The time for punishment has come, the time when people will get what they deserve. When that happens, Israel will know it! "This prophet," you say, "is a fool. This inspired man is insane." You people hate me so much because your sin is so great.

They are hopelessly evil in what they do, just as they were at Gibeah. God will remember their sin and punish them for it.

Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Remember that my angel will guide you, but the time is coming when I will punish these people for their sin."

This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the rulers who were supposed to take care of his people: "You have not taken care of my people; you have scattered them and driven them away. Now I am going to punish you for the evil you have done.

The LORD says, "When I first found Israel, it was like finding grapes growing in the desert. When I first saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But when they came to Mount Peor, they began to worship Baal and soon became as disgusting as the gods they loved.

In the past, when the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the other tribes of Israel were afraid; they looked up to Ephraim. But the people sinned by worshiping Baal, and for this they will die.

Then the people of Israel sinned against the LORD and began to serve the Baals.

They stopped worshiping the LORD and served the Baals and the Astartes.

The people of Israel forgot the LORD their God; they sinned against him and worshiped the idols of Baal and Asherah.

Once again the Israelites sinned against the LORD by worshiping the Baals and the Astartes, as well as the gods of Syria, of Sidon, of Moab, of Ammon, and of Philistia. They abandoned the LORD and stopped worshiping him.

It was not enough for him to sin like King Jeroboam; he went further and married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon, and worshiped Baal.

He built a temple to Baal in Samaria, made an altar for him, and put it in the temple.

"I'm not the troublemaker," Elijah answered. "You are---you and your father. You are disobeying the LORD's commands and worshiping the idols of Baal.

So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and the prophets of Baal to meet at Mount Carmel.

Then Elijah said, "I am the only prophet of the LORD still left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal.

Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the LORD, and the one who answers by sending fire---he is God." The people shouted their approval.

They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came.

So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed.

Then Elijah said to the people, "Come closer to me," and they all gathered around him. He set about repairing the altar of the LORD which had been torn down.

With these stones he rebuilt the altar for the worship of the LORD. He dug a trench around it, large enough to hold about four gallons of water.

and he said, "Do it again"---and they did. "Do it once more," he said---and they did.

At the hour of the afternoon sacrifice the prophet Elijah approached the altar and prayed, "O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove now that you are the God of Israel and that I am your servant and have done all this at your command.

The LORD sent fire down, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones, scorched the earth and dried up the water in the trench.

Elijah ordered, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any of them get away!" The people seized them all, and Elijah led them down to Kishon Brook and killed them.

King Ahaziah of Israel fell off the balcony on the roof of his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent some messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, in order to find out whether or not he would recover.

That was how Jehu wiped out the worship of Baal in Israel.

He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he built altars for the worship of Baal and made an image of the goddess Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped the stars.

But the more I called to him, the more he turned away from me. My people sacrificed to Baal; they burned incense to idols.

You steal, murder, commit adultery, tell lies under oath, offer sacrifices to Baal, and worship gods that you had not known before.

The people of Judah have as many gods as they have cities, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have set up as many altars for sacrifices to that disgusting god Baal as there are streets in the city.

Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to idols. They have stumbled in the way they should go; they no longer follow the old ways; they walk on unmarked paths.

"Again and again they sent messengers to invite men to come from a great distance, and the men came. The two sisters would bathe and put on eye shadow and jewelry.

The sound of a carefree crowd could be heard, a group of men brought in from the desert. They put bracelets on the women's arms and beautiful crowns on their heads.

(SEE 2:4)

She will run after her lovers but will not catch them. She will look for them but will not find them. Then she will say, "I am going back to my first husband---I was better off then than I am now."

How can you say you have not defiled yourself, that you have never worshiped Baal? Look how you sinned in the valley; see what you have done. You are like a wild camel in heat, running around loose,

Israel, don't wear your feet out, or let your throat become dry from chasing after other gods. But you say, 'No! I can't turn back. I have loved foreign gods and will go after them.' "

make certain that you do not forget the LORD who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves.

"Make certain that you do not forget the LORD your God; do not fail to obey any of his laws that I am giving you today.

and when your cattle and sheep, your silver and gold, and all your other possessions have increased,

They forgot their God, their mighty savior, the one who had given them life.

The people of Israel forgot the LORD their God; they sinned against him and worshiped the idols of Baal and Asherah.

But the people forgot the LORD their God, and so he let the Philistines and the king of Moab and Sisera, commander of the army of the city of Hazor, fight against your ancestors and conquer them.

Godless people are like those reeds; their hope is gone, once God is forgotten.

They forgot what he had done, the miracles they had seen him perform.

But they quickly forgot what he had done and acted without waiting for his advice.

They forgot the God who had saved them by his mighty acts in Egypt.

Israel, you have forgotten the God who rescues you and protects you like a mighty rock. Instead, you plant sacred gardens in order to worship a foreign god.

Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? But my people have forgotten me for more days than can be counted.

Some of your people murder for pay. Some charge interest on the loans they make to other Israelites and get rich by taking advantage of them. They have forgotten me." The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

Now this is what the Sovereign LORD is saying: "Because you forgot me and turned your back on me, you will suffer for your lust and your prostitution."