Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle had been accustomed to stand]. But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel's leader], Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital]. read more. And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens] and like the earth which He established forever.

And the names of them were Aholah the elder and Aholibah her sister, and they became Mine and they bore sons and daughters. As for the identity of their names, Aholah is Samaria and Aholibah is Jerusalem. And Aholah played the harlot when she was Mine, and she was foolishly fond of her lovers and doted on the Assyrians her neighbors,

The Lord said, moreover, to me: Son of man, will you judge Aholah and Aholibah? Then declare and show to them their abominations (the detestable, loathsome, and shamefully vile things they do),

Yet they went in to her as they go in to a woman who plays the harlot; so they went in to Aholah and to Aholibah [Israel and Judah], the lewd women.

In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi began his ten-year reign over Israel in Samaria.

In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi began his ten-year reign over Israel in Samaria. He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to sin.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to sin. There came against the land Pul king of Assyria, and Menahem gave Pul 1,000 talents of silver, that he might help him to confirm his kingship.

There came against the land Pul king of Assyria, and Menahem gave Pul 1,000 talents of silver, that he might help him to confirm his kingship. Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the men of wealth, from each man fifty shekels of silver to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay in the land.

Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the men of wealth, from each man fifty shekels of silver to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay in the land. The rest of Menahem's acts, all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

The rest of Menahem's acts, all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? Menahem slept with his fathers; Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead.

Menahem slept with his fathers; Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead. In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem began his two-year reign over Israel in Samaria.

In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem began his two-year reign over Israel in Samaria. He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. But Pekah son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against [Pekahiah] and attacked him in Samaria, in the citadel of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh; [for] with [Pekah] were fifty Gileadites. And he killed him and reigned in his stead.

But Pekah son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against [Pekahiah] and attacked him in Samaria, in the citadel of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh; [for] with [Pekah] were fifty Gileadites. And he killed him and reigned in his stead. The rest of the acts of Pekahiah, all he did, see, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

The rest of the acts of Pekahiah, all he did, see, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah began his twenty-year reign over Israel in Samaria.

In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah began his twenty-year reign over Israel in Samaria. He did evil in the Lord's sight; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin.

He did evil in the Lord's sight; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried the people captive to Assyria.

In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried the people captive to Assyria.

Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle had been accustomed to stand].

Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle had been accustomed to stand]. But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel's leader], Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital].

But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel's leader], Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital]. And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens] and like the earth which He established forever.

And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens] and like the earth which He established forever.

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.

For your Maker is your Husband -- "the Lord of hosts is His name -- "and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth He is called.

For your Maker is your Husband -- "the Lord of hosts is His name -- "and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth He is called.

Your own wickedness shall chasten and correct you, and your backslidings and desertion of faith shall reprove you. Know therefore and recognize that this is an evil and bitter thing: [first,] you have forsaken the Lord your God; [second,] you are indifferent to Me and the fear of Me is not in you, says the Lord of hosts.

Your own wickedness shall chasten and correct you, and your backslidings and desertion of faith shall reprove you. Know therefore and recognize that this is an evil and bitter thing: [first,] you have forsaken the Lord your God; [second,] you are indifferent to Me and the fear of Me is not in you, says the Lord of hosts.

Such [practices] have indeed the outward appearance [that popularly passes] for wisdom, in promoting self-imposed rigor of devotion and delight in self-humiliation and severity of discipline of the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh (the lower nature). [Instead, they do not honor God but serve only to indulge the flesh.]

Such [practices] have indeed the outward appearance [that popularly passes] for wisdom, in promoting self-imposed rigor of devotion and delight in self-humiliation and severity of discipline of the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh (the lower nature). [Instead, they do not honor God but serve only to indulge the flesh.]

And the names of them were Aholah the elder and Aholibah her sister, and they became Mine and they bore sons and daughters. As for the identity of their names, Aholah is Samaria and Aholibah is Jerusalem. And Aholah played the harlot when she was Mine, and she was foolishly fond of her lovers and doted on the Assyrians her neighbors, read more. Who were clothed with blue, governors and deputies, all of them attractive young men, horsemen riding upon horses. And she bestowed her harlotries upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whomever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself. Neither has she left her harlotries since the days of Egypt [from where she brought them], for in her youth men there lay with her and handled her girlish bosom, and they poured out their sinful desire upon her. Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians upon whom she doted. These uncovered her nakedness and shame; they took her sons and her daughters and they slew her with the sword, and her name became notorious and a byword among women when judgments were executed upon her. And her sister Aholibah saw this; yet she was more corrupt in her foolish fondness than she, and in her harlotries she was more wanton than her sister in her harlotries. She doted upon the Assyrians -- "governors and deputies, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. And I saw that she was defiled, that both [of the sisters] took one way. But [Aholibah] carried her harlotries further, for she saw men pictured upon the wall, the pictures of the Chaldeans sketched in bright red pigment, Girded with girdles on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, a picture of Babylonian men whose native land was Chaldea, Then as soon as she saw [the sketches of] them, she doted on them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their evil desire; and when she was polluted by them, she [Jerusalem] broke the relationship and pushed them away from her in disgust. So she flaunted her harlotries and exposed her nakedness, and I was disgusted and turned from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. For she doted upon her paramours there, whose lust was sensuous and vulgar like that of asses or stallions. Thus you yearned for the lewdness of your youth, when those of Egypt handled your bosom on account of your girlish breasts. Therefore, O Aholibah, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will rouse up your lovers against you, from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you on every side: The Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and officers all of them, princes, men of renown and counselors, all of them riding on horses. And they shall come against you with weapons, chariots, wagons and wheels, and with a host of infantry which shall array themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet round about; and I will commit the judgment and punishment to them, and they shall judge and punish you according to their [heathen] customs in such matters. And I will set My jealous indignation against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears, and those who are left of you shall fall by the sword; they shall take your sons and your daughters, and the remainder shall be devoured by the fire. They shall also strip you [Judah] of your clothes and take away your fine jewels. Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them nor [earnestly] remember Egypt any more. For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned away in disgust. They shall deal with you in hatred and shall take away all [the earnings of] your labor and shall leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your wanton ways. These things shall be done to you, because you have played the harlot after the nations and because you have defiled yourself with their idols. You have walked in the way of your sister [Samaria, Israel's capital]; therefore I will give her cup into your hand. Thus says the Lord God: You shall drink of your sister's cup which is deep and wide and brimful; you shall be laughed to scorn and held in derision, for it contains much [too much to endure]. You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of wasting astonishment and horror and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria. You shall drink it and drain it out, and then gnaw the pieces of it [which in your drunkenness you have broken] and shall tear your [own] breasts; for I have spoken it, says the Lord God. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten Me [your divine Husband] and cast Me behind your back, therefore bear also [the consequences of] your lewdness and your harlotry. The Lord said, moreover, to me: Son of man, will you judge Aholah and Aholibah? Then declare and show to them their abominations (the detestable, loathsome, and shamefully vile things they do), For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands, even with their idols have they committed adultery [against Me]. And they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to their images [as an offering of food] to be devoured [by them]. Moreover, this they have done to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day [of their idolatries] and have profaned My Sabbaths. For when they had slain their children [as offerings] to their idols, then they came the same day into My sanctuary to profane it [by daring to offer sacrifice there also]! And behold, thus have they done in the midst of My house! And furthermore, you have sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came -- "those for whom you washed yourself, painted your eyelids, and decked yourself with ornaments; And you sat upon a stately couch with a table spread before it upon which you set My incense and My oil. And the sound of a careless crowd was with her, and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness, who put bracelets upon the hands of both sisters and beautiful crowns upon their heads. Then I said of the one [Aholah] worn out with adulteries, Will they now play the harlot with her [now that she is old] and she with them? Yet they went in to her as they go in to a woman who plays the harlot; so they went in to Aholah and to Aholibah [Israel and Judah], the lewd women.