I let them defile themselves with their own offerings, and I let them sacrifice their first-born sons. This was to punish them and show them that I am the LORD.

Don't sacrifice your children in the fires on your altars; and don't let your people practice divination or look for omens or use spells

The LORD your God hates people who do these disgusting things, and that is why he is driving those nations out of the land as you advance.

They offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan.

They made themselves impure by their actions and were unfaithful to God.

In Hinnom Valley they have built an altar called Topheth, so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire. I did not command them to do this---it did not even enter my mind.

and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind.

"Mortal man," he said, "speak to these leaders and tell them that the Sovereign LORD is saying: You have come to ask my will, have you? As surely as I am the living God, I will not let you ask me anything. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken.

"Mortal man," he said, "these men have given their hearts to idols and are letting idols lead them into sin. Do they think I will give them an answer?

"Now speak to them and tell them what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to them: Each of you Israelites who have given your heart to idols and let them lead you into sin and who then come to consult a prophet, will get an answer from me---the answer that your many idols deserve!

When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was terrified,

and so he asked the LORD what to do. But the LORD did not answer him at all, either by dreams or by the use of Urim and Thummim or by prophets.

"Why should I help you?" Elisha said to the king of Israel. "Go and consult those prophets that your father and mother consulted." "No!" Joram replied. "It is the LORD who has put us three kings at the mercy of the king of Moab."

Elisha answered, "By the living LORD, whom I serve, I swear that I would have nothing to do with you if I didn't respect your ally, King Jehoshaphat of Judah.

What hope is there for the godless in the hour when God demands their life?

They should have desired the joy he gives; they should have constantly prayed to him.

If I had ignored my sins, the Lord would not have listened to me.

when it comes on you like a storm, bringing fierce winds of trouble, and you are in pain and misery.

Then you will call for wisdom, but I will not answer. You may look for me everywhere, but you will not find me.

If you do not obey the law, God will find your prayers too hateful to hear.

"When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood.

Even if they fast, I will not listen to their cry for help; and even if they offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not be pleased with them. Instead, I will kill them in war and by starvation and disease."

Because they did not listen when I spoke, I did not answer when they prayed.

"Later the others arrived. 'Sir, sir! Let us in!' they cried out.

'Certainly not! I don't know you,' the bridegroom answered."

Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you.

And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures.