The Lord deserted his altar. He left his temple. He gave the walls of Jerusalem’s palaces into the hands of her enemies. They shouted loudly in the house of the Lord. You would have thought it was the day of an appointed feast.
To make room for you, I am going to drive out the nations that are in the land. You must not follow the practices of those nations. I hated those nations because they did all those things.
I will destroy the high places where you worship other gods. I will pull down your incense altars. I will pile up your dead bodies on the lifeless statues of your gods. And I will turn away from you.
The Lord became angry with the Israelites. So he handed them over to robbers. The robbers stole everything from them. The Lord handed the Israelites over to their enemies all around them. Israel wasn’t able to fight against them anymore and win.
So the Lord became very angry with the Israelites. He said, “This nation has broken my covenant. I made it with their people of long ago. But this nation has not listened to me.
So the Lord was very angry with Israel. He handed them over to the power of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram Naharaim. For eight years Israel was under his rule.