Ezekiel 22-23 - The Dispersion

From today's Bible reading:

Ezekiel 22:

Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.

Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst.

Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you?

I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.

I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you. And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

(The Dispersion foretold once again.)

Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.

Ezekiel 23:

The word of the LORD came to me:

Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled. Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters.

As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.

The LORD said to me:

Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah?

Declare to them their abominations.

• For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands.
• With their idols they have committed adultery, and
• they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me.
  
• Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths.
• For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it.
• And behold, this is what they did in my house.
  
• They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came.
  
• For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.
  
• You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil.
  
• The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns on their heads.

Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!