“Therefore say to the house of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “Are you defiling yourselves in the way of your fathers? And do you whore after their abominations?
“And do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who trespassed against יהוה Elohim of their fathers, so that He gave them up to ruin, as you see.
stealing, murdering, and committing adultery, and swearing falsely, and burning incense to Ba‛al, and walking after other mighty ones you have not known.
And He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Yisra’ĕl, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against Me. They and their fathers have transgressed against Me, until this day.
“And I defiled them by their own gifts, as they passed all their first-born through the fire, so that I might stun them, so that they know that I am יהוה.” ’
And it came to be, when the ruler was dead, that they would turn back and do more corruptly than their fathers, to go after other mighty ones, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not refrain from their practices and from their stubborn way.