Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
Parallel translations
- WEB Because she took her prostitution lightly, the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with wood.
- KJV And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
- NKJV So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
- NASB And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
- NLT Israel treated it all so lightly—she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Judah treated her idolatry lightly and defiled the land. She committed spiritual adultery with idols of stone and wood.
Overview
Yahweh says Judah took her prostitution so casually that she polluted the land, committing adultery with stones and trees. Idolatry is again cast as covenant adultery, treated by Judah as a trivial matter. The casual attitude toward grave sin reveals a conscience dulled to God's holiness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 2:27say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble they beg, ‘Rise up and save us!’
- Isa 57:6Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley; indeed, they are your lot. Even to them you have poured out a drink offering and offered a grain offering. Should I relent because of these?
- Jer 3:2“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
- Jer 2:7I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land, and made My inheritance detestable.
- Hab 2:19Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
- Jer 10:8But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
- Ezek 16:17You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself.
- Hos 4:12My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.
- Ezek 23:10They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and put her to the sword. Thus she became a byword among women, and they executed judgment against her.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 3:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.