The earth is defiled by its inhabitants, for they have violated laws, disregarded the regulation, and broken the permanent treaty.

Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone.

Moreover, the Lord says, “Both the prophets and priests are godless. I have even found them doing evil in my temple!

Then with smooth words he will defile those who have rejected the covenant. But the people who are loyal to their God will act valiantly.

Many nations have now assembled against you. They say, “Jerusalem must be desecrated, so we can gloat over Zion!”

“You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it.

“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife, he may not take her back again. Doing that would utterly defile the land. But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. So what makes you think you can return to me?” says the Lord.

They shed innocent blood – the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted by bloodshed.

“Look up at the hilltops and consider this. You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods.