23 The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, ² Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: ³ and they played the harlot in Egypt; they played the harlot in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity. ⁴ And the names of them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bare sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is ^‍Oholah, and Jerusalem ^‍Oholibah.

‍

⁵ And Oholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors, ⁶ who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. ⁷ And she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whomsoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself. ⁸ Neither hath she left her whoredoms ^‍since the days of Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their whoredom upon her. ⁹ Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. ¹⁰ These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they slew with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments upon her.

‍

¹¹ And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her whoredoms which were more than the whoredoms of her sister. ¹² She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. ¹³ And I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way. ¹⁴ And she increased her whoredoms; for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, ¹⁵ girded with girdles upon their loins, with flowing turbans upon their heads, all of them princes to look upon, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their nativity. ¹⁶ And as soon as she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. ¹⁷ And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them. ¹⁸ So she uncovered her whoredoms, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister. ¹⁹ Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, remembering the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. ²¹ Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in the handling of thy bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of thy youth.

‍

²² Therefore, O Oholibah, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy soul is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side: ²³ the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding upon horses. ²⁴ And they shall come against thee with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against thee with buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will commit the judgment unto them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments. ²⁵ And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury; they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. ²⁶ They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels. ²⁷ Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt; so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more. ²⁸ For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy soul is alienated; ²⁹ and they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take away all thy labor, and shall leave thee naked and bare; and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be uncovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

‍

³⁰ These things shall be done unto thee, for that thou hast played the harlot after the nations, and because thou art polluted with their idols. ³¹ Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thy hand. ³² Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup, which is deep and large; thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; ^‍it containeth much. ³³ Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria. ³⁴ Thou shalt even drink it and drain it out, and thou shalt gnaw the sherds thereof, and shalt tear thy breasts; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah. ³⁵ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

‍

³⁶ Jehovah said moreover unto me: Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare unto them their abominations. ³⁷ For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass through the fire unto them to be devoured. ³⁸ Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. ³⁹ For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of my house. ⁴⁰ And furthermore ye have sent for men ^‍that come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent, and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paint thine eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments, ⁴¹ and sit upon a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon thou didst set mine incense and mine oil. ⁴² And the voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets upon the hands of them twain, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

‍

⁴³ Then said I of her that was old in adulteries, Now will they play ^‍the harlot with her, and she with them. ⁴⁴ And they went in unto her, as they go in unto a harlot: so went they in unto Oholah and unto Oholibah, the lewd women. ⁴⁵ And righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands. ⁴⁶ For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed to and fro and robbed. ⁴⁷ And the company shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire. ⁴⁸ Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. ⁴⁹ And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols; and ye shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁸ Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

‍

¹⁹ Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; ²¹ and having a great priest over the house of God; ²² let us draw near with a true heart in ^‍fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil ^‍conscience: and having our body washed with pure water, ²³ let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised: ²⁴ and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works; ²⁵ not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.

‍

²⁶ For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a ^‍fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. ²⁸ A man that hath set at nought Moses’ law dieth without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses: ²⁹ of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified ^‍an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. ³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

‍

³² But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were enlightened, ye endured a great conflict of sufferings; ³³ partly, being made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, becoming partakers with them that were so used. ³⁴ For ye both had compassion on them that were in bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your possessions, knowing that ye have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. ³⁵ Cast not away therefore your boldness, which hath great recompense of reward. ³⁶ For ye have need of patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise.

‍

³⁷ For yet a very little while,
He that cometh shall come, and shall not tarry.
³⁸ But my righteous one shall live by faith:
And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him.

‍

³⁹ But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul

Vengeance invoked upon adversaries.

‍

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

‍

109 Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;
² For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit have they opened against me:
They have spoken ^‍unto me with a lying tongue.
³ They have compassed me about also with words of hatred,
And fought against me without a cause.
⁴ For my love they are my adversaries:
But I give myself unto prayer.
⁵ And they have rewarded me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.
⁶ Set thou a wicked man over him;
And let an adversary stand at his right hand.
⁷ When he is judged, let him come forth guilty;
And let his prayer ^‍be turned into sin.
⁸ Let his days be few;
And let another take his office.
⁹ Let his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.
¹⁰ Let his children be vagabonds, and beg;
And let them seek their bread out of their desolate places.
¹¹ Let the extortioner catch all that he hath;
And let strangers make spoil of his labor.
¹² Let there be none to ^‍extend kindness unto him;
Neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless children.
¹³ Let his posterity be cut off;
In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
¹⁴ Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with Jehovah;
And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
¹⁵ Let them be before Jehovah continually,
That he may cut off the memory of them from the earth;
¹⁶ Because he remembered not to show kindness,
But persecuted the poor and needy man,
And the broken in heart, to slay them.
¹⁷ Yea, he loved cursing, and it came unto him;
And he delighted not in blessing, and it was far from him.
¹⁸ He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment,
And it came into his inward parts like water,
And like oil into his bones.
¹⁹ Let it be unto him as the raiment wherewith he covereth himself,
And for the girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
²⁰ This is the reward of mine adversaries from Jehovah,
And of them that speak evil against my soul.
²¹ But deal thou with me, O Jehovah the Lord, for thy name’s sake:
Because thy lovingkindness is good, deliver thou me;
²² For I am poor and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
²³ I am gone like the shadow when it declineth:
I am tossed up and down as the locust.
²⁴ My knees are weak through fasting;
And my flesh faileth of fatness.
²⁵ I am become also a reproach unto them:
When they see me, they shake their head.
²⁶ Help me, O Jehovah my God;
Oh save me according to thy lovingkindness:
²⁷ That they may know that this is thy hand;
That thou, Jehovah, hast done it.
²⁸ Let them curse, but bless thou:
When they arise, they shall be put to shame,
But thy servant shall rejoice.
²⁹ Let mine adversaries be clothed with dishonor,
And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
³⁰ I will give great thanks unto Jehovah with my mouth;
Yea, I will praise him among the multitude.
³¹ For he will stand at the right hand of the needy,
To save him from them that judge his soul.

¹³ Take his garment that is surety for a stranger;
And hold him in pledge that is surety for a foreign woman.

‍