n[See ver. 3 above]
y[See ver. 2 above]
ar[See ver. 14 above]
bu[See ver. 28 above]
cg[See ver. 2 above]
ch[See ver. 3 above]
fp[See ver. 6 above]
fu[See ver. 14 above]
fz[See ver. 17 above]
ih[See ch. 6:7]

Psalms 105:44-45

44And he agave them the lands of the nations,
and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,
45that they might bkeep his statutes
and cobserve his laws.
dPraise the Lord!

Ezekiel 21

The Lord Has Drawn His Sword

1
Ch 21:6 in Hebrew
The word of the Lord came to me:
2 fSon of man, gset your face toward Jerusalem and hpreach against the sanctuaries.
Some Hebrew manuscripts, compare Septuagint, Syriac  against their sanctuary
Prophesy against the land of Israel
3and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: jBehold, I am against you and will draw kmy sword from its sheath and lwill cut off from you both righteous and wicked. 4Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. 5 mAnd all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. I have drawn nmy sword from its sheath; oit shall not be sheathed again.

6“As for you, son of man, pgroan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, qgroan before their eyes. 7 rAnd when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news sthat it is coming. tEvery heart will melt, and uall hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and vall knees will be weak as water. wBehold, it is xcoming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord God.

8And the word of the Lord came to me: 9 ySon of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say:

z“A sword, a sword is sharpened
and also polished,
10 aasharpened for slaughter,
abpolished to flash like lightning!
(Or acshall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, adwith everything of wood.)
Probable reading; Hebrew The rod of my son despises everything of wood
11So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished afto be given into the hand of the slayer. 12 agCry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. ahStrike therefore upon your thigh. 13For it will not be a testingwhat could it do if you despise aithe rod?”
Or  For it is a testing; and what if even the rod despises? It shall not be!
declares the Lord God.

14“As for you, akson of man, prophesy. alClap your hands and let the sword come down twice, amyes, three times,
Hebrew its third
the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them,
15that their hearts may melt, and many stumble.
Hebrew  many stumbling blocks
At all their gates I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; apit is taken up
The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered  taken up is uncertain
for slaughter.
16Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed. 17I also will arclap my hands, asand I will satisfy my fury; atI the Lord have spoken.”

18The word of the Lord came to me again: 19“As for you, son of man, mark two ways for authe sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make ava signpost; make it awat the head of the way to a city. 20Mark a way axfor the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified. 21For the king of Babylon stands ayat the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults azthe teraphim;
Or household idols
he looks at the liver.
22Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, bbto set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, bcto cast up mounds, to build siege towers. 23But to them it will seem like a false divination. bdThey have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, bethat they may be taken.

24Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appearbecause you have come to remembrance, bfyou shall be taken in hand. 25And you, O profane
Or slain; also verse 29
bhwicked one, prince of Israel, biwhose day has come, bjthe time of your final punishment,
26thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. bkExalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted. 27A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. blThis also shall not be, bmuntil he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.

28“And you, bnson of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God boconcerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, bpA sword, a sword bqis drawn for the slaughter. brIt is polished to consume and to flash like lightning 29while bsthey see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, btwhose day has come, the time of their final punishment. 30 buReturn it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, bvI will judge you. 31And bwI will pour out my indignation upon you; bxI will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of bybrutish men, skillful to destroy. 32You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. bzYou shall be no more remembered, cafor I the Lord have spoken.”

Ezekiel 22

Israel’s Shedding of Blood

1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“And you, cbson of man, ccwill you judge, will you judge cdthe bloody city? ceThen declare to her all her abominations. 3You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that cfher time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4You have become guilty cgby the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought chyour days near, the appointed time of
Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts until
your years has come. cjTherefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries.
5Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; ckyour name is defiled; clyou are full of tumult.

6Behold, cmthe princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7Father and mother cnare treated with contempt in you; the sojourner cosuffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow cpare wronged in you. 8 cqYou have despised my holy things and crprofaned my Sabbaths. 9 csThere are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you ctwho eat on the mountains; cuthey commit lewdness in your midst. 10In you cvmen uncover their fathersnakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 cwOne commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; cxanother lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; cyanother in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. 12In you czthey take bribes to shed blood; dayou take interest and profit
That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor (compare Leviticus 25:36)
and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but dcme you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

13Behold, ddI strike my hand at dethe dishonest gain that you have made, and at dfthe blood that has been in your midst. 14 dgCan your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? dhI the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15 diI will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and djI will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16And dkyou shall be profaned by your own doing dlin the sight of the nations, dmand you shall know that I am the Lord.”

17And the word of the Lord came to me: 18 dnSon of man, the house of Israel has become dodross to me; all of them are dpbronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dqdross of silver. 19Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, drto blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you dsin my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. 22As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; dtI have poured out my wrath upon you.”

23And the word of the Lord came to me: 24Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is dunot cleansed dvor rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 dwThe conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is dxlike a roaring lion dytearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 dzHer priests eahave done violence to my law and ebhave profaned my holy things. ecThey have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and edthey have disregarded my Sabbaths, eeso that I am profaned among them. 27 efHer princes in her midst are like wolves egtearing the prey, ehshedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28And eiher prophets have smeared whitewash for them, ejseeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 29The people of the land ekhave practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and elhave extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30 emAnd I sought for a man among them enwho should build up the wall eoand stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31Therefore epI have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned eqtheir way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 23

Oholah and Oholibah

1The word of the Lord came to me: 2 erSon of man, there were estwo women, the daughters of one mother. 3 etThey played the whore in Egypt; euthey played the whore evin their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms
Hebrew nipples; also verses 8, 21
handled.
4Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. exThey became mine, and they eybore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is ezSamaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

5Oholah played the whore fawhile she was mine, and fbshe lusted after her lovers fcthe Assyrians, warriors 6clothed in purple, fdgovernors and commanders, feall of them desirable young men, ffhorsemen riding on horses. 7She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted. 8She did not give up her whoring fgthat she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her. 9Therefore fhI delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 fiThese uncovered her nakedness; fjthey seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became fka byword among women, flwhen judgment had been executed on her.

11 fm“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became fnmore corrupt than her sister
Hebrew  than she
in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister.
12She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, fpall of them desirable young men. 13And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. 14But she carried her whoring further. She saw men fqportrayed on the wall, the frimages of fsthe Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, 15wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. 16When she saw them, she lusted after them and ftsent messengers to them fuin Chaldea. 17And the Babylonians came to her fvinto the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, fwshe turned from them in disgust. 18When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. 19Yet she increased her whoring, fxremembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt 20and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. 21Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed
Vulgate, Syriac; Hebrew  bosom for the sake of
your young breasts.”

22Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers fzfrom whom you turned in disgust, gaand I will bring them against you from every side: 23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, gbPekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, gcdesirable young men, gdgovernors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24And they shall come against you from the north
Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown
with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. gfThey shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and ggI will commit the judgment to them, and ghthey shall judge you according to their judgments.
25And I will direct my jealousy against you, githat they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. gjThey shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 gkThey shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 glThus I will put an end to your lewdness and gmyour whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.

28For thus says the Lord God: gnBehold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, gointo the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29and gpthey shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor gqand leave you naked and bare, and grthe nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring 30have brought this upon you, because gsyou played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31You have gone the way of your sister; gttherefore I will give guher cup into your hand. 32Thus says the Lord God:

“You shall drink your sister’s cup
that is deep and large;
you shall be laughed at and held in derision,
for it contains much;
33you will be filled with gvdrunkenness and sorrow.
gwA cup of horror and desolation,
the cup of gxyour sister Samaria;
34 gyyou shall drink it and drain it out,
and gnaw its shards,
and tear your breasts;
for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.
35Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because gzyou have forgotten me and hacast me behind your back, you yourself hbmust bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

36The Lord said to me: hcSon of man, hdwill you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. 37For hethey have committed adultery, hfand blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even hgoffered up
Or  have even made pass through the fire
to them for food the children whom they had borne to me.
38Moreover, this they have done to me: hithey have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and hjprofaned my Sabbaths. 39For when hkthey had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day hlthey came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, hmthis is what they did in my house. 40They even sent for men to come from afar, hnto whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, hopainted your eyes, hpand adorned yourself with ornaments. 41You sat on hqa stately couch, with a table spread before it hron which you had placed my incense and hsmy oil. 42The htsound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards
Or Sabeans
were brought from the wilderness; and they put hvbracelets on the hands of the women, and hwbeautiful crowns on their heads.

43“Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, 'Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!'
The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
44For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women! 45But righteous men hyshall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.”

46For thus says the Lord God: hz“Bring up a vast host against them, and make them iaan object of terror and iba plunder. 47 icAnd the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. idThey shall kill their sons and their daughters, and ieburn up their houses. 48 ifThus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and igyou shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and ihyou shall know that I am the Lord God.”

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