Oholah and Oholibah

23 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, there were ^(B)two women, the daughters of one mother. ^3 (C)They played the whore in Egypt; ^(D)they played the whore ^(E)in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms^[a] handled. ⁴ Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. ^(F)They became mine, and they ^(G)bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is ^(H)Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

⁵ “Oholah played the whore ^(I)while she was mine, and ^(J)she lusted after her lovers ^(K)the Assyrians, warriors ⁶ clothed in purple, ^(L)governors and commanders, ^(M)all of them desirable young men, ^(N)horsemen riding on horses. ⁷ She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted. ⁸ She did not give up her whoring ^(O)that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her. ⁹ Therefore ^(P)I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. ^10 (Q)These uncovered her nakedness; ^(R)they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became ^(S)a byword among women, ^(T)when judgment had been executed on her.

^11 (U)“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became ^(V)more corrupt than her sister^[b] in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. ¹² She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, ^(W)all of them desirable young men. ¹³ And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. ¹⁴ But she carried her whoring further. She saw men ^(X)portrayed on the wall, the ^(Y)images of ^(Z)the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, ¹⁵ wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. ¹⁶ When she saw them, she lusted after them and ^(AA)sent messengers to them ^(AB)in Chaldea. ¹⁷ And the Babylonians came to her ^(AC)into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, ^(AD)she turned from them in disgust. ¹⁸ When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. ¹⁹ Yet she increased her whoring, ^(AE)remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt ²⁰ and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. ²¹ Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed^[c] your young breasts.”

²² Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers ^(AF)from whom you turned in disgust, ^(AG)and I will bring them against you from every side: ²³ the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, ^(AH)Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, ^(AI)desirable young men, ^(AJ)governors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. ²⁴ And they shall come against you from the north^[d] with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. ^(AK)They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and ^(AL)I will commit the judgment to them, and ^(AM)they shall judge you according to their judgments. ²⁵ And I will direct my jealousy against you, ^(AN)that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. ^(AO)They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. ^26 (AP)They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. ^27 (AQ)Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and ^(AR)your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.

²⁸ “For thus says the Lord God: ^(AS)Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, ^(AT)into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, ²⁹ and ^(AU)they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor ^(AV)and leave you naked and bare, and ^(AW)the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring ³⁰ have brought this upon you, because ^(AX)you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. ³¹ You have gone the way of your sister; ^(AY)therefore I will give ^(AZ)her cup into your hand. ³² Thus says the Lord God:

for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. ³⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because ^(BE)you have forgotten me and ^(BF)cast me behind your back, you yourself ^(BG)must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

³⁶ The Lord said to me: ^(BH)“Son of man, ^(BI)will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. ³⁷ For ^(BJ)they have committed adultery, ^(BK)and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even ^(BL)offered up^[e] to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. ³⁸ Moreover, this they have done to me: ^(BM)they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and ^(BN)profaned my Sabbaths. ³⁹ For when ^(BO)they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day ^(BP)they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, ^(BQ)this is what they did in my house. ⁴⁰ They even sent for men to come from afar, ^(BR)to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, ^(BS)painted your eyes, ^(BT)and adorned yourself with ornaments. ⁴¹ You sat on ^(BU)a stately couch, with a table spread before it ^(BV)on which you had placed my incense and ^(BW)my oil. ⁴² The ^(BX)sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards^[f] were brought from the wilderness; and they put ^(BY)bracelets on the hands of the women, and ^(BZ)beautiful crowns on their heads.

⁴³ “Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!’^{[g] 44} For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women! ⁴⁵ But righteous men ^(CA)shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.”

⁴⁶ For thus says the Lord God: ^(CB)“Bring up a vast host against them, and make them ^(CC)an object of terror and ^(CD)a plunder. ^47 (CE)And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. ^(CF)They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and ^(CG)burn up their houses. ^48 (CH)Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. ⁴⁹ And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and ^(CI)you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and ^(CJ)you shall know that I am the Lord God.”

The Steadfast Love of the Lord

The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of ^(A)Mary and her sister Martha. ^2 (B)It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, ^(C)he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, ^(D)“This illness does not lead to death. It is for ^(E)the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵ Now ^(F)Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when he heard that Lazarus^[a] was ill, ^(G)he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, ^(H)“Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, ^(I)“Rabbi, ^(J)the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, ^(K)“Are there not twelve hours in the day? ^(L)If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But ^(M)if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not ^(N)in him.” ¹¹ After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus ^(O)has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ^16 (P)So Thomas, called the Twin,^[b] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, ^(Q)that we may die with him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb ^(R)four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles^[c] off, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary ^(S)to console them concerning their brother. ^20 (T)So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Martha said to ^(U)Jesus, “Lord, ^(V)if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, ^(W)God will give you.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ^24 (X)Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in ^(Y)the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, ^(Z)“I am the resurrection and ^(AA)the life.^[d] Whoever believes in me, ^(AB)though he die, ^(AC)yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me ^(AD)shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; ^(AE)I believe that ^(AF)you are the Christ, the Son of God, ^(AG)who is coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

²⁸ When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, ^(AH)“The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews ^(AI)who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ^(AJ)“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he ^(AK)was deeply moved^[e] in his spirit and ^(AL)greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ^35 (AM)Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See ^(AN)how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he ^(AO)who opened the eyes of the blind man ^(AP)also have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸ Then Jesus, ^(AQ)deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was ^(AR)a cave, and ^(AS)a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for ^(AT)he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, ^(AU)“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see ^(AV)the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus ^(AW)lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ^42 (AX)I knew that you always hear me, but I said this ^(AY)on account of the people standing around, ^(AZ)that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ^44 (BA)The man who had died came out, ^(BB)his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and ^(BC)his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

^45 (BD)Many of the Jews therefore, ^(BE)who had come with Mary and ^(BF)had seen what he did, believed in him, ⁴⁶ but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees ^(BG)gathered ^(BH)the council and said, ^(BI)“What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and ^(BJ)the Romans will come and take away both our ^(BK)place and our nation.” ⁴⁹ But one of them, ^(BL)Caiaphas, ^(BM)who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. ⁵⁰ Nor do you understand that ^(BN)it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹ He did not say this of his own accord, but ^(BO)being high priest that year ^(BP)he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵² and ^(BQ)not for the nation only, but also ^(BR)to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³ So from that day on they ^(BS)made plans to put him to death.

⁵⁴ Jesus therefore ^(BT)no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵ Now ^(BU)the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and ^(BV)many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover ^(BW)to purify themselves. ^56 (BX)They were looking for^[f] Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” ⁵⁷ Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

12 Six days before ^(BY)the Passover, ^(BZ)Jesus therefore came to Bethany, ^(CA)where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² So they gave a dinner for him there. ^(CB)Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ^3 (CC)Mary therefore took a pound^[g] of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴ But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii^[h] and ^(CD)given to the poor?” ⁶ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and ^(CE)having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷ Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it^[i] for the day of my burial. ⁸ For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹ When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus^[j] was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, ^(CF)whom he had raised from the dead. ^10 (CG)So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹ because ^(CH)on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹² The next day ^(CI)the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of ^(CJ)palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ^(CK)“Hosanna! Blessed is ^(CL)he who comes in the name of the Lord, even ^(CM)the King of Israel!” ¹⁴ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

^16 (CO)His disciples did not understand these things at first, but ^(CP)when Jesus was glorified, then ^(CQ)they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ^17 (CR)The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸ The reason why the crowd went to meet him ^(CS)was that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, ^(CT)“You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, ^(CU)the world has gone after him.”

Some Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰ Now ^(CV)among those who went up to worship at the feast were some ^(CW)Greeks. ²¹ So these came to ^(CX)Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told ^(CY)Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ And Jesus answered them, ^(CZ)“The hour has come ^(DA)for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(DB)unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ^25 (DC)Whoever loves his life loses it, and ^(DD)whoever ^(DE)hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must ^(DF)follow me; and ^(DG)where I am, there will my servant be also. ^(DH)If anyone serves me, ^(DI)the Father will honor him.

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

^27 (DJ)“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, ^(DK)save me from ^(DL)this hour’? But ^(DM)for this purpose I have come to ^(DN)this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name.” Then ^(DO)a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ^(DP)“An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered, ^(DQ)“This voice has come for your sake, not mine. ^31 (DR)Now is the judgment of this world; now will ^(DS)the ruler of this world ^(DT)be cast out. ³² And I, ^(DU)when I am lifted up from the earth, ^(DV)will draw ^(DW)all people to myself.” ³³ He said this ^(DX)to show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³⁴ So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that ^(DY)the Christ remains forever. How can you say that ^(DZ)the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵ So Jesus said to them, ^(EA)“The light is among you ^(EB)for a little while longer. ^(EC)Walk while you have the light, lest darkness ^(ED)overtake you. ^(EE)The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become ^(EF)sons of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷ Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ^38 (EG)so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

³⁹ Therefore they ^(EI)could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because ^(EL)he saw his glory and ^(EM)spoke of him. ⁴² Nevertheless, ^(EN)many even of the authorities believed in him, but ^(EO)for fear of the Pharisees they did not ^(EP)confess it, so that they would not be ^(EQ)put out of the synagogue; ^43 (ER)for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Jesus Came to Save the World

⁴⁴ And Jesus cried out and said, ^(ES)“Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but ^(ET)in him who sent me. ⁴⁵ And ^(EU)whoever ^(EV)sees me sees him who sent me. ^46 (EW)I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷ If anyone ^(EX)hears my words and does not keep them, ^(EY)I do not judge him; for ^(EZ)I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ^48 (FA)The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; ^(FB)the word that I have spoken will judge him ^(FC)on the last day. ⁴⁹ For ^(FD)I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father ^(FE)who sent me has himself given me ^(FF)a commandment—what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”