< Ezekiel 23 >

1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:
And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, “Son of man,
2 'Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;
Two women were daughters of one mother,
3 and they committed harlotries in Egypt; they committed harlotries in their youth; there were their bosoms pressed, and there their virgin breasts were bruised.
And they go whoring in Egypt, They have gone whoring in their youth, There they have bruised their breasts, And there they have dealt with the loves of their virginity.
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.
And their names [are] Aholah the older, And Aholibah her sister, And they are Mine, and bear sons and daughters. As for their names—Samaria [is] Aholah, And Jerusalem [is] Aholibah.
5 And Oholah played the harlot when she was Mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians, warriors,
And Aholah goes whoring under Me, and she lusts on her lovers, on the neighboring Assyrians,
6 clothed with blue, governors and rulers, handsome young men all of them, horsemen riding upon horses.
Clothed with blue—governors and prefects, All of them desirable young men, Horsemen, riding on horses,
7 And she bestowed her harlotries upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whomsoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.
And she gives her whoredoms on them, The choice of the sons of Asshur, All of them—even all on whom she lusted, She has been defiled by all their idols.
8 Neither hath she left her harlotries brought from Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised her virgin breasts; and they poured out their lust upon her.
And she has not forsaken her whoredoms out of Egypt, 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 Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
Therefore I have given her into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of sons of Asshur on whom she lusted.
10 These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and her they slew with the sword; and she became a byword among women, for judgments were executed upon her.
They have uncovered her nakedness, They have taken her sons and her daughters, And they have slain her by sword, And she is a name for women, And they have done judgments with her.
11 And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her harlotries more than her sister in her harlotries.
And her sister Aholibah sees, And she makes her unhealthy love more corrupt than she, And her whoredoms than the whoredoms of her sister.
12 She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and rulers, warriors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them handsome young men.
She has lusted on sons of Asshur, Governors and prefects, Neighboring ones—clothed in perfection, Horsemen, riding on horses, All of them desirable young men.
13 And I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way.
And I see that she has been defiled, One way [is] to them both.
14 And she increased her harlotries; for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,
And she adds to her whoredoms, And she sees men carved on the wall, Pictures of Chaldeans, carved with vermillion,
15 girded with girdles upon their loins, with pendant turbans upon their heads, all of them captains to look upon, the likeness of the sons of Babylon, even 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 she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
And she lusts on them at the sight of her eyes, And sends messengers to them, to Chaldea.
17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their lust; and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.
And sons of Babylon come in to her, 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 So she uncovered her harlotries, and uncovered her nakedness; then My soul was alienated from her, like as My soul was alienated from her sister.
And she reveals her whoredoms, And she reveals her nakedness, And My soul is alienated from off her, As My soul was alienated from off her sister.
19 Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
And she multiplies her whoredoms, To remember the days of her youth, When she went whoring in the land of Egypt.
20 And she doted upon concubinage with them, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
And she lusts on their lovers, Whose flesh [is] the flesh of donkeys, And the emission of horses—their emission.
21 Thus thou didst call to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, when they from Egypt bruised thy breasts for the bosom of thy youth.
You look after the wickedness of your youth, In dealing out of Egypt your loves, For the sake of the breasts of your youth.
22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD: 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 Lord YHWH: Behold, I am stirring up your lovers against you, From whom your soul has been alienated, And have brought them in against you from all around.
23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, governors and rulers all of them, captains and councillors, 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, All of them riding on horses.
24 And they shall come against thee with hosts, chariots, and wheels, and with an assembly of peoples; they shall set themselves in array against thee with buckler and shield and helmet round about; and I will commit the judgment unto them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
And they have come in against you, With arms, rider, and wheel, And with an assembly of peoples; Buckler, and shield, and helmet, They set against you all around, And I have set judgment before them, They have judged you in their judgments.
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.
And I have set My jealousy against you, And they have dealt with you in fury, They turn aside your nose and your ears, And your posterity falls by sword, They take away your sons and your daughters, And your posterity is devoured by fire.
26 They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
And they have stripped you of your garments, And have taken your beautiful jewels.
27 Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy harlotry brought from the land of Egypt, so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.
And I have caused your wickedness to cease from you, And your whoredoms out of the land of Egypt, And you do not lift up your eyes to them, And you do not remember Egypt again.
28 For thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy soul is alienated;
For thus said Lord YHWH: Behold, I am giving you into a hand that you have hated, Into a hand from which you were alienated.
29 and they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare; and the nakedness of thy harlotries shall be uncovered, both thy lewdness and thy harlotries.
And they have dealt with you in hatred, And they have taken all your labor, And they have left you naked and bare, And the nakedness of your whoredoms has been revealed, And the wickedness of your whoredoms.
30 These things shall be done unto thee, for that thou hast gone astray after the nations, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
To do these things to you, In your going whoring after nations, Because you have been defiled with their idols,
31 In the way of thy sister hast thou walked; therefore will I give her cup into thy hand.
You have walked in the way of your sister, And I have given her cup into your hand.
32 Thus saith the Lord GOD: Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup, which is deep and large; thou shalt be for a scorn and a derision; it is full to the uttermost.
Thus said Lord YHWH: You drink the cup of your sister, The deep and the wide one (You are for laughter and for scorn), Abundant to contain.
33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and appalment, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
You are filled with drunkenness and sorrow, A cup of astonishment and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.
34 Thou shalt even drink it and drain it, and thou shalt craunch the sherds thereof, and shalt tear thy breasts; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
And you have drunk it, and have drained [it], And you gnaw its earthen ware, And you pluck off your own breasts, For I have spoken, A declaration of Lord YHWH,
35 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because thou hast forgotten Me, and cast Me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy harlotries.'
Therefore, thus said Lord YHWH: Because you have forgotten Me, And you cast Me behind your back, Even you also bear your wickedness and your whoredoms.”
36 The LORD said moreover unto me: 'Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare unto them their abominations.
And YHWH says to me, “Son of man, Do you judge Aholah and Aholibah? Then declare their abominations to them.
37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery; and their sons, whom they bore unto Me, they have also set apart unto them to be devoured.
For they have committed adultery, And blood [is] in their hands, They committed adultery with their idols, And also their sons whom they bore to Me, They caused to pass over to them for food.
38 Moreover this they have done unto Me: they have defiled My sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned My sabbaths.
Again, they have done this to Me, They defiled My sanctuary in that day, And they have defiled My Sabbaths.
39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into My sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of My house.
And in their slaughtering their sons to their idols They also come into My sanctuary in that day to defile it, And behold, thus they have done in the midst of My house,
40 And furthermore ye have sent for men that come from far; unto whom a messenger was sent, and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paint thine eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments;
And also that they send to men coming from afar, To whom a messenger is sent, And behold, they have come in for whom you have washed, Painted your eyes, and put on adornment.
41 and sattest upon a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon thou didst set Mine incense and Mine oil.
And you have sat on a couch of honor, And a table arrayed before it, And placed My incense and My oil on it.
42 And the voice of a multitude being at ease was therein; and for the sake of men, they were so many, brought drunken from the wilderness, they put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
And the voice of a multitude at ease [is] with her, And Sabeans from the wilderness are brought in to men of the common people, And they put bracelets on their hands, And a beautiful crown on their heads.
43 Then said I of her that was worn out by adulteries: Still they commit harlotries with her, even her.
And I say of the worn-out one in adulteries, Now they commit her whoredoms—she also!
44 For every one went in unto her, as men go in unto a harlot; so went they in unto Oholah and unto Oholibah, the lewd women.
And they come in to her, As the coming in to a whorish woman, So they have come in to Aholah, And to Aholibah—the wicked women.
45 But righteous men, they shall judge them as adulteresses are judged, and as women that shed blood are judged; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
As for 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 GOD: An assembly shall be brought up against them, and they shall be made a horror and a spoil.
For thus said Lord YHWH: Bring up an assembly against them, And give them to trembling and to spoiling.
47 And the assembly shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
And they have cast the stone of the assembly at them, And cut them with their swords, They slay their sons and their daughters, And they burn their houses with fire.
48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
And I have caused wickedness to cease from the land, And all the women have been instructed, And they do not do according to your wickedness.
49 And your lewdness shall be recompensed upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.'
And they have put your wickedness on you, And you bear the sins of your idols, And you have known that I [am] Lord YHWH!”

< Ezekiel 23 >