Ezekiel, wacko
Just stumbled on this verse from Ezekiel 23:20 on the Landover
Baptist Site http://www.cafepress.com/landoverbaptist/75582: “There
she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of
donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.” As a reminder of
just how psychotic scripture can be, here’s the RSV text of chaps. 23
& 24
23 Two Adulterous Sisters
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, there were two
women, daughters of the same mother. 3 They became prostitutes in
Egypt, engaging in prostitution from their youth. In that land their
breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed. 4 The older
was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They were mine and
gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is
Jerusalem.
5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine; and she
lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians-warriors 6 clothed in blue,
governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted
horsemen. 7 She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the
Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she
lusted after. 8 She did not give up the prostitution she began in
Egypt, when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin
bosom and poured out their lust upon her.
9 “Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians, for
whom she lusted. 10 They stripped her naked, took away her sons and
daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among
women, and punishment was inflicted on her.
11 “Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution
she was more depraved than her sister. 12 She too lusted after the
Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted
horsemen, all handsome young men. 13 I saw that she too defiled
herself; both of them went the same way.
14 “But she carried her prostitution still further. She saw men
portrayed on a wall, figures of Chaldeans [a] portrayed in red, 15
with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads;
all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers, natives of
Chaldea. [b] 16 As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and
sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 Then the Babylonians came to
her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After
she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.
18 When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her
nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned
away from her sister. 19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as
she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in
Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like
those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. 21 So
you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom
was caressed and your young breasts fondled. [c]
22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I
will stir up your lovers against you, those you turned away from in
disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side- 23 the
Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa,
and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them
governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all
mounted on horses. 24 They will come against you with weapons, [d]
chariots and wagons and with a throng of people; they will take up
positions against you on every side with large and small shields and
with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they
will punish you according to their standards. 25 I will direct my
jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They
will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left
will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters,
and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire. 26 They will
also strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry. 27 So I
will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt.
You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt
anymore.
28 “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to hand
you over to those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust.
29 They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything you
have worked for. They will leave you naked and bare, and the shame of
your prostitution will be exposed. Your lewdness and promiscuity 30
have brought this upon you, because you lusted after the nations and
defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your
sister; so I will put her cup into your hand.
32 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
“You will drink your sister’s cup,
a cup large and deep;
it will bring scorn and derision,
for it holds so much.
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
the cup of ruin and desolation,
the cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You will drink it and drain it dry;
you will dash it to pieces
and tear your breasts.
I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.
35 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Since you have
forgotten me and thrust me behind your back, you must bear the
consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.”
36 The LORD said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and
Oholibah? Then confront them with their detestable practices, 37 for
they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They
committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their
children, whom they bore to me, [e] as food for them. 38 They have
also done this to me: At that same time they defiled my sanctuary and
desecrated my Sabbaths. 39 On the very day they sacrificed their
children to their idols, they entered my sanctuary and desecrated it.
That is what they did in my house.
40 “They even sent messengers for men who came from far away, and
when they arrived you bathed yourself for them, painted your eyes and
put on your jewelry. 41 You sat on an elegant couch, with a table
spread before it on which you had placed the incense and oil that
belonged to me.
42 “The noise of a carefree crowd was around her; Sabeans [f] were
brought from the desert along with men from the rabble, and they put
bracelets on the arms of the woman and her sister and beautiful
crowns on their heads. 43 Then I said about the one worn out by
adultery, ‘Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she
is.’ 44 And they slept with her. As men sleep with a prostitute, so
they slept with those lewd women, Oholah and Oholibah. 45 But
righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of women who
commit adultery and shed blood, because they are adulterous and blood
is on their hands.
46 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Bring a mob against them
and give them over to terror and plunder. 47 The mob will stone them
and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and
daughters and burn down their houses.
48 “So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women
may take warning and not imitate you. 49 You will suffer the penalty
for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry.
Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.”
24
The Cooking Pot
1 In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word
of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, record this date, this very
date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this
very day. 3 Tell this rebellious house a parable and say to them:
‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
” ‘Put on the cooking pot; put it on
and pour water into it.
4 Put into it the pieces of meat,
all the choice pieces—the leg and the shoulder.
Fill it with the best of these bones;
5 take the pick of the flock.
Pile wood beneath it for the bones;
bring it to a boil
and cook the bones in it.
6 ” ‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
” ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed,
to the pot now encrusted,
whose deposit will not go away!
Empty it piece by piece
without casting lots for them.
7 ” ‘For the blood she shed is in her midst:
She poured it on the bare rock;
she did not pour it on the ground,
where the dust would cover it.
8 To stir up wrath and take revenge
I put her blood on the bare rock,
so that it would not be covered.
9 ” ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
” ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed!
I, too, will pile the wood high.
10 So heap on the wood
and kindle the fire.
Cook the meat well,
mixing in the spices;
and let the bones be charred.
11 Then set the empty pot on the coals
till it becomes hot and its copper glows
so its impurities may be melted
and its deposit burned away.
12 It has frustrated all efforts;
its heavy deposit has not been removed,
not even by fire.
13 ” ‘Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you
but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be
clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.
14 ” ‘I the LORD have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I
will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will
be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the
Sovereign LORD.’ ”
Ezekiel’s Wife Dies
15 The word of the LORD came to me: 16 “Son of man, with one blow I
am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not
lament or weep or shed any tears. 17 Groan quietly; do not mourn for
the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do
not cover the lower part of your face or eat the customary food of
mourners .”
18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my
wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.
19 Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things
have to do with us?”
20 So I said to them, “The word of the LORD came to me: 21 Say to
the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am
about to desecrate my sanctuary—the stronghold in which you take
pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The
sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. 22 And you
will do as I have done. You will not cover the lower part of your
face or eat the customary food of mourners . 23 You will keep your
turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not
mourn or weep but will waste away because of [a] your sins and groan
among yourselves. 24 Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just
as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the
Sovereign LORD.’
25 “And you, son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold,
their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes, their heart’s desire,
and their sons and daughters as well- 26 on that day a fugitive will
come to tell you the news. 27 At that time your mouth will be opened;
you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be
a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.”