Ezekiel Speaks Against Jerusalem

22 The word of the Lord came to me. He said, ²“Son of man,* will you judge the city of murderers (Jerusalem)? Will you tell her about all the terrible things she has done? ³You must say, ‘The Lord my Master says this: The city is full of murderers. So her time of punishment will come! She made filthy idols for herself. And those idols made her filthy! ⁴“‘People of Jerusalem, you killed many people. You made filthy idols. You are guilty, and the time has come to punish you. Your end has come. Other nations will make fun of you. Those countries will laugh at you. ⁵People far and near will make fun of you. You have ruined your name. You can hear the loud laughter. ⁶“‘Look! In Jerusalem, every ruler of Israel made himself strong so he could kill other people. ⁷People in Jerusalem don’t respect their parents. They hurt foreigners in that city. They cheat orphans and widows* in that place. ⁸You people hate my holy things. You treat my special days of rest like they are not important. ⁹People in Jerusalem tell lies about other people. They do this to kill those innocent people. People go to the mountains {to worship false gods} and then come to Jerusalem to eat {their fellowship meals}. “‘In Jerusalem, people do many sexual sins. ¹⁰In Jerusalem, people do sexual sins with their father’s wife. In Jerusalem, men rape women—even during their monthly time of bleeding. ¹¹One man does that terrible sin against his own neighbor’s wife. Another man has sex with his own daughter-in-law and makes her unclean.* And another man rapes his father’s daughter—his very own sister. ¹²“‘In Jerusalem, you men take money to kill people. You people lend money and charge interest on those loans. You people cheat their neighbors just to make a little money. And you people have forgotten me.’ The Lord my Master said these things. ¹³“{God said,} ‘Now look! I will slam my hand down and stop you! I will punish you for cheating and killing people. ¹⁴Will you be brave then? Will you be strong at the time I come to punish you? No! I am the Lord. I have spoken. And I will do the things I said! ¹⁵I will scatter you among the nations. I will force you to go to many countries. I will completely destroy the filthy things in this city. ¹⁶But Jerusalem, you will become unclean.* And the other nations will see all these things happen. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Israel Is Like Worthless Waste

¹⁷The word of the Lord came to me. He said, ¹⁸“Son of man,* bronze, iron, lead, and tin are worthless compared to silver. {Workers put silver into fire to make it pure. The silver melts and the workers separate it from the waste.} The nation of Israel has become like that worthless waste. ¹⁹So the Lord and Master says these things, ‘All of you people have become like worthless waste. So I will gather you into Jerusalem. ²⁰Workers put silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into a fire. They blow on the fire to make it hotter. Then the metals begin to melt. In the same way, I will put you in my fire and melt you. That fire is my hot anger. ²¹I will put you in that fire. I will blow on the fire of my anger. And you will begin to melt. ²²Silver melts in the fire {and workers pour off the silver and save it}. In the same way, you will melt in the city. Then you will know that I am the Lord. And you will know that I have poured out my anger against you.’”

Ezekiel Speaks Against Jerusalem

²³The word of the Lord came to me. He said, ²⁴“Son of man,* speak to Israel. Tell her that she is not pure.* I am angry at that country, so that country has not received its rain. ²⁵The prophets in Jerusalem are making evil plans. They are like a lion—it roars when it begins to eat the animal it caught. Those prophets have destroyed many lives. They have taken many valuable things. They caused many women to become widows* in Jerusalem. ²⁶“The priests have really hurt my teachings. They don’t treat my holy things right—they don’t show they are important. They treat holy things just like things that are not holy. They treat clean* things just like things that are unclean. They don’t teach the people about these things. They refuse to respect my special days of rest. They treat me like I am not important. ²⁷“The leaders in Jerusalem are like a wolf eating the animal it has caught. Those leaders attack and kill people just to get rich. ²⁸“The prophets {don’t warn the people—they cover up the truth. They are like workers that don’t really fix a wall}—they only put plaster over the holes. They only see lies. They do their magic to learn the future, but they only tell lies. They say, ‘The Lord my Master said these things.’ But they are only lying—the Lord did not speak to them! ²⁹“The common people take advantage of each other. They cheat and steal from each other. They get rich by taking advantage of poor helpless beggars. And they really cheat the foreigners–they are not fair to them at all! ³⁰“I asked the people to {change their lives and} protect their country. I asked people to fix the walls. I wanted them to stand by those holes in the wall and fight to protect their city. But no person came to help! ³¹So I will show them my anger—I will completely destroy them! I will punish them for the bad things they have done. It is all their fault!” The Lord my Master said these things.

Son of man This was usually just a way of saying “a person,” or “a human being.” But here this is a title for the man, Ezekiel. orphans and widows Widows are women whose husbands have died, and orphans are children whose parents have died. Often these people have no one to care for them. unclean Not pure or not acceptable to God for worship. not pure This is a word play. The Hebrew word also means “not rained on.” widows Women whose husbands have died. Often these women had no one to care for them. clean Pure or acceptable to God for worship.

23 The word of the Lord came to me. He said, ²“Son of man,* {listen to this story about Samaria and Jerusalem}. There were two sisters. They were daughters of the same mother. ³They became prostitutes* in Egypt while they were still young girls. In Egypt, they first made love and let men touch their nipples and hold their young breasts. ⁴The older daughter was named Oholah.* And her sister was named Oholibah.* Those sisters became my wives. And we had children. (Oholah is really Samaria. And Oholibah is really Jerusalem.) ⁵“Then Oholah became unfaithful to me—she began to live like a prostitute.*She began to want her lovers. She saw the Assyrian soldiers ⁶in their blue uniforms. They were all desirable young men riding horses. They were leaders and officers. ⁷And Oholah gave herself to all those men. All of them were handpicked soldiers in the Assyrian army. And she wanted them all! She became filthy with their filthy idols. ⁸Besides that, she never stopped her love affair with Egypt. Egypt made love to her when she was a young girl. Egypt was the first lover to touch her young breasts. Egypt poured his untrue love on her. ⁹So I let her lovers have her. She wanted Assyria, so I gave her to them! ¹⁰They raped* her. They took her children. And they used a sword and killed her. They punished her. And women still talk about her. ¹¹“Her younger sister, Oholibah, saw all these things happen. But Oholibah did more sins than her sister! She was more unfaithful than Oholah. ¹²She wanted the Assyrian leaders and officers. She wanted those soldiers in blue uniforms riding their horses. They were all desirable young men. ¹³I saw that both women were going to ruin their lives with the same mistakes. ¹⁴“Oholibah continued to be unfaithful to me. In Babylon, she saw pictures of men carved on the walls. These were pictures of Chaldean* men wearing their red uniforms. ¹⁵They wore belts around their waists and long turbans on their heads. All of those men looked like chariot* officers. They all looked like native born Babylonian men. ¹⁶And Oholibah wanted them. ¹⁷So those Babylonian men came to her love bed to have sex with her. They used her and made her so filthy that she became disgusted with them! ¹⁸“Oholibah* let everyone see that she was unfaithful. She let so many men enjoy her naked body, that I became disgusted with her—just like I had become disgusted with her sister. ¹⁹Again and again Oholibah was unfaithful to me. And then she remembered the love affair she had as a young girl in Egypt. ²⁰She remembered her lover with the penis like a donkey and a flood of semen like a horse. ²¹“Oholibah,* you dreamed of those times when you were young; when your lover touched your nipples and held your young breasts. ²²So Oholibah, the Lord my Master says these things, ‘You became disgusted with your lovers. But I will bring your lovers here. They will surround you. ²³I will bring all those men from Babylon, especially the Chaldeans. I will bring the men from Pekod, Shoa, and Koa. And I will bring all those men from Assyria. So I will bring all those leaders and officers. They were all desirable young men, chariot* officers and hand-picked soldiers riding their horses. ²⁴Those crowd of men will come to you. They will come riding on their horses and in their chariots. There will be many, many people. They will have their spears, shields, and helmets. They will gather together around you. I will tell them what you have done to me. And they will punish you their own way. ²⁵I will show you how jealous I am. They will be very angry and hurt you. They will cut off your nose and ears. They will use a sword and kill you. Then they will take your children, and burn whatever is left of you. ²⁶They will take your nice clothes and jewelry. ²⁷And I will stop your dreams about your love affair with Egypt. You will never again look for them. You will never remember Egypt again!’” ²⁸The Lord my Master says these things, “I am giving you to the men you hate. I am giving you to the men you became disgusted with. ²⁹And they will show how much they hate you! They will take everything you worked for. And they will leave you bare and naked! People will clearly see your sins. They will see that you acted like a prostitute and dreamed wicked dreams. ³⁰You did those bad things when you left me to chase after those other nations. You did those bad things when you began to worship their filthy idols. ³¹You followed your sister and lived like her. You, yourself, took her cup of poison and held it in your hands.* {You caused your own punishment}.” ³²The Lord my Master says these things: “You will drink your sister’s cup of poison. It is a tall, wide cup of poison. That cup holds much poison (punishment). People will laugh at you and make fun of you. ³³You will stagger like a drunk person. You will become very dizzy. That is the cup of destruction and devastation. It is like the cup (punishment) that your sister drank. ³⁴You will drink the poison in that cup. You will drink it to the last drop. You will throw down the glass and break it to pieces. And you will tear at your breasts from the pain. This will happen because I am the Lord and Master. And I said these things. ³⁵“So, the Lord my Master said these things, ‘{Jerusalem,} you forgot me. You threw me away and left me behind. So now you must suffer for leaving me and living like a prostitute.* You must suffer for your wicked dreams.’”

Judgment Against Oholah and Oholibah

³⁶The Lord my Master said to me, “Son of man,* will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then tell them about the terrible things they have done. ³⁷They have done the sin of adultery.* They are guilty of murder. They acted like prostitutes—they left me to be with their filthy idols. They had my children. But they forced them to pass through fire. They did this to give food to their filthy idols. ³⁸They also treated my special days of rest and my holy place like they were not important. ³⁹They killed their children for their idols,* and then they went into my holy place and made it filthy too! They did this inside my temple!* ⁴⁰“They have sent for men from faraway places. You sent a messenger to these men. And those men came to see you. You bathed for them, painted your eyes, and put on your jewelry. ⁴¹You sat on a fine bed with a table set before it. You put my incense* and my oil* on this table. ⁴²“The noise in Jerusalem sounded like a crowd of people having a party.* Many people came to the party. People were already drinking as they came in from the desert. They gave bracelets and beautiful crowns to the women. ⁴³Then I spoke to one of the women who was worn out from her sexual sins. I told her, ‘Will they continue to do sexual sins with her, and she with them?’ ⁴⁴But they kept going to her like they would go to a prostitute.* Yes, they went again and again to Oholah and Oholibah, those wicked women. ⁴⁵“But good men will judge them guilty. They will judge those women guilty of the sin of adultery* and murder. Why? Because Oholah and Oholibah have done the sin of adultery and the blood from people they killed is still on their hands!” ⁴⁶The Lord my Master said these things, “Gather the people together. Then let those people punish Oholah and Oholibah. This group of people will punish and make fun of these two women. ⁴⁷Then the group will throw stones at them and kill them. Then the group will cut the women to pieces with their swords. They will kill the women’s children and burn their houses. ⁴⁸In this way, I remove that shame from this country. And all the other women will be warned not to do the shameful things you have done. ⁴⁹They will punish you for the wicked things you did. And you will be punished for worshiping your filthy idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord and Master.”

Son of man This was usually just a way of saying “a person,” or “a human being.” But here this is a title for the man, Ezekiel. prostitute(s) A woman paid by men for sexual sin. Sometimes this also means a person that is not faithful to God and stops following him. Oholah This name means “Tent.” It probably refers to the Holy Tent where the people of Israel went to worship God. Oholibah This name means “My Tent is in her {country}.” raped Literally, “revealed her nakedness.” The Hebrew word meaning “revealed” is like the word meaning “carried away as a prisoner to a faraway country.” Chaldean An important family group in Babylonia. Sometimes this name means simply, “people from Babylonia.” chariot(s) A small wagon used in war. You … your hands Or, “I put her cup in your hands.” adultery Breaking the marriage promise by sexual sin. idols Statues of false gods that people worshiped. temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. my incense A special blend of spices that were burned as a gift to God. This special incense was to be burned only in the temple. See Ex. 30:34–38. my oil The special oil that was used for anointing priests and things in the temple to make them holy (special). See Ex. 30:22–33. party The Hebrew word is like the word for a fellowship offering, a time when people came to share a meal and enjoy themselves together with the Lord. Here it seems this time of worship turned into a wild party. See Deut 14:22–29; 26:1–15.