But I will let a small number of them survive the sword, famine, and pestilence, so that they can confess all their abominable practices to the nations where they go. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

“‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth and have enraged me with all these deeds, I hereby repay you for what you have done, ¹  declares the sovereign Lord. Have you not engaged in prostitution on top of all your other abominable practices?

When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate ¹  it – even my house – when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You ²  have broken my covenant by all your abominable practices.

They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, ¹  and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting ²  to do so.) ³ 

But any creatures that do not have both fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams, from all the swarming things of the water and from all the living creatures that are in the water, are detestable to you.

You must not eat anything that crawls ¹  on its belly or anything that walks on all fours or on any number of legs ²  of all the swarming things that swarm on the land, because they are detestable.

You yourselves must obey ¹  my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst, ² 

You must obey my charge to not practice any of the abominable statutes ¹  that have been done before you, so that you do not ²  defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.’”

If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, ¹  the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.

And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we ¹  detest this worthless ²  food.”

You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house and thereby become an object of divine wrath ¹  along with it. ²  You must absolutely detest ³  and abhor it, ⁴  for it is an object of divine wrath.

You must not sacrifice to him ¹  a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive ²  to the Lord your God.

so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship ¹  their gods, causing you to sin against the Lord your God.

A woman must not wear men’s clothing, ¹  nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive ²  to the Lord your God.

You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute ¹  or the wage of a male prostitute ²  into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.

‘Cursed is the one ¹  who makes a carved or metal image – something abhorrent ²  to the Lord, the work of the craftsman ³  – and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ⁴ 

There were also male cultic prostitutes ¹  in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations ²  that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.

He also removed Maacah his grandmother ¹  from her position as queen because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her Asherah pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

When Jehoram saw Jehu, he asked, “Is everything all right, Jehu?” He replied, “How can everything be all right as long as your mother Jezebel promotes idolatry and pagan practices?” ¹ 

He followed in the footsteps of ¹  the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire, ²  a horrible sin practiced by the nations ³  whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites.