I said to myself, ‘Israel will come back to me after she has finished doing these evil things.’ But she did not come back to me. And Israel’s unfaithful sister, Judah, saw what she did.
Jehoshaphat looked for the God his ancestors {\cf2\super [206]} followed. He followed God’s commands. He did not live the same way the people of Israel lived.
Lord, if I argue with you,\par you are always right!\par But I want to ask you about some things that don’t seem right.\par Why are wicked people successful?\par Why do people you can’t trust have such easy lives?\par
“Jeremiah, have you heard what the people are saying? Those people are saying, ‘The Lord turned away from the two families of Israel and Judah. The Lord chose those people, but now he does not even accept them as a nation.’”
Your older sister was Samaria. She lived to the north of you with her daughters (towns). And your younger sister was Sodom. {\cf2\super [130]} She lived to the south of you with her daughters (towns).
So the people from two or three cities staggered to another city to get water—but there was not enough water for every person. Still you didn’t come to me for help.” The Lord said those things.
The people of Judah cheated other people. People in Jerusalem and Israel did terrible things! God loves the temple. {\cf2\super [13]} But the people in Judah didn’t respect the Lord’s holy temple. The people of Judah began to worship that foreign goddess!