and sat on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set my incense and my oil.
Parallel translations
- KJV And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.
- BSB You sat on a couch of luxury with a table spread before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil,
- NKJV You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil.
- NASB and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged in front of it on which you had set My incense and My oil.
- NLT You sat with them on a beautifully embroidered couch and put my incense and my special oil on a table that was spread before you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
She reclined on a luxurious bed with God's own incense and oil set out for her idolatrous guests. It shows the sacrilege of using holy things in the service of sin.
Overview
Judah is pictured enthroned on a 'stately bed' with a prepared table, having taken 'my incense and my oil', items meant for the worship of Yahweh, and offered them to her false lovers. The desecration of what was consecrated to God deepens the offense. Misappropriating God's gifts for self-indulgent idolatry remains a perennial temptation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Esth 1:6There were hangings of white, green, and blue material, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and marble pillars. The couches were of gold and silver, on a pavement of red, white, yellow, and black marble.
- Isa 65:11“But you who forsake Yahweh, who forget my holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who fill up mixed wine to Destiny;
- Jer 44:17But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.
- Ezek 44:16they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my instruction.
- Amos 6:4Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the middle of the stall;
- Isa 57:7On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed. You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
- Amos 2:8and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
- Ezek 16:18–19You took your embroidered garments, covered them, and set my oil and my incense before them.
- Mal 1:7You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ In that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is contemptible.’
- Hos 2:8–9For she did not know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.
- Prov 7:16–17I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry, with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 23:41 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.