Ezekiel 23
1 The word of Jehovah came again to me, saying,
A message from the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother.
“Son of man, there were once two women. They were daughters of the same mother.
3 And they played the harlot in Egypt. They played the harlot in their youth. There their breasts were pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity.
They became prostitutes in Egypt. In fact, they were prostitutes from the time they were young. They allowed their virgin breasts to be fondled and their nipples squeezed.
4 And the names of them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister. And they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.
The older girl was called Oholah, and her sister Oholibah. I married them both and they had sons and daughters. Oholah represents Samaria, and Oholibah represents Jerusalem.
5 And Oholah played the harlot when she was mine, and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors,
Oholah prostituted herself while she was still married to me. She wanted to have sex with her lovers, the Assyrians.
6 who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
They were soldiers dressed in blue, leaders and commanders, all of them handsome young men in the cavalry.
7 And she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them. And on whomever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.
She gave away herself sexually to all the important men of Assyria. She made herself unclean by her worship of all the idols of those men she wanted to have sex with.
8 Neither has she left her whoredoms since Egypt. For in her youth they lie with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity, and they poured out their whoredom upon her.
She didn't stop her prostitution that she started in Egypt—men sleeping with her when she was young, squeezing her virgin breasts and using her to satisfy their sexual appetite.
9 Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
So I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians she wanted to have sex with.
10 These uncovered her nakedness. They took her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. And she became a byword among women, for they executed judgments upon her.
They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became infamous among women, and they punished her.
11 And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her whoredoms which were more than the whoredoms of her sister.
Oholibah saw what happened to her sister, but she became even worse than her in her wanting sex and practicing prostitution.
12 She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
She also wanted to have sex with the Assyrians: their leaders and commanders, their splendidly-dressed soldiers—all of them handsome young men in the cavalry.
13 And I saw that she was defiled. They both took one way.
I saw that she had also made herself unclean—both sisters were doing the same thing.
14 And she increased her whoredoms, for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,
However, Oholibah's prostitution was even worse. She saw pictures of Babylonian soldiers wearing bright red uniforms painted on the wall.
15 girded with belts upon their loins, with flowing turbans upon their heads, all of them rulers to look upon, according to the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their nativity.
They were wearing belts on their waists and large turbans on their heads. They all looked like Babylonian officers in Chaldea, the country where they were born.
16 And as soon as she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea.
When she saw the paintings of them, she wanted to have sex with them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love. And they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.
The Babylonians came to her and her love bed, and made her unclean with their sexual desire. However, after she had been dishonored by them, she rejected them in disgust.
18 So she uncovered her whoredoms, and uncovered her nakedness. Then my soul was alienated from her, just as my soul was alienated from her sister.
When Oholibah so blatantly prostituted herself, exposing herself naked, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had done to her sister.
19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, remembering the days of her youth in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
But she practiced even more prostitution, remembering how she'd been a prostitute in Egypt when she was young.
20 And she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
She wanted to have sex with her lovers who had genitals like donkeys and who ejaculated like stallions.
21 Thus thou called to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in the handling of thy bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of thy youth.
You went back to the indecent acts when you were young, when the Egyptians squeezed your nipples and fondled your young breasts.
22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the lord Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy soul is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side:
So Oholibah, this is what the Lord God says: I'm going to encourage your lovers to attack you, those you rejected in disgust. I will bring them to attack you from every direction:
23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, rulers and men of renown, all of them riding upon horses.
the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians along with them—all handsome young men, leaders and commanders, chariot captains and important officers, all riding horses.
24 And they shall come against thee with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They shall set themselves against thee with buckler and shield and helmet round about. And I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
They will attack you from the north, invading with a great army, chariots, and wagons. They will come with their shields and helmets and surround you. I will hand you over to them for punishment, and they will judge and punish you following their own laws.
25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury. They shall take away thy nose and thine ears, and thy residue shall fall by the sword. They shall take thy sons and thy daughters, and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
I feel so strongly about what you've done that I will oppose you, and they will treat you very badly. They will cut off your noses and ears, and they will kill those of you who are left. They will take away your sons and daughters as prisoners, and those of you who are left will be destroyed by fire.
26 They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
They will tear off your clothes and take your beautiful jewelry.
27 Thus I will make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom from the land of Egypt, so that thou shall not lift up thine eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.
I'm going to put a stop to your immorality and prostitution, which started in Egypt. You won't think longingly about those times, and you'll forget all about Egypt.
28 For thus says the lord Jehovah: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of those whom thou hate, into the hand of those from whom thy soul is alienated.
For this is what the Lord God says: Believe it when I say that I'm going to hand you over to the people you hate, the ones you rejected in disgust.
29 And they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take away all thy labor, and shall leave thee naked and bare. And the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be uncovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
They will treat you with hatred. They will take away everything you've worked for, leaving you stark naked with nothing, so that so that the indecent acts of your prostitution will be exposed. Your immorality and prostitution
30 These things shall be done to thee, because thou have played the harlot after the nations, and because thou are polluted with their idols.
is why all this has happened to you, because you acted as a prostitute with the nations and made yourself unclean by worshiping their idols.
31 Thou have walked in the way of thy sister, therefore I will give her cup into thy hand.
Because you did what your sister did, I will give you her cup to drink.
32 Thus says the lord Jehovah: Thou shall drink of thy sister's cup, which is deep and large. Thou shall be laughed to scorn and had in derision. It contains much.
This is what the Lord God says: You will drink from your sister's cup—a large, deep cup. You will be laughed at and insulted. You'll have to endure much of this.
33 Thou shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
It will make you drunk and full of grief because it's a cup of that brings horror and destruction, the cup your sister Samaria drank from.
34 Thou shall even drink it and drain it out. And thou shall gnaw the shards of it, and shall tear thy breasts, for I have spoken it, says the lord Jehovah.
You will drink it all down, smash it to pieces on the ground, and tear at your breasts. This is what I have spoken, declares the Lord God.
35 Therefore thus says the lord Jehovah: Because thou have forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore thou also bear thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
In summary this is what the Lord God says: Because you have forgotten about me and have ignored me, you will have to experience the consequences of your immorality and prostitution.”
36 Jehovah said moreover to me, Son of man, will thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
Then the Lord said to me: “Son of man, are you going to condemn Oholah and Oholibah? Expose the disgusting things they've done!
37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands. And with their idols they have committed adultery. And they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire for them to be devoured.
For they have committed adultery, and they are guilty of murder. They have committed adultery with their idols, and have even offered their children, whom they had for me, as sacrifices to their idols.
38 Moreover they have done this to me: They have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
They also did this to me: On the very same day they both made my sanctuary unclean and violated my Sabbaths.
39 For when they had slain their sons to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it, and, lo, thus they have done in the midst of my house.
On very day that they killed their children for their idols, they went my sanctuary and made it unclean. Look at what they did right inside my Temple!
40 And furthermore ye have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent. And, lo, they came, for whom thou washed thyself, painted thine eyes, and decked thyself with ornaments,
They even kept on sending messengers for men to come from far away. When the men arrived, you would get yourselves ready for them by bathing, doing your eye makeup, and putting in your jewelry.
41 and sat upon a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon thou did set my incense and my oil.
You sat on an expensive couch, with my incense and my oil on a table placed in front of it.
42 And the voice of a multitude being at ease was with her. And with men of the common sort, were brought drunkards from the wilderness, and they put bracelets upon the hands of those two women, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
The room was full of the noise of people partying. Drunk men were brought in from the desert along with some common people and they put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your head.
43 Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, Now they will play the harlot with her, and she with them.
Then I said about the old worn-out woman, ‘Now they can have her as a prostitute because that's what she is!’
44 And they went in to her, as they go in to a harlot. So they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.
So they had sex with her like a prostitute. They had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, those immoral women.
45 And righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.
But men who believe in what's right will judge them and impose the punishment for committing commit adultery and murder, because they are adulterers and murderers.
46 For thus says the lord Jehovah: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed to and fro and robbed.
This is what the Lord God says: Have a mob attack them! Make them terrified and rob them.
47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
The mob will stone them and kill them with their swords, slaughtering their sons and daughters and burning down their houses.
48 Thus I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do according to your lewdness.
This is how I will put an end to immorality in the country, and all the women will be warned not to do what you have done.
49 And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols. And ye shall know that I am the lord Jehovah.
They will punish you for your immorality, and you will have to experience the consequences of your idol worship. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.”
