Ezekiel 23, 1 Timothy 5 - 6, Proverbs 1

The Harlotries of Oholah and Oholibah

23The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying, ²“Son of man, there were ^atwo women, the daughters of one mother; ³and they played the harlot in Egypt. They ^aplayed the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed, and there their virgin bosom was handled. ⁴“Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

⁵“Oholah played the harlot ¹while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the ^aAssyrians, her neighbors, ⁶who were clothed in purple, ^agovernors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. ⁷“She gave her harlotries to them, all of them the choicest ¹men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she ^adefiled herself. ⁸“She did not forsake her harlotries ^afrom the time in Egypt; for in her youth ¹men had lain with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured out their harlotry on her. ⁹“Therefore, I gave her into the hand of her ^alovers, into the hand of the ¹Assyrians, after whom she lusted. ¹⁰“They ^auncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they killed her with the sword. Thus she became a despised name among women, and they executed judgments on her.

¹¹“Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was ^amore corrupt in her lust than she, and her harlotries were more than the harlotries of her sister. ¹²“She lusted after the ¹^,^aAssyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, magnificently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable choice men. ¹³“And I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took ¹the same way. ¹⁴“So she increased her harlotries. And she saw men ^aportrayed on the wall, images of the ^bChaldeans portrayed with vermilion, ¹⁵girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, in the likeness of the ¹Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. ¹⁶“¹And she saw them and ^alusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷“So the ¹^,^aBabylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their harlotry. Then she became defiled by them, and her soul became disgusted with them. ¹⁸“And she ^auncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness; then My soul became ^bdisgusted with her, as My soul had become disgusted with her ^csister. ¹⁹“Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt. ²⁰“She ^alusted after their paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses. ²¹“Thus you ¹longed for the ^alewdness of your youth, when ²the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth.

²²“Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will arouse your lovers against you, those with whom your soul was disgusted, and I will bring them against you from every side: ²³the ¹^,^aBabylonians and all the ^bChaldeans, ^cPekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the ²^,^dAssyrians with them; desirable choice men, governors and officials, all of them, officers and ³men of renown, all of them riding on horses. ²⁴‘They will come against you with weapons, ^achariots and ¹wagons, and with an assembly of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with large shield and shield and helmet; and I will give the ^bjudgment to them, and they will judge you according to their judgments. ²⁵‘And I will set My ^ajealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your ¹survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your ^bsons and your daughters; and your ²survivors will be consumed by the fire. ²⁶‘They will also ^astrip you of your clothes and take away your ^bbeautiful jewelry. ²⁷‘Thus ^aI will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’ ²⁸“For thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you ^ahate, into the hand of those with whom your soul was disgusted. ²⁹‘They will ^adeal with you in hatred, take all the fruit of your labor, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries. ³⁰‘These things will be done to you because you have ^aplayed the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. ³¹‘You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give ^aher cup into your hand.’ ³²“Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘You will ^adrink your sister’s cup,Which is deep and wide.¹You will be ^blaughed at and held in derision;It contains much.

³³‘You will be filled with ^adrunkenness and sorrow,The cup of horror and desolation,The cup of your sister Samaria.³⁴‘You will ^adrink it and drain it.Then you will gnaw its fragmentsAnd tear your breasts; for I have spoken,’ declares Lord Yahweh.

³⁵“Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because you have ^aforgotten Me and ^bcast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.’”

³⁶Moreover, Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, will you ^ajudge Oholah and Oholibah? Then ^bdeclare to them their abominations. ³⁷“For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. Thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons, ^awhom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to ¹them as food. ³⁸“Again, they have done this to Me: they have ^adefiled My sanctuary on the same day and have ^bprofaned My sabbaths. ³⁹“For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My ^asanctuary on the same day to profane it; and behold, thus they did within My house.

⁴⁰“Furthermore, ¹they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came—for whom you bathed, ^apainted your eyes, and ^bdecorated yourselves with ornaments; ⁴¹and you sat on a splendid ^acouch with a ^btable arranged before it on which you had set My ^cincense and My ^doil. ⁴²“The sound of a multitude ^aat ease was with her; and ^bdrunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the ¹common sort. And they put ^cbracelets on ²the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.

⁴³“Then I said concerning her who was ^aworn out by adulteries, ‘¹Will they now commit harlotry with her when she is thus?’ ⁴⁴“¹But they went in to her as they would go in to a harlot. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. ⁴⁵“But they, righteous men, will ^ajudge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

⁴⁶“For thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Bring up an assembly against them and give them over to ^aterror and plunder. ⁴⁷‘The assembly will ^astone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and ^bburn their houses with fire. ⁴⁸‘Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be chastised and not commit ¹lewdness as you have done. ⁴⁹‘Your lewdness ¹will be ^arequited upon you, and you will bear the sin of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am Lord Yahweh.’”

Honor Widows

5^aDo not sharply rebuke an ^bolder man, but rather plead with him as a father, to ^cthe younger men as brothers, ²the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.

³Honor widows who are ^awidows indeed, ⁴but if any widow has children or grandchildren, ^athey must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to ¹make some return to their parents; for this is ^bacceptable in the sight of God. ⁵Now she who is a ^awidow indeed and who has been left alone, ^bhas fixed her hope on God and continues in ^cpetitions and prayers night and day. ⁶But she who ^alives in self-indulgence is ^bdead even while she lives. ⁷^aAnd command these things as well, so that they may be above reproach. ⁸But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has ^adenied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹A widow is to be ^aput on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been ^bthe wife of one man, ¹⁰having a reputation for ^agood works; if she has brought up children, if she has ^bshown hospitality to strangers, if she ^chas washed the ¹saints’ feet, if she has ^dassisted those in affliction, if she has devoted herself to every good work. ¹¹But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when they feel ^asensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married, ¹²thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their previous ¹pledge. ¹³And at the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house. And not merely idle, but also ^agossips and ^bbusybodies, talking about ^cthings not proper to mention. ¹⁴Therefore, I want younger widows to get ^amarried, bear children, ^bkeep house, and ^cgive the enemy no opportunity for reviling, ¹⁵for some ^ahave already turned aside after ^bSatan. ¹⁶If any believing woman ^ahas widows, she must ^bassist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are ^cwidows indeed.

Honoring the Elders

¹⁷^aThe elders who ^blead well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who ^clabor ¹at preaching the word and teaching. ¹⁸For the Scripture says, “^aYou shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing,” and “^bThe laborer is worthy of his wages.” ¹⁹Do not receive an accusation against an ^aelder except on the basis of ^btwo or three witnesses. ²⁰Those who continue in sin, ^areprove in the presence of all, ^bso that the rest also will be fearful. ²¹^aI solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His elect angels, to observe these instructions without bias, doing nothing in partiality. ²²^aDo not lay hands upon anyone hastily and ¹thereby share ^bresponsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself pure.

²³No longer drink water only, but ^ause a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

²⁴The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins ^afollow after. ²⁵So also good works are quite evident, and ^athose which are otherwise cannot be concealed.

Instructions to Those Who Serve

6^aAll who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so ^bthat the name of God and our doctrine will not be ¹slandered. ²But those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are ^abrothers, but must serve them all the more, because those who ¹partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. ^bTeach and exhort these things.

³If anyone ^ateaches a different doctrine and does not ¹agree with ^bsound words—those of our Lord Jesus Christ—and with the doctrine ^cconforming to godliness, ⁴he is ^aconceited, understanding nothing but ¹having a morbid interest in ^bcontroversial questions and ^cdisputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, slander, evil suspicions, ⁵and constant friction between ^amen of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who ^bsuppose that ¹godliness is a means of gain. ⁶^aBut godliness actually is a means of ^bgreat gain, when accompanied by ^ccontentment. ⁷For ^awe have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. ⁸And if we ^ahave food and covering, with these we shall be content. ⁹^aBut those who want to get rich fall into temptation and ^ba snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰For ^athe love of money is a root of all ¹sorts of evils, and some by aspiring to it have ^bwandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

¹¹But you, O ^aman of God, ^bflee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, ^cfaith, ^dlove, ¹perseverance, gentleness. ¹²^aFight the good fight of ^bfaith. ^cTake hold of the eternal life ^dto which you were called, and you made the good ^econfession in the presence of ^fmany witnesses. ¹³^aI charge you in the presence of God, who ¹gives life to all things, and of ^bChrist Jesus, who testified the ^cgood confession ^dbefore Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the ^aappearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which He will ¹bring about at ^athe proper time—He who is ^bthe blessed and ^conly Sovereign, ^dthe King of ²kings and ^eLord of ³lords, ¹⁶^awho alone has immortality and ^bdwells in unapproachable light, ^cwhom no man has seen or can see. ^dTo Him be honor and eternal might! Amen.

¹⁷Command those who are rich in ^athis present age ^bnot to be haughty or to ^cset their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, ^dwho richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. ¹⁸Command them to do good, to be rich in ^agood ¹works, ^bto be generous and ready to share, ¹⁹^astoring up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may ^btake hold of that which is life indeed.

²⁰O ^aTimothy, guard ^bwhat has been entrusted to you, turning aside from ^cgodless and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge— ²¹which some, while professing, have ^agone astray ¹from ^bthe faith. ^cGrace be with ²you.

To Know Wisdom

1The ^aproverbs of Solomon ^bthe son of David, king of Israel:

²To know ^awisdom and discipline,To understand the sayings of ^bunderstanding,³To ^areceive discipline ¹that leads to insight,^bRighteousness, justice, and equity,⁴To give ^aprudence to the ¹^,^bsimple,To the youth ^cknowledge and discretion;⁵Let the wise man hear and ^aincrease in learning,And a ^bman of understanding will acquire guidance,⁶To understand a proverb and an enigma,The words of the wise and their ^ariddles.⁷^aThe fear of ¹Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge;²Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.

The Enticement of Sinners

⁸^aHear, my son, your father’s disciplineAnd ^bdo not abandon your mother’s ¹instruction;⁹For they are a ^agarland of grace for your headAnd ¹^,^bornaments about your neck.¹⁰My son, if sinners ^aentice you,^bDo not be willing.¹¹If they say, “Come with us,Let us ^alie in wait for blood,Let us ^bambush the innocent without cause;¹²Let us ^aswallow them alive like Sheol,And whole, as those who ^bgo down to the pit;¹³We will find all kinds of precious wealth,We will fill our houses with spoil;¹⁴Cast in your lot ¹with us,We shall all have one purse,”¹⁵My son, ^ado not walk in the way with them.^bWithhold your feet from their pathway,¹⁶For ^atheir feet run to evilAnd they hasten to shed blood.¹⁷For it is ¹no use that a net is spreadIn the sight of any ²bird;¹⁸But they ^alie in wait for their own blood;They ambush their own ¹lives.¹⁹So are the paths of everyone who is ^agreedy for gain;It takes away the ¹life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

²⁰^aWisdom shouts in the street,She gives forth her voice in the square;²¹At the head of the noisy streets she calls out;At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:²²“How long, O ^asimple ones, will you love simplicity?And ^bscoffers delight in scoffingAnd ¹fools ^chate knowledge?²³“Turn to my reproof,Behold, I will ^apour out my spirit on you;I will make my words known to you.²⁴“Because ^aI called and you ^brefused,I ^cstretched out my hand and no one paid attention;²⁵And you ^aneglected all my counselAnd were not ^bwilling to accept my reproof;²⁶I will also ^alaugh at your ^bdisaster;I will mock when your ^cdread comes,²⁷When your dread comes like a stormAnd your disaster comes like a ^awhirlwind,When distress and anguish come upon you.²⁸“Then they will ^acall on me, but I will not answer;They will ^bseek me earnestly but they will not find me,²⁹Because they ^ahated knowledgeAnd did not choose the fear of Yahweh.³⁰“They ^awere not willing to accept my counsel,They spurned all my reproof.³¹“So they shall ^aeat of the fruit of their wayAnd be ^bsatisfied with their own devices.³²“For the ^aturning away of the simple will kill them,And the complacency of fools will destroy them.³³“But ^ahe who listens to me shall dwell securelyAnd will be at ease from the dread of evil.”