Episode 205: God's wives - A tale of two sisters

Ezekiel 22-23

I'll consume the filthiness out of you

22 ¹ The word of God came to me, saying,

^2-3 Son of man, say to the bloody city,

You shed blood in the city and make idols to defile yourself.

⁴ Therefore, I've made you a laughingstock to the heathen.

⁵ Everyone will mock you.

⁸ You've despised my holy things and profaned my sabbaths.

⁹ You eat on the mountains and do lewd things.

¹⁰ You've discovered your fathers' nakedness and had sex with menstruating women.

¹¹ One of you commits an abomination with his neighbor's wife, another is lewdly defiling his daughter in law, and someone else is having sex with his sister.

¹² You've taken usury and forgotten about me.

¹³ So I shook my fist and shed your blood.

¹⁵ I'll consume the filthiness out of you.

¹⁶ And then you'll know that I'm God.

A conspiracy of prophets

²³ And the word of God came to me saying,

²⁴ Say to Israel,

²⁵ There's a conspiracy of prophets among you.

²⁸ The prophets have lied, saying I said things that I didn't say.

²⁹ The people have mistreated poor people and strangers.

³⁰ I've searched for a good person among them, but I couldn't find a single one.

³¹ So I've burned them with the fire of my wrath.

God's wives: A tale of two sisters

23 ¹ The word of God came to me again, saying,

^2-3 Two young sisters committed whoredoms in Egypt, where their virgin breasts were fondled.

⁴ The older sister's name was Aholah, and the younger's name was Aholibah. They were my wives and had my sons and daughters. (Samaria is Aholah and Jerusalem is Aholibah.)

The older sister, Aholah

^5-6 Aholah played the harlot while she was my wife, with her handsome, young Assyrians lovers.

⁷ She committed whoredoms with them and defiled herself with their idols.

⁸ She started her whoredoms in Egypt and never stopped. They fondled her breasts while they poured out their whoredoms upon her.

⁹ So I delivered her to her lovers, the Assyrians.

¹⁰ They discovered her nakedness, took her children, and killed her with a sword.

The younger sister, Aholibah

¹¹ When her sister, Aholibah, saw this, she committed even more whoredoms than Aholah.

¹² She doted on the Assyrians, who were well-dressed young men, who rode on horses.

¹⁷ They came to her in her bed of love, defiled and polluted her with their whoredom, and discovered her nakedness.

¹⁸ So I rejected her, like I did her sister.

¹⁹ She multiplied her whoredoms, like she did when she was a young harlot in Egypt.

²⁰ For she lusted for her lovers, whose penises were like those of donkeys, and ejaculate like that of horses.

They'll cut off your nose and ears, and you'll pluck off your own breasts

²¹ God said to Aholibah,

You behaved like you did when you were young, when you lewdly offered your breasts to the Egyptians.

²² Therefore, I'll send your lovers to assault you on every side.

^25-26 They'll cut off your nose and ears, enslave your children, burn your house, strip off your clothes, and take your jewelry.

²⁷ I'll end your lewdness and whoredom, and you'll forget all about your Egyptians lovers.

²⁸ Then I'll deliver you to those you hate.

²⁹ They'll strip you of your clothes, leave you naked, and discover the nakedness of your lewd whoredoms.

³⁰ I'll do all this because your went whoring after the heathen and are polluted with their idols.

³¹ You behaved like your sister, so I'll punish you like I did her.

³² Everyone will laugh at you.

³³ You'll be sad and drunk.

³⁴ You'll drink it, suck it out, and pluck off your own breasts because I, God, have said so.

³⁵ I'll do all these things to you because you forgot me.

I'll have righteous men stone them to death

³⁶ God said to me,

Son of man, Aholah and Aholibah have committed abominations.

^37-38 They have committed adultery with idols, burned the children they bore to me, and profaned my sabbaths.

^40-41 They painted their eyes and wore jewelry, sat on a nice bed, and used my incense and oil.

⁴⁵ Righteous men should judge them as adulteresses.

^46-47 They'll stone them with stones, cut them with swords, kill their children, and burn their houses.

^48-49 That will teach women not to be lewd and pay them back for their lewdness. And you'll know that I'm God.