November 11th - Day 315

Ezekiel 23:1-49



Ezekiel 23

Two Adulterous Sisters

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother. 3 They became prostitutes in Egypt, engaging in prostitution from their youth. In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed. 4 The older was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

5 "Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine; and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians-warriors 6 clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted horsemen. 7 She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after. 8 She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust upon her.

9 "Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she lusted. 10 They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women, and punishment was inflicted on her.

11 "Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister. 12 She too lusted after the Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men. 13 I saw that she too defiled herself; both of them went the same way.

14 "But she carried her prostitution still further. She saw men portrayed on a wall, figures of Chaldeans [a] portrayed in red, 15 with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers, natives of Chaldea. [b] 16 As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust. 18 When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. 19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. 21 So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled. [c]

22 "Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will stir up your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side- 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses. 24 They will come against you with weapons, [d] chariots and wagons and with a throng of people; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish you according to their standards. 25 I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire. 26 They will also strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry. 27 So I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore.

28 "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to hand you over to those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust. 29 They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything you have worked for. They will leave you naked and bare, and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your lewdness and promiscuity 30 have brought this upon you, because you lusted after the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister; so I will put her cup into your hand.

32 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

"You will drink your sister's cup,

a cup large and deep;

it will bring scorn and derision,

for it holds so much.

33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,

the cup of ruin and desolation,

the cup of your sister Samaria.

34 You will drink it and drain it dry;

you will dash it to pieces

and tear your breasts.

I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.

35 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Since you have forgotten me and thrust me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution."

36 The LORD said to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then confront them with their detestable practices, 37 for they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me, [e] as food for them. 38 They have also done this to me: At that same time they defiled my sanctuary and desecrated my Sabbaths. 39 On the very day they sacrificed their children to their idols, they entered my sanctuary and desecrated it. That is what they did in my house.

40 "They even sent messengers for men who came from far away, and when they arrived you bathed yourself for them, painted your eyes and put on your jewelry. 41 You sat on an elegant couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed the incense and oil that belonged to me.

42 "The noise of a carefree crowd was around her; Sabeans [f] were brought from the desert along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets on the arms of the woman and her sister and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43 Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, 'Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is.' 44 And they slept with her. As men sleep with a prostitute, so they slept with those lewd women, Oholah and Oholibah. 45 But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of women who commit adultery and shed blood, because they are adulterous and blood is on their hands.

46 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Bring a mob against them and give them over to terror and plunder. 47 The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses.

48 "So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not imitate you. 49 You will suffer the penalty for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD."

Footnotes:

1. Ezekiel 23:14 Or Babylonians
   
2. Ezekiel 23:15 Or Babylonia ; also in verse 16
   
3. Ezekiel 23:21 Syriac (see also verse 3 Hebrew caressed because of your young breasts
   
4. Ezekiel 23:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
   
5. Ezekiel 23:37 Or even made the children they bore to me pass through the fire
   
6. Ezekiel 23:42 Or drunkards

Hebrews 10:18-39



18And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. 19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[a] and again, "The Lord will judge his people."[b] 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while,

"He who is coming will come and will not delay.

38But my righteous one[c] will live by faith.

And if he shrinks back,

I will not be pleased with him."[d] 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

Footnotes:

1. Hebrews 10:30 Deut. 32:35
   
2. Hebrews 10:30 Deut. 32:36; Psalm 135:14
   
3. Hebrews 10:38 One early manuscript But the righteous
   
4. Hebrews 10:38 Hab. 2:3,4

Psalm 109:1-31



Psalm 109

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 O God, whom I praise,

do not remain silent,

2 for wicked and deceitful men

have opened their mouths against me;

they have spoken against me with lying tongues.

3 With words of hatred they surround me;

they attack me without cause.

4 In return for my friendship they accuse me,

but I am a man of prayer.

5 They repay me evil for good,

and hatred for my friendship.

6 Appoint [a] an evil man [b] to oppose him;

let an accuser [c] stand at his right hand.

7 When he is tried, let him be found guilty,

and may his prayers condemn him.

8 May his days be few;

may another take his place of leadership.

9 May his children be fatherless

and his wife a widow.

10 May his children be wandering beggars;

may they be driven [d] from their ruined homes.

11 May a creditor seize all he has;

may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.

12 May no one extend kindness to him

or take pity on his fatherless children.

13 May his descendants be cut off,

their names blotted out from the next generation.

14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD;

may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.

15 May their sins always remain before the LORD,

that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

16 For he never thought of doing a kindness,

but hounded to death the poor

and the needy and the brokenhearted.

17 He loved to pronounce a curse—

may it [e] come on him;

he found no pleasure in blessing—

may it be [f] far from him.

18 He wore cursing as his garment;

it entered into his body like water,

into his bones like oil.

19 May it be like a cloak wrapped about him,

like a belt tied forever around him.

20 May this be the LORD's payment to my accusers,

to those who speak evil of me.

21 But you, O Sovereign LORD,

deal well with me for your name's sake;

out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.

22 For I am poor and needy,

and my heart is wounded within me.

23 I fade away like an evening shadow;

I am shaken off like a locust.

24 My knees give way from fasting;

my body is thin and gaunt.

25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;

when they see me, they shake their heads.

26 Help me, O LORD my God;

save me in accordance with your love.

27 Let them know that it is your hand,

that you, O LORD, have done it.

28 They may curse, but you will bless;

when they attack they will be put to shame,

but your servant will rejoice.

29 My accusers will be clothed with disgrace

and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.

30 With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD;

in the great throng I will praise him.

31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,

to save his life from those who condemn him.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 109:6 Or They say: "Appoint (with quotation marks at the end of verse 19)
   
2. Psalm 109:6 Or the Evil One
   
3. Psalm 109:6 Or let Satan
   
4. Psalm 109:10 Septuagint; Hebrew sought
   
5. Psalm 109:17 Or curse, / and it has
   
6. Psalm 109:17 Or blessing, / and it is

Proverbs 27:13



13 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;

hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.