The people are condemned for idolatry

12 “You my people request wooden idols

to tell you what you should do!

Like prostitutes who have left/abandoned their husbands,

13 you have abandoned me your God, and you are chasing after other gods on the tops of hills and mountains;

you burn incense under oak trees, poplar trees, and other trees

where there is nice/pleasing shade.

So your daughters have become prostitutes,

and your daughters-in-law have committed adultery.

14 But it is not only your daughters

whom I will punish for having become prostitutes,

and it is not only your daughters-in-law

whom I will punish for committing adultery,

because the men also are having sex with prostitutes,

and they offer sacrifices

with the prostitutes who search for men at the shrines of the idols.

They are all foolish people, and they will all be ruined.

15 You Israeli people have abandoned me

like [MET] those who commit adultery have abandoned their spouses.

But do not cause the people of Judah to sin also.

Do not go to Gilgal or go up to Beth-Aven towns

to worship idols there.

Do not make solemn promises there, saying ‘Just as surely as Yahweh lives, I will do what I am promising.’

16 You people of Israel are as stubborn as [SIM] a young cow.

So there is no way [RHQ] that I, Yahweh, will provide food for them

like a shepherd provides food for his lambs

by leading them to a nice meadow.

17 The people of Israel have chosen to worship idols [MET],

so allow them to do what they want to do.

18 When their rulers finish drinking their wine,

they go to find prostitutes;

they love their disgraceful behavior.

19 But they will disappear

as though [MET] they were blown away by a whirlwind.

They will become very ashamed because of their offering sacrifices to idols.”