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defile
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Note: Although various Old Testament
practices are not binding under the New Covenant, such passages
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Meanwhile, Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled
his daughter Dinah; but since his sons were out in the fields with
his livestock, he held his peace until they came home. [GEN 34:5]
On the
third day, while they were still in pain, Dinah's full brothers
Simeon and Levi, two of Jacob's sons, took their swords, advanced
against the city without any trouble, and massacred all the males.
After they had put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword, they
took Dinah from Shechem's house and left. Then the other sons of
Jacob followed up the slaughter and sacked the city in reprisal
for their sister Dinah's defilement. [GEN 34:25-27]
"You, Reuben, my first-born, my strength
and the first fruit of my manhood, excelling in rank and excelling
in power! Unruly as water, you shall no longer excel, for you
climbed into your father's bed and defiled my couch to my
sorrow." [GEN 49:3-4]
"You shall warn the Israelites of their
uncleanness, lest by defiling my Dwelling, which is in their
midst, their uncleanness be the cause of their death." [Taken
from LEV 15:31]
Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary
because of all the sinful defilements and faults of the
Israelites. He shall do the same for the meeting tent, which is
set up among them in the midst of their uncleanness. [LEV 16:16]
You shall not have carnal relations with your
neighbor's wife, defiling yourself with her. [LEV 18:20]
"Do not defile yourselves by any of these
things by which the nations whom I am driving out of your way have
defiled themselves. Because their land has become defiled, I am
punishing it for its wickedness, by making it vomit out its
inhabitants. You, however, whether natives or resident aliens,
must keep my statutes and decrees forbidding all such abominations
by which the previous inhabitants defiled the land; otherwise the
land will vomit you out also for having defiled it, just as it
vomited out the nations before you. Everyone who does any of these
abominations shall be cut off from among his people. Heed my
charge, then, not to defile yourselves by observing the abominable
customs that have been observed before you. I, the LORD, am your
God." [LEV 18:24-30]
"Do not go to mediums or consult
fortune-tellers, for you will be defiled by them. I, the LORD, am
your God." [LEV 19:31]
I myself will turn against such a man and cut
him off from the body of his people; for in giving his offspring
to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.
[Taken from LEV 20:3]
The LORD said to Moses: "Order the
Israelites to expel from camp every leper, and everyone suffering
from a discharge, and everyone who has become unclean by contact
with a corpse. Male and female alike, you shall compel them to go
out of the camp; they are not to defile the camp in which I
dwell." The Israelites obeyed the command that the LORD had
given Moses; they expelled them from the camp. [NUM 5:1-4]
Once she has done so, if she has been impure and
unfaithful to her husband, this bitter water that brings a curse
will go into her, and her belly will swell and her thighs will
waste away, so that she will become an example of imprecation
among her people. If, however, the woman has not defiled herself, but is still pure, she will be immune and will still be able to bear children.
[Taken from NUM 5:27-28]
Everyone who fails to purify himself after
touching the body of any deceased person, defiles the Dwelling of
the LORD and shall be cut off from Israel. Since the lustral water
has not been splashed over him, he remains unclean: his
uncleanness still clings to him. [NUM 19:13]
Any unclean man who fails to have himself
purified shall be cut off from the community, because he defiles
the sanctuary of the LORD. As long as the lustral water has not
been splashed over him, he remains unclean. [NUM 19:20]
"Do not defile the land in which you live and in
the midst of which I dwell; for I am the LORD who dwells in the
midst of the Israelites." [NUM 35:34]
"If a man guilty of a capital offense is
put to death and his corpse hung on a tree, it shall not remain on
the tree overnight. You shall bury it the same day; otherwise,
since God's curse rests on him who hangs on a tree, you will
defile the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you as an
inheritance." [DEUT 21:22-23]
"When a man, after marrying a woman and
having relations with her, is later displeased with her because he
finds in her something indecent, and therefore he writes out a
bill of divorce and hands it to her, thus dismissing her from his
house: if on leaving his house she goes and becomes the wife of
another man, and the second husband, too, comes to dislike her and
dismisses her from his house by handing her a written bill of
divorce; or if this second man who has married her, dies; then her
former husband, who dismissed her, may not again take her as his
wife after she has become defiled. That would be an abomination
before the LORD, and you shall not bring such guilt upon the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you as a heritage." [DEUT 24:1-4]
[Note: In the New Testament, Jesus has made it clear that
divorce is prohibited. (See topic: Divorce)]
He brought in all the priests from the cities of
Judah, and then defiled, from Geba to Beer-sheba, the high places
where they had offered incense. He also tore down the high place
of the satyrs, which was at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua,
governor of the city, to the left as one enters the city gate. [Taken
from 2KGS 23:8]
The king also defiled Topheth in the Valley of
Ben-hinnom, so that there would no longer be an immolation of sons
or daughters by fire in honor of Molech. [2KGS 23:10]
The king defiled the high places east of
Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Misconduct, which Solomon, king
of Israel, had built in honor of Astarte, the Sidonian horror, of
Chemosh, the Moabite horror, and of Milcom, the idol of the
Ammonites. [2KGS 23:13]
When Josiah turned and saw the graves there on
the mountainside, he ordered the bones taken from the graves and
burned on the altar, and thus defiled it in fulfillment of the
word of the LORD which the man of God had proclaimed as Jeroboam
was standing by the altar on the feast day. When the king looked
up and saw the grave of the man of God who had proclaimed these
words, he asked, "What is that tombstone I see?" The men
of the city replied, "It is the grave of the man of God who
came from Judah and predicted the very things you have done to the
altar of Bethel." [2KGS 23:16-17]
Remember against them, O my God, how they
defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the
Levites! [Taken from NEH 13:29]
At that time, then, she spread out her hands,
and facing the window, poured out this prayer: "Blessed are
you, O Lord, merciful God! Forever blessed and honored is your
holy name; may all your works forever bless you. And now, O Lord,
to you I turn my face and raise my eyes. Bid me to depart from the
earth, never again to hear such insults. You know, O Master,
that I am innocent of any impure act with a man, And that I have
never defiled my own name or my father's name in the land of my
exile. I am my father's only daughter, and he has no other
child to make his heir, Nor does he have a close kinsman or other
relative whom I might bide my time to marry. I have already lost
seven husbands; why then should I live any longer? But if it
please you, Lord, not to slay me, look favorably upon me and have
pity on me; never again let me hear these insults!" [TOBIT 3:11-15]
"Their wives you handed over to plunder, and
their daughters to captivity; and all the spoils you divided among
your favored sons, who burned with zeal for you, and in their
abhorrence of the defilement of their kinswoman, called on you for
help." [Taken from JDTH 9:4]
"You, the Lord, crush warfare; Lord is
your name. Shatter their strength in your might, and crush their
force in your wrath; for they have resolved to profane your
sanctuary, to defile the tent where your glorious name resides,
and to overthrow with iron the horns of your altar." [Taken from
JDTH 9:8]
"As the Lord lives, who has protected me in the
path I have followed, I swear that it was my face that seduced
Holofernes to his ruin, and that he did not sin with me to my
defilement or disgrace." [Taken from JDTH 13:16]
Then they built up the City of David with a
high, massive wall and strong towers, and it became their citadel.
There they installed a sinful race, perverse men, who fortified
themselves inside it, storing up weapons and provisions, and
depositing there the plunder they had collected from Jerusalem.
And they became a great threat. The citadel became an ambush
against the sanctuary, and a wicked adversary to Israel at all
times. And they shed innocent blood around the sanctuary; they
defiled the sanctuary. Because of them the inhabitants of
Jerusalem fled away, and she became the abode of strangers. She
became a stranger to her own offspring, and her children forsook
her. Her sanctuary was as desolate as a wilderness; her feasts
were turned into mourning, Her sabbaths to shame, her honor to
contempt. Her dishonor was as great as her glory had been, and her
exaltation was turned into mourning. [1MACC 1:33-40]
They preferred to die rather than to be defiled
with unclean food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did
die. Terrible affliction was upon Israel. [Taken from 1MACC 1:63]
We see our sanctuary and our beauty and our
glory laid waste, And the Gentiles have defiled them! [1MACC 2:12]
The happy thought came to them to tear it down,
lest it be a lasting shame to them that the Gentiles had defiled
it; so they tore down the altar. [Taken from 1MACC 4:45]
On the anniversary of the day on which the
Gentiles had defiled it, on that very day it was reconsecrated
with songs, harps, flutes, and cymbals. [1MACC 4:54]
But he mocked and ridiculed them, defiled them,
and spoke disdainfully. In a rage he swore: "If Judas and his
army are not delivered to me at once, when I return victorious I
will burn this temple down." He went away in great anger. The
priests, however, went in and stood before the altar and the
sanctuary. They wept and said: "You have chosen this house to
bear your name, to be a house of prayer and petition for your
people. Take revenge on this man and his army, and let them fall
by the sword. Remember their blasphemies, and do not let them
continue." [1MACC 7:34-38]
"In his time and under his guidance they
succeeded in driving the Gentiles out of their country, especially
those in the City of David in Jerusalem, who had built for
themselves a citadel from which they used to sally forth to defile
the environs of the temple and inflict grave injury on its purity.
In this citadel he stationed Jewish soldiers, and he strengthened
its fortifications for the defense of the land and the city, while
he also raised the wall of Jerusalem to a greater height." [Taken
from 1MACC
14:36-37]
When this man arrived in Jerusalem, he pretended
to be peacefully disposed and waited until the holy day of the
sabbath; then, finding the Jews refraining from work, he ordered
his men to parade fully armed. All those who came out to watch, he
massacred, and running through the city with armed men, he cut
down a large number of people. But Judas Maccabeus and about nine
others withdrew to the wilderness, where he and his companions
lived like wild animals in the hills, continuing to eat what grew
wild to avoid sharing the defilement. [2MACC 5:25-27]
Eleazar,
one of the foremost scribes, a man of advanced age and noble
appearance, was being forced to open his mouth to eat [unlawful
food]. But preferring a glorious death to a life of defilement, he
spat out the [unlawful food], and went forward of his own accord
to the instrument of torture, as men ought to do who have the
courage to reject the food which it is unlawful to taste even for
love of life. [Taken from 2MACC 6:18-20]
Three years later, Judas and his men learned
that Demetrius, son of Seleucus, had sailed into the port of
Tripolis with a powerful army and a fleet, and that he had
occupied the country, after doing away with Antiochus and his
guardian Lysias. A certain Alcimus, a former high priest, who had
willfully incurred defilement at the time of the revolt, realized
that there was no way for him to salvage his position and regain
access to the holy altar. So he went to King Demetrius in the year
one hundred and fifty-one and presented him with a gold crown and
a palm branch, as well as some of the customary olive branches
from the temple. On that occasion he kept quiet. But he found an
opportunity to further his mad scheme when he was invited to the
council by Demetrius and questioned about the dispositions and
intentions of the Jews. [Taken from 2MACC 14:1-5]
Can a man be found who is clean of defilement?
There is none, however short his days. [Taken from JOB 14:4-5]
O God, the nations have
invaded your heritage; they have defiled your holy temple, have
laid Jerusalem in ruins. [Taken from PS 79:1]
But now you have rejected and spurned, been
enraged at your anointed. You renounced the covenant with your
servant, defiled his crown in the dust. You broke down all his
defenses, left his strongholds in ruins. All who pass through
seize plunder; his neighbors deride him. You have exalted the
right hand of his foes, have gladdened all his enemies. You turned
back his sharp sword, did not support him in battle. You brought
to an end his splendor, hurled his throne to the ground. [Taken
from PS 89:39-45]
They defiled themselves by their actions, became
adulterers by their conduct. So the LORD grew angry with his
people, abhorred his own heritage. He handed them over to the
nations, and their adversaries ruled them. Their enemies oppressed
them, kept them under subjection. Many times did he rescue them,
but they kept rebelling and scheming and were brought low by their
own guilt. Still God had regard for their affliction when he heard
their wailing. For their sake he remembered his covenant and
relented in his abundant love, Winning for them compassion from
all who held them captive. [PS 106:39-46]
When I brought you into the garden land to eat
its goodly fruits, You entered and defiled my land, you made my
heritage loathsome. The priests asked not, "Where is the
LORD?" Those who dealt with the law knew me not: the
shepherds rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after useless idols. Therefore will I yet accuse you,
says the LORD, and even your children's children I will accuse.
[JER
2:7-9]
Though you scour it with soap, and use much lye,
The stain of your guilt is still before me, says the Lord GOD. How
can you say, "I am not defiled, I have not gone after the
Baals"? Consider your conduct in the Valley, recall what you
have done: A frenzied she-camel, coursing near and far, breaking
away toward the desert, Snuffing the wind in her ardor - who can
restrain her lust? No beasts need tire themselves seeking her; in
her month they will meet her. Stop wearing out your shoes and
parching your throat! But you say, "No use! no! I love these
strangers, and after them I must go." As the thief is shamed
when caught, so shall the house of Israel be shamed: They, their
kings and their princes, their priests and their prophets; They
who say to a piece of wood, "You are my father," and to
a stone, "You gave me birth." They turn to me their
backs, not their faces; yet, in their time of trouble they cry
out, "Rise up and save us!" Where are the gods you made
for yourselves? Let them rise up! Will they save you in your time
of trouble? For as numerous as your cities are your gods, O Judah!
And as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have
set up for Baal. How dare you still plead with me? You have all
rebelled against me, says the LORD. [JER 2:22-29]
If a man sends away his wife and, after leaving
him, she marries another man, Does the first husband come back to
her? Would not the land be wholly defiled? But you have sinned
with many lovers, and yet you would return to me! says the LORD.
Lift your eyes to the heights, and see, where have men not lain
with you? By the waysides you waited for them like an Arab in the
desert. You defiled the land by your wicked harlotry. Therefore
the showers were withheld, the spring rain failed. But because you
have a harlot's brow, you refused to blush. Even now do you not
call me, "My father, you who are the bridegroom of my
youth"? "Will he keep his wrath forever, will he hold
his grudge to the end?" This is what you say; yet you do all
the evil you can. [JER 3:1-5]
The people of Judah have done what is evil in my
eyes, says the LORD. They have defiled the house which bears my
name by setting up in it their abominable idols. [JER 7:30]
Thus I will do to this place and to its
inhabitants, says the LORD; I will make this city like Topheth.
And the houses of Jerusalem and the palaces of the kings of Judah
shall be defiled like the place of Topheth, all the houses upon
whose roofs they burnt incense to the whole host of heaven and
poured out libations to strange gods. [Taken from JER 19:12-13]
The Israelites and the Judeans from their youth
have done only what is evil in my eyes; the Israelites did nothing
but provoke me with the works of their hands, says the LORD. From
the day it was built to this day, this city has excited my anger
and wrath, so that I must put it out of my sight for all the
wickedness the Israelites and Judeans, with their kings and their
princes, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and
the citizens of Jerusalem, have done to provoke me. They turned
their backs to me, not their faces; though I kept teaching them,
they would not listen to my correction. They defiled the house
named after me by the horrid idols they set up in it. [Taken from
JER 32:20-34]
Through the sin of which she is guilty,
Jerusalem is defiled; All who esteemed her think her vile now that
they see her nakedness; She herself groans and turns away. [LAM
1:8]
Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life:
listen, and know prudence! How is it, Israel, that you are in the
land of your foes, grown old in a foreign land, defiled with the
dead, accounted with those destined for the nether world? You have
forsaken the fountain of wisdom! Had you walked in the way of God,
you would have dwelt in enduring peace. Learn where prudence is,
where strength, where understanding; That you may know also where
are length of days, and life, where light of the eyes, and peace. [BARUCH
3:9-14]
Therefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD, because
you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable
abominations, I swear to cut you down. I will not look upon you
with pity nor have mercy. [EZEK 5:11]
They shall put on sackcloth, and horror shall cover them;
shame shall be on all their faces and baldness on all their heads.
They shall fling their silver into the streets, and their gold
shall be considered refuse. Their silver and gold cannot save them
on the day of the LORD'S wrath. They shall not be allowed to
satisfy their craving or fill their bellies, for this has been the
occasion of their sin. In the beauty of their ornaments they put
their pride: they made of them their abominable images (their
idols). For this reason I make them refuse. I will hand them over
as booty to foreigners, to be spoiled and defiled by the wicked of
the earth. I will turn away my face from them, and my treasure
shall be profaned: robbers shall enter and profane it. They shall
wreak slaughter, for the land is filled with bloodshed and the
city full of violence. I will bring in the worst of the nations,
who shall take possession of their houses. I will put an end to
their proud strength, and their sanctuaries shall be profaned.
When anguish comes they shall seek peace, but there will be none.
There shall be disaster after disaster, rumor after rumor.
Prophetic vision shall fade; instruction shall be lacking to the
priest, and counsel to the elders, while the prince shall be
enveloped in terror, and the hands of the common people shall
tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct, and
according to their judgments I will judge them; thus they shall
know that I am the LORD. [EZEK 7:18-27]
Then he cried loud for me to hear: Come, you
scourges of the city! With that I saw six men coming from the
direction of the upper gate which faces the north, each with a
destroying weapon in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in
linen, with a writer's case at his waist. They entered and stood
beside the bronze altar. Then he called to the man dressed in
linen with the writer's case at his waist, saying to him: Pass
through the city (through Jerusalem) and mark an X on the
foreheads of those who moan and groan over all the abominations
that are practiced within it. To the others I heard him say: Pass
through the city after him and strike! Do not look on them with
pity nor show any mercy! Old men, youths and maidens, women and
children - wipe them out! But do not touch any marked with the X;
begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the men (the elders) who
were in front of the temple. Defile the temple, he said to them,
and fill the courts with the slain; then go out and strike in the
city. As they began to strike, I was left alone. I fell prone,
crying out, Alas, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all that is left of
Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?" He answered
me: The sins of the house of Israel are great beyond measure; the
land is filled with bloodshed, the city with lawlessness. They
think that the LORD has forsaken the land, that he does not see
them. I, however, will not look upon them with pity, nor show any
mercy. I will bring down their conduct upon their heads. Then I
saw the man dressed in linen with the writing case at his waist
make his report: "I have done as you ordered." [EZEK 9:1-11]
Each shall receive punishment for his sin, the
inquirer and the prophet shall be punished alike, so that the
house of Israel may no longer stray from me and may no longer be
defiled by all their sins. Thus they shall be my people, and I
will be their God, says the Lord GOD. [EZEK 14:10-11]
That day I swore to bring them out of the land
of Egypt to the land I had scouted for them, a land flowing with
milk and honey, a jewel among all lands. Then I said to them:
Throw away, each of you, the detestable things that have held your
eyes; do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the
LORD, your God. But they rebelled against me and refused to listen
to me; none of them threw away the detestable things that had held
their eyes, they did not abandon the idols of Egypt. Then I
thought of pouring out my fury on them and spending my anger on
them there in the land of Egypt; but I acted for my name's sake,
that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among
whom they were, in whose presence I had made myself known to them,
revealing that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt.
Therefore I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them
into the desert. [Taken from EZEK 20:6-10]
Then I said to their children in the desert: Do
not observe the statutes of your parents or keep their ordinances;
do not defile yourselves with their idols. I am the LORD, your
God: observe my statutes and be careful to keep my ordinances;
keep holy my sabbaths, as a sign between me and you to show that I
am the LORD, your God. But their children rebelled against me:
they did not observe my statutes or keep my ordinances that bring
life to those who observe them, and my sabbaths they desecrated.
Then I thought of pouring out my fury on them, of spending my
anger on them in the desert; but I stayed my hand, acting for my
name's sake, lest it be profaned in the sight of the nations in
whose presence I brought them out. Nevertheless I swore to them in
the desert that I would disperse them among the nations and
scatter them over foreign lands; for they did not keep my
ordinances, but despised my statutes and desecrated my sabbaths,
with eyes only for the idols of their fathers. Therefore I gave
them statutes that were not good, and ordinances through which
they could not live. I let them become defiled by their gifts, by
their immolation of every first-born, so as to make them an object
of horror. [EZEK 20:18-26]
Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says
the Lord GOD: Will you defile yourselves like your fathers? Will
you lust after their detestable idols? By offering your gifts, by
making your children pass through the fire, you defile yourselves
with all your idols even to this day. Shall I let myself be
consulted by you, house of Israel? As I live! says the Lord GOD: I
swear I will not let myself be consulted by you. What you are
thinking of shall never happen: "We shall be like the
nations, like the peoples of foreign lands, serving wood and
stone." As I live, says the Lord GOD, with a mighty hand and
outstretched arm, with poured-out wrath, I swear I will be king
over you! [EZEK 20:30-33]
Thus you shall know that I am the LORD, when I
bring you back to the land of Israel, the land which I swore to
give to your fathers. There you shall recall your conduct and all
the deeds by which you defiled yourselves; and you shall loathe
yourselves because of all the evil things you did. And you shall
know that I am the LORD when I deal with you thus, for my name's
sake, and not according to your evil conduct and corrupt actions,
O house of Israel, says the Lord GOD. [EZEK 20:42-44]
Thus the word of the LORD came to me: You, son
of man, would you judge, would you judge the bloody city? Then
make known all her abominations, and say: Thus says the Lord GOD:
Woe to the city which sheds blood within herself so that her time
has come, and which has made idols for her own defilement. By the
blood which you shed you have been made guilty, and with the idols
you made you have become defiled; you have brought on your day, so
that the end of your years has come. Therefore I make you an
object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all foreign
lands. Those near you and those far off shall deride you because
of your foul reputation and your great perversity. [EZEK 22:1-5]
Oholah became a harlot faithless to me; she
lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians, warriors dressed in
purple, governors and officers, all of them attractive young men,
knights mounted on horses. Thus she gave herself as a harlot to
them, to all the elite of the Assyrians, and she defiled herself
with all those for whom she lusted (with all their idols). [EZEK
23:5-7]
Though her sister Oholibah saw all this, her
lust was more depraved than her sister's, and she outdid her in
harlotry. She too lusted after the Assyrians, governors and
officers, warriors impeccably clothed, knights mounted on horses,
all of them attractive young men. I saw that she had defiled
herself. Both had gone down the same path, yet she went further in
her harlotry. When she saw men drawn on the wall, the images of
Chaldeans drawn with vermilion, with sashes girded about their
waists, flowing turbans on their heads, all looking like chariot
warriors, the portraits of Babylonians, natives of Chaldea, she
lusted for them; no sooner had she set eyes on them than she sent
messengers to them in Chaldea. Then the Babylonians came to her,
to the love couch, and defiled her with their intercourse. As soon
as she was defiled by them, she became disgusted with them. [Taken
from EZEK
23:11-17]
For thus says the Lord GOD: I am now handing you
over to those whom you hate, to those who fill you with disgust.
They shall deal with you in hatred, seizing all that you have
worked for and leaving you stark naked, so that your indecent
nakedness is exposed. Your lewdness and harlotry have brought
these things upon you, because you played the harlot with the
nations by defiling yourself with their idols. Because you
followed in the path of your sister, I will hand you her cup. Thus
says the Lord GOD: The cup of your sister you shall drink, so wide
and deep, which holds so much, filled with destruction and grief,
a cup of dismay, the cup of your sister. [EZEK 23:28-33]
This, too, they did to me: they defiled my
sanctuary and desecrated my sabbaths. On the very day they slew
their children for their idols, they entered my sanctuary to
desecrate it. Thus they acted within my house. [Taken from EZEK
23:38-39]
Thus the word of the LORD came to me: Son of
man, they who live in the ruins on the land of Israel reason thus:
"Abraham, though but a single individual, received possession
of the land; we, therefore, being many, have as permanent
possession the land that has been given to us." Give them
this answer: Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat on the mountains, you
raise your eyes to your idols, you shed blood - yet you would keep
possession of the land? You rely on your sword, you do abominable
things, each one of you defiles his neighbor's wife - yet you would
keep possession of the land? Tell them this: Thus says the Lord
GOD: As I live, those who are in the ruins I swear shall fall by
the sword; those who are in the open field I have given to the
wild beasts for food; and those who are in fastnesses and in caves
shall die by the plague. I will make the land a desolate waste, so
that its proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains of
Israel shall be so desolate that no one will cross them. Thus they
shall know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolate
waste because of all the abominable things they have done. [EZEK
33:23-29]
Tell them: Thus speaks the Lord GOD: I will take
the Israelites from among the nations to which they have come, and
gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land. I
will make them one nation upon the land, in the mountains of
Israel, and there shall be one prince for them all. Never again
shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided
into two kingdoms. No longer shall they defile themselves with
their idols, their abominations, and all their transgressions. I
will deliver them from all their sins of apostasy, and cleanse
them so that they may be my people and I may be their God. My
servant David shall be prince over them, and there shall be one
shepherd for them all; they shall live by my statutes and
carefully observe my decrees. They shall live on the land which I
gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their fathers lived; they
shall live on it forever, they, and their children, and their
children's children, with my servant David their prince forever. I
will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an
everlasting covenant with them, and I will multiply them, and put
my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling shall be with them; I
will be their God, and they shall be my people. Thus the nations
shall know that it is I, the LORD, who make Israel holy, when my
sanctuary shall be set up among them forever. [EZEK 37:21-28]
But Daniel was resolved not to defile himself
with the king's food or wine; so he begged the chief chamberlain
to spare him this defilement. [Taken from DAN 1:8]
At the time appointed he shall come again to the
south, but this time it shall not be as before. When ships of the
Kittim confront him, he shall lose heart and retreat. Then he
shall direct his rage and energy against the holy covenant; those
who forsake it he shall once more single out. Armed forces shall
move at his command and defile the sanctuary stronghold [Taken
from DAN 11:29-31]
In their perversity they have sunk into
wickedness, and I am rejected by them all. I know Ephraim, and
Israel is not hidden from me; Now Ephraim has played the harlot,
Israel is defiled. Their deeds do not allow them to return to
their God; For the spirit of harlotry is in them, and they do not
recognize the LORD. The arrogance of Israel bears witness against
him; Ephraim stumbles in his guilt, and Judah stumbles with them. [HOSEA
5:2-5]
In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible
thing: there harlotry is found in Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
[HOSEA 6:10]
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from
Jerusalem and said, "Why do your disciples break the
tradition of the elders? They do not wash (their) hands when they
eat a meal." He said to them in reply, "And why do you
break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For
God said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Whoever curses
father or mother shall die.' But you say, 'Whoever says to father
or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is
dedicated to God," need not honor his father.' You have
nullified the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said: 'This
people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from
me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human
precepts.'" He summoned the crowd and said to them,
"Hear and understand. It is not what enters one's mouth that
defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what
defiles one." Then his disciples approached and said to him,
"Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard
what you said?" He said in reply, "Every plant that my
heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone;
they are blind guides (of the blind). If a blind person leads a
blind person, both will fall into a pit." Then Peter said to
him in reply, "Explain (this) parable to us." He said to
them, "Are even you still without understanding? Do you not
realize that everything that enters the mouth passes into the
stomach and is expelled into the latrine? But the things that come
out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. For from
the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft,
false witness, blasphemy. These are what defile a person, but to
eat with unwashed hands does not defile." [MT 15:1-20]
Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had
come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they observed that some
of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed,
hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat
without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of
the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat
without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that
they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and
jugs and kettles (and beds).) So the Pharisees and scribes
questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the
tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean
hands?" He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about
you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors me with
their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they
worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.' You disregard
God's commandment but cling to human tradition." He went on
to say, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God
in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, 'Honor your
father and your mother,' and 'Whoever curses father or mother
shall die.' Yet you say, 'If a person says to father or mother,
"Any support you might have had from me is qorban"'
(meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for
his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your
tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such
things." He summoned the crowd again and said to them,
"Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one
from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out
from within are what defile." When he got home away from
the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said
to them, "Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you
not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside
cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and
passes out into the latrine?" (Thus he declared all foods
clean.) "But what comes out of a person, that is what
defiles. From within people, from their hearts, come evil
thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice,
deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All
these evils come from within and they defile." [MK 7:1-23]
Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the
praetorium. It was morning. And they themselves did not enter the
praetorium, in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the
Passover. So Pilate came out to them and said, "What charge
do you bring (against) this man?" They answered and said to
him, "If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him
over to you." At this, Pilate said to them, "Take him
yourselves, and judge him according to your law." The Jews
answered him, "We do not have the right to execute
anyone," in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled
that he said indicating the kind of death he would die. [JN 18:28-32]
When the seven days were nearly completed, the
Jews from the province of Asia noticed him in the temple, stirred
up the whole crowd, and laid hands on him, shouting, "Fellow
Israelites, help us. This is the man who is teaching everyone
everywhere against the people and the law and this place, and what
is more, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and defiled
this sacred place." For they had previously seen Trophimus
the Ephesian in the city with him and supposed that Paul had
brought him into the temple. The whole city was in turmoil with
people rushing together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of
the temple, and immediately the gates were closed. While they were
trying to kill him, a report reached the cohort commander that all
Jerusalem was rioting. [Taken from ACTS 21:27-31]
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us
cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit,
making holiness perfect in the fear of God. [2COR 7:1]
To the clean all things are clean, but to those
who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean; in fact, both
their minds and their consciences are tainted. They claim to know
God, but by their deeds they deny him. They are vile and
disobedient and unqualified for any good deed. [TI 1:15-16]
See to it that no one be deprived of the grace
of God, that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble, through
which many may become defiled, that no one be an immoral or
profane person like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single
meal. For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit his
father's blessing, he was rejected because he found no opportunity
to change his mind, even though he sought the blessing with tears.
[HEB 12:15-17]
In the same way the tongue is a small member and
yet has great pretensions. Consider how small a fire can set a
huge forest ablaze. The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our
members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting
the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by
Gehenna. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea
creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species,
but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil,
full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and
with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God.
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. This need not be
so, my brothers. Does a spring gush forth from the same opening
both pure and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce
olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can salt water yield fresh. [JMS
3:5-12]
Thinking daytime revelry a delight, they are
stains and defilements as they revel in their deceits while
carousing with you. Their eyes are full of adultery and insatiable
for sin. They seduce unstable people, and their hearts are trained
in greed. Accursed children! Abandoning the straight road, they
have gone astray, following the road of Balaam, the son of Bosor,
who loved payment for wrongdoing, but he received a rebuke for his
own crime: a mute beast spoke with a human voice and restrained
the prophet's madness. These people are waterless springs and
mists driven by a gale; for them the gloom of darkness has been
reserved. For, talking empty bombast, they seduce with licentious
desires of the flesh those who have barely escaped from people who
live in error. They promise them freedom, though they themselves
are slaves of corruption, for a person is a slave of whatever
overcomes him. For if they, having escaped the defilements of the
world through the knowledge of (our) Lord and savior Jesus Christ,
again become entangled and overcome by them, their last condition
is worse than their first. For it would have been better for them
not to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it
to turn back from the holy commandment handed down to them. What
is expressed in the true proverb has happened to them, "The
dog returns to its own vomit," and "A bathed sow returns
to wallowing in the mire." [Taken from 2PT 2:13-22]
Beloved, although I was making every effort to
write to you about our common salvation, I now feel a need to
write to encourage you to contend for the faith that was once for
all handed down to the holy ones. For there have been some
intruders, who long ago were designated for this condemnation,
godless persons, who pervert the grace of our God into
licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus
Christ. I wish to remind you, although you know all things, that
(the) Lord who once saved a people from the land of Egypt later
destroyed those who did not believe. The angels too, who did not
keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he
has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgment of the
great day. Likewise, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding towns,
which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity
and practiced unnatural vice, serve as an example by undergoing a
punishment of eternal fire. Similarly, these dreamers nevertheless
also defile the flesh, scorn lordship, and revile glorious beings.
[Taken from JUDE 1:3-8]
Then I looked and there was the Lamb standing on
Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had
his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. I heard
a sound from heaven like the sound of rushing water or a loud peal
of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing
their harps. They were singing (what seemed to be) a new hymn
before the throne, before the four living creatures and the
elders. No one could learn this hymn except the hundred and
forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from the earth. These
are they who were not defiled with women; they are virgins and
these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have
been ransomed as the firstfruits of the human race for God and the
Lamb. On their lips no deceit has been found; they are unblemished.
[RV 14:1-5]
Also try:
profane
[P16]
sin
/ sins / sinned / sinful / sinner [S18a]
pure
/ purify / purity [P23]
celibacy
/ chastity / chaste / virgin [C1]
heresy
/ apostasy
[H12a]
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