World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Ezekiel 23
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1 word came again to me, saying, ", there were two women, the daughters of one mother. They in . They in their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their youthful nipples were caressed there. Their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, is Oholah, and Oholibah. "Oholah when she was mine. She doted on her lovers, on the her neighbors, who were clothed with blue—governors and , all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. She gave herself as a to them, all of them the choicest men of . She defiled herself with the idols of whomever she lusted after. She hasn't left her prostitution since leaving ; for in her youth they lay with her. They caressed her youthful nipples and they poured out their prostitution on her. "Therefore I her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the on whom she doted. These uncovered her . They took her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with . She became among women; for they executed judgments on her. "Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lusting than she, and in her prostitution which was more depraved than the prostitution of her sister. She lusted after the , governors and —her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. I saw that she was defiled. They both went the same way. "She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the of the portrayed with red, dressed with belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like princes, after the of the in , the land of their birth. As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and sent to them into . The came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution. She was polluted with them, and her was alienated from them. So she uncovered her prostitution and uncovered her . Then was alienated from her, like was alienated from her sister. Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had in the land of . She lusted after their lovers, whose is as of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21Thus you called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the caressing of your nipples by the because of your youthful breasts. "Therefore, Oholibah, says: 'Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side: the and all the , Pekod, Shoa, Koa, and all the with them; all of them desirable young men, governors and , princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. They will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you with buckler, shield, and helmet all around. I will commit the to them, and they will judge you according to their judgments. I will set my against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will take away your nose and your ears. Your will fall . They will take your sons and your daughters; and the rest of you will be devoured by the . They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. Thus I will make your lewdness to cease from you, and remove your prostitution from the land of , so that you will not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember any more.' "For says: 'Behold, I will you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your is alienated. They will deal with you in hatred, and will take away all your labor, and will leave you and . The your prostitution will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution. These things will be done to you because you have after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols. You have walked in of your sister; therefore I will give her into your hand.' " says: 'You will drink of your sister's , which is deep and large. You will be ridiculed and held in derision. It contains much. You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with of astonishment and desolation, with of your sister . You will even drink it and drain it out. You will gnaw the broken pieces of it, and will tear your breasts; for I have spoken it,' . "Therefore says: 'Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.'" said moreover to me: ", will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their . For they have committed , and is in their hands. They have committed with their idols. They have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the to them to be devoured. Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my . For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and behold, they have done this in the middle of my house. "Furthermore you sisters have sent for men who come from far away, to whom a was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you washed yourself, painted your eyes, decorated yourself with ornaments, and sat on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set my and my oil. "The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her. With men of the common sort were brought drunkards from ; and they put bracelets on their hands, and beautiful on their heads. Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, 'Now they will play the with her, and she with them.' They went in to her, as they go in to a . So they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. men will judge them with the of adulteresses and with the of women who shed , because they are adulteresses, and is in their hands. "For says: 'I will bring up a mob against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed. The company will stone them with stones and dispatch them with their . They will kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with . "'Thus I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to be lewd like you. They will your lewdness on you, and you will bear the of your idols. Then you will know that I am .'"
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Babylon and the exile, 612 BC to 539 BC ›
Babylon replaces Assyria, Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed in 586 BC, and the leadership of Judah lives in Mesopotamia without a king, a temple, or a country.
- Babylon
- Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilds the city on a scale meant to be seen from a distance: the Ishtar Gate in glazed blue brick, the processional way, the ziggurat, and gardens later counted among the wonders of the world. Babylonian tablets record rations issued to the captive king Jehoiachin of Judah by name, which is one of the tidier points of contact between the Bible and the archives.
- Egypt
- Briefly resurgent. Pharaoh Neco marches north, kills King Josiah at Megiddo, and installs and deposes kings in Jerusalem, until Babylon beats him decisively at Carchemish in 605 BC. Jeremiah spends his career saying that betting on Egypt is suicide, and is proved right.
- Judah
- Deported in stages, then destroyed. The temple is burned, the walls broken, and the leadership marched to Mesopotamia. What happens next is one of the strangest survivals in history: a people keeps its identity without land, king, or sanctuary, and comes out of it with its scriptures more central than before.
- Further afield
- An extraordinary century for ideas everywhere at once. Thales and the first Greek philosophers, Solon's reforms at Athens, the Buddha in India, Confucius and Lao Tzu in China, and Zoroaster in Persia all fall within a few generations of the exile.
All of Ezekiel