will do everything that the LORD has said."

Go back, Moses, and listen to everything that the LORD our God says. Then return and tell us what he said to you. We will listen and obey.'

Today you have acknowledged the LORD as your God; you have promised to obey him, to keep all his laws, and to do all that he commands.

They answered Joshua, "We will do everything you have told us and will go anywhere you send us.

Then they cried to the LORD for help and said, 'We have sinned, because we turned away from you, LORD, and worshiped the idols of Baal and Astarte. Rescue us from our enemies, and we will worship you!'

When Josiah was king, the LORD said to me, "Have you seen what Israel, that unfaithful woman, has done? She has turned away from me, and on every high hill and under every green tree she has acted like a prostitute.

In the land that you are taking, destroy all the places where the people worship their gods on high mountains, on hills, and under green trees.

Jeroboam also instituted a religious festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival in Judah. On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the gold bull-calves he had made, and he placed there in Bethel the priests serving at the places of worship he had built.

They angered him with their heathen places of worship, and with their idols they made him furious.

You worship the fertility gods by having sex under those sacred trees of yours. You offer your children as sacrifices in the rocky caves near stream beds.

You go to the high mountains to offer sacrifices and have sex.

by the side of every road you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution.

You dragged your beauty through the mud. You offered yourself to everyone who came by, and you were more of a prostitute every day.

On every street you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. But you are not out for money like a common prostitute.

I brought them to the land I had promised to give them. When they saw the high hills and green trees, they offered sacrifices at all of them. They made me angry by the sacrifices they burned and by the wine they brought as offerings.

The LORD says, "If a man divorces his wife, and she leaves him and becomes another man's wife, he cannot take her back again. This would completely defile the land. But, Israel, you have had many lovers, and now you want to return to me!

When Josiah was king, the LORD said to me, "Have you seen what Israel, that unfaithful woman, has done? She has turned away from me, and on every high hill and under every green tree she has acted like a prostitute.

Judah also saw that I divorced Israel and sent her away because she had turned from me and had become a prostitute. But Judah, Israel's unfaithful sister, was not afraid. She too became a prostitute

"Do not worship any other god, because I, the LORD, tolerate no rivals.

Your sons might marry those foreign women, who would lead them to be unfaithful to me and to worship their pagan gods.

In the land that you are taking, destroy all the places where the people worship their gods on high mountains, on hills, and under green trees.

The city that once was faithful is behaving like a whore! At one time it was filled with righteous people, but now only murderers remain.

"But you took advantage of your beauty and fame to sleep with everyone who came along.

You used some of your clothes to decorate your places of worship, and just like a prostitute, you gave yourself to everyone.

"Because you were not satisfied by the others, you went running after the Assyrians. You were their prostitute, but they didn't satisfy you either.

They will burn your houses down and let crowds of women see your punishment. I will make you stop being a prostitute and make you stop giving gifts to your lovers.

Although she was mine, Oholah continued to be a prostitute and was full of lust for her lovers from Assyria.

(SEE 2:4)

I told her that for a long time she would have to wait for me without being a prostitute or committing adultery; and during this time I would wait for her.