we are persecuted, but not abandoned; ¹  we are knocked down, ²  but not destroyed,

Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors, ¹  and worshiped ²  the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem.

In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael caravans ¹  disappeared; ²  travelers ³  had to go on winding side roads.

The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped ¹  the Baals.”

For the fortified city ¹  is left alone; it is a deserted settlement and abandoned like the desert. Calves ²  graze there; they lie down there and eat its branches bare. ³ 

“Indeed, the Lord will call you back like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression, ¹  like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.

But Jeshurun ¹  became fat and kicked, you ²  got fat, thick, and stuffed! Then he deserted the God who made him, and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.

ז (Zayin) The Lord ¹  rejected ²  his altar and abhorred his temple. ³  He handed over to the enemy ⁴  her palace walls; the enemy ⁵  shouted ⁶  in the Lord’s temple as if it were a feast day. ⁷ 

Look, your house is left to you desolate!

You also know that ¹  the angels who did not keep within their proper domain ²  but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept ³  in eternal chains ⁴  in utter ⁵  darkness, locked up ⁶  for the judgment of the great Day.

and when he had been abandoned, ¹  Pharaoh’s daughter adopted ²  him and brought him up ³  as her own son.

Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. ¹ 

When the men of Israel who were in the valley and across the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. The Philistines came and occupied them.

“Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to ¹  their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again.

So they got up and fled at dusk, leaving behind their tents, horses, and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.

This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices ¹  to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. ²  My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’”

Even though the invading Syrian army was relatively weak, the Lord handed over to them Judah’s very large army, ¹  for the people of Judah ²  had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. The Syrians ³  gave Joash what he deserved. ⁴ 

In one day King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel killed 120,000 warriors in Judah, because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. ¹ 

Indeed, O Lord, ¹  you have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. For diviners from the east are everywhere; ²  they consult omen readers like the Philistines do. ³  Plenty of foreigners are around. ⁴