< Ezekiel 23 >
1 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 'Son of man,
2 Son of man, there were two women, daughters of one mother.
Two women were daughters of one mother,
3 And they committed whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there were handled the teats of their virginity.
And they go a-whoring in Egypt, In their youth they have gone a-whoring, There they have bruised their breasts, And there they have dealt with the loves of their virginity.
4 And their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister; and they were mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.
And their names [are] Aholah the elder, And Aholibah her sister, And they are Mine, and bear sons and daughters. As to their names — Samaria [is] Aholah, And Jerusalem [is] Aholibah.
5 And Oholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians [her] neighbours,
And go a-whoring doth Aholah under Me, And she doteth on her lovers, On the neighbouring Assyrians,
6 clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them attractive young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
Clothed with blue — governors and prefects, Desirable young men all of them, Horsemen, riding on horses,
7 And she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, all of them the choice of the children of Asshur; and with all after whom she lusted, with all their idols she defiled herself.
And she giveth her whoredoms on them, The choice of the sons of Asshur, All of them — even all on whom she doted, By all their idols she hath been defiled.
8 Neither left she her whoredoms [brought] from Egypt; for in her youth they had lain with her, and had handled the breasts of her virginity, and poured their fornication upon her.
And her whoredoms out of Egypt she hath not forsaken, For with her they lay in her youth, And they dealt with the loves of her virginity, And they pour out their whoredoms on her.
9 Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the children of Asshur, after whom she lusted.
Therefore I have given her into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of sons of Asshur on whom she doted.
10 These discovered her nakedness, they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword; and she became a name among women; and they executed judgment upon her.
They have uncovered her nakedness, Her sons and her daughters they have taken, And her by sword they have slain, And she is a name for women, And judgments they have done with her.
11 And her sister Oholibah saw [this], and was more corrupt in her passion than she, and in her fornications more than the whoredoms of her sister.
And see doth her sister Aholibah, And she maketh her doting love more corrupt than she, And her whoredoms than the whoredoms of her sister.
12 She lusted after the children of Asshur [her] neighbours, governors and rulers, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them attractive young men.
On sons of Asshur she hath doted, Governors and prefects, Neighbouring ones — clothed in perfection, Horsemen, riding on horses, Desirable young men all of them.
13 And I saw that she was defiled: both took one way.
And I see that she hath been defiled, One way [is] to them both.
14 And she increased her fornications; for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,
And she doth add unto her whoredoms, And she seeth graved men on the wall, Pictures of Chaldeans, graved with red lead,
15 girded with girdles upon their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them captains in appearance, [after] the likeness of the children of Babylon, of Chaldea, the land of their nativity.
Girded with a girdle on their loins, Dyed attire spread out on their heads, The appearance of rulers — all of them, The likeness of sons of Babylon, Chaldea is the land of their birth.
16 And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she lusted after them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
And she doteth on them at the sight of her eyes, And sendeth messengers to them, to Chaldea.
17 And the children of Babylon came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their fornication; she too defiled herself with them, and her soul was alienated from them.
And come in unto her do sons of Babylon, To the bed of loves, And they defile her with their whoredoms, And she is defiled with them, And her soul is alienated from them.
18 And she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness; and my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.
And she revealeth her whoredoms, And she revealeth her nakedness, And alienated is My soul from off her, As alienated was My soul from off her sister.
19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she played the harlot in the land of Egypt;
And she multiplieth her whoredoms, To remember the days of her youth, When she went a-whoring in the land of Egypt.
20 and she lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is [as] the flesh of asses, and whose issue is [as] the issue of horses.
And she doteth on their paramours, Whose flesh [is] the flesh of asses, And the issue of horses — their issue.
21 And thou didst look back to the lewdness of thy youth, in the handling of thy teats by the Egyptians, for the breasts of thy youth.
Thou lookest after the wickedness of thy youth, In dealing out of Egypt thy loves, For the sake of the breasts of thy youth.
22 Therefore, Oholibah, thus saith 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.
Therefore, O Aholibah, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am stirring up thy lovers against thee, From whom thy soul hath been alienated, And have brought them in against thee from round about.
23 The children of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, all the children of Asshur with them; all of them attractive young men, governors and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.
Sons of Babylon, and of all Chaldea, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, All the sons of Asshur with them, Desirable young men, governors and prefects, All of them — rulers and proclaimed ones, Riding on horses, all of them.
24 And they shall come against thee [with] armour, chariots and wheels, and with an assemblage of peoples; they shall set themselves against thee [with] target, and shield, and helmet round about; and I will put judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
And they have come in against thee, With arms, rider, and wheel, And with an assembly of peoples; Target, and shield, and helmet, They do set against thee round about, And I have set before them judgment, They have judged thee in their Judgments.
25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall cut off thy nose and thine ears, and thy remnant shall fall by the sword; they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
And I have set My jealousy against thee, And they have dealt with thee in fury, Thy nose and thine ears they turn aside, And thy posterity by sword falleth, They, thy sons and thy daughters do take away, And thy posterity is devoured by fire.
26 They shall also strip the of thy garments, and take away thy fair jewels.
And they have stripped thee of thy garments, And have taken thy beauteous jewels.
27 And I will make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom [brought] from the land of Egypt; and thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.
And I have caused thy wickedness to cease from thee, And thy whoredoms out of the land of Egypt, And thou liftest not up thine eyes unto them, And Egypt thou dost not remember again.
28 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will give thee over into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy soul is alienated.
For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am giving thee into a hand that thou hast hated, Into a hand from which thou wast alienated.
29 And they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare; so that the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy fornications.
And they have dealt with thee in hatred, And they have taken all thy labour, And they have left thee naked and bare, And revealed hath been the nakedness of thy whoredoms, And the wickedness of thy whoredoms.
30 These things shall be done unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the nations, because thou hast defiled thyself with their idols.
To do these things to thee, In thy going a-whoring after nations, Because thou hast been defiled with their idols,
31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; and I have given her cup into thy hand.
In the way of thy sister thou hast walked, And I have given her cup into thy hand.
32 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large; thou shalt be for a laughing-stock and a derision, [for] it containeth much.
Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The cup of thy sister thou dost drink, The deep and the wide one, (Thou art for laughter and for scorn, ) Abundant to contain.
33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, the cup of thy sister Samaria;
With drunkenness and sorrow thou art filled, A cup of astonishment and desolation, The cup of thy sister Samaria.
34 thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt gnaw the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord Jehovah.
And thou hast drunk it, and hast drained [it], And its earthen ware thou dost gnaw, And thine own breasts thou pluckest off, For I have spoken, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah,
35 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy fornications.
Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten Me, And thou dost cast Me behind thy back, Even thou also bear thy wickedness and thy whoredoms.'
36 And Jehovah said unto me, Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations.
And Jehovah saith unto me, 'Son of man, Dost thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? Declare then to them their abominations.
37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also passed over unto them their children, whom they bore unto me, to be devoured.
For they have committed adultery, And blood [is] in their hands, With their idols they committed adultery, And also their sons whom they bore to Me, They caused to pass over to them for food.
38 Moreover this have they done unto me: in the same day have they defiled my sanctuary and profaned my sabbaths.
Again, this they have done to Me, They defiled My sanctuary in that day, And My sabbaths they have polluted.
39 For when they had slaughtered their children unto their idols, they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and behold, thus have they done in the midst of my house.
And in their slaughtering their sons to their idols They also come in unto My sanctuary in that day to pollute it, And lo, thus they have done in the midst of My house,
40 And furthermore, they sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thine eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments;
And also that they send to men coming from afar, Unto whom a messenger is sent, And lo, they have come in for whom thou hast washed, Painted thine eyes, and put on adornment.
41 and satest upon a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hadst set mine incense and mine oil.
And thou hast sat on a couch of honour, And a table arrayed before it, And My perfume and My oil placed on it.
42 And the voice of a multitude living carelessly was with her; and with people of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, and they put bracelets upon their hands, and a beautiful crown upon their heads.
And the voice of a multitude at ease [is] with her, And unto men of the common people are brought in Sabeans from the wilderness, And they put bracelets on their hands, And a beauteous crown on their heads.
43 And I said of her that was old in adulteries, Will she now commit her fornications, even she.
And I say of the worn-out one in adulteries, Now they commit her whoredoms — she also!
44 And they went in unto her, as they go in unto a whorish woman: so went they in unto Oholah and unto Oholibah the lewd women.
And they come in unto her, As the coming in unto a whorish woman, So they have come in unto Aholah, And unto Aholibah — the wicked women.
45 And righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women that shed blood; for they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
As to righteous men, they judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, And the judgment of women shedding blood, For they [are] adulteresses, And blood [is] in their hands.
46 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will bring up an assemblage against them, and will give them to be driven hither and thither and spoiled.
For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Bring up against them an assembly, And give them to trembling and to spoiling.
47 And the assemblage shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with their swords; they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire.
And they have cast at them the stone of the assembly, And cut them with their swords, Their sons and their daughters they do slay, And their houses with fire they burn.
48 And I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land, and all women shall receive instruction and shall not do according to your lewdness.
And I have caused wickedness to cease from the land, And instructed have been all the women, And they do not according to your wickedness.
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.
And they have put your wickedness on you, And the sins of your idols ye bear, And ye have known that I [am] the Lord Jehovah!