15. But I took a solemn oath against them in the wilderness. I swore I would not bring them into the land I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful place on earth.
16. For they had rejected my regulations, refused to follow my decrees, and violated my Sabbath days. Their hearts were given to their idols.
17. Nevertheless, I took pity on them and held back from destroying them in the wilderness.
18. “Then I warned their children not to follow in their parents’ footsteps, defiling themselves with their idols.
19. ‘I am the lord your God,’ I told them. ‘Follow my decrees, pay attention to my regulations,
20. and keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the lord your God.’
21. “But their children, too, rebelled against me. They refused to keep my decrees and follow my regulations, even though obedience would have given them life. And they also violated my Sabbath days. So again I threatened to pour out my fury on them in the wilderness.
22. Nevertheless, I withdrew my judgment against them to protect the honor of my name before the nations that had seen my power in bringing them out of Egypt.
23. But I took a solemn oath against them in the wilderness. I swore I would scatter them among all the nations
24. because they did not obey my regulations. They scorned my decrees by violating my Sabbath days and longing for the idols of their ancestors.
25. I gave them over to worthless decrees and regulations that would not lead to life.
26. I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn children as offerings to their gods—so I might devastate them and remind them that I alone am the lord.
27. “Therefore, son of man, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign lord: Your ancestors continued to blaspheme and betray me,