And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Parallel translations
- WEB Because she took her prostitution lightly, the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with wood.
- BSB Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
- 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 2:27Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
- Isa 57:6Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these?
- Jer 3:2Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
- Jer 2:7And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
- Hab 2:19Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
- Jer 10:8But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
- Ezek 16:17Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,
- Hos 4:12My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
- Ezek 23:10These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon 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
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