All the peoples of the earth have drunk the wine of her sexual sin and of God’s anger. The rulers of the earth sinned sexually with her, and the merchants of the world grew rich from the great wealth of her luxury.”
The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voices of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s great people. All the nations were tricked by your magic.
God said, “But you were not exactly like a prostitute. You built your mounds at the head of every road, and you built your places for worship at every street corner. You had sex with all those men, but you did not ask them to pay you the way a prostitute does.
“Look up to the bare hilltops, Judah. Is there any place where you have not had sex with your lovers? You sat by the road waiting for lovers, like an Arab in the desert. You made the land ‘dirty’ with all the evil sins you did when you were unfaithful to me.
“Judah, long ago you broke free from me, like an ox that breaks its yoke and the ropes that held it. You said to me, ‘I will not serve you!’ On every high hill and under every green tree, you acted like a prostitute.