Ezekiel 23

1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

Yahweh said to me,

2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;

“You human, [listen to this parable about Jerusalem and Samaria]. Once there were two women, daughters of the same mother.

3 And they played the harlot in Egypt; in their youth they played the harlot: there were their breasts pressed, and there they suffered their virgin bosoms to be touched.

They lived in Egypt. And from the time that they were young women, they became prostitutes. In that land, [men] fondled their breasts and caressed their bosoms [DOU].

4 And their names were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister; but they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters: and their names are, Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem, Aholibah.

The older [sister] was Oholah, and her [younger] sister was Oholibah. [It was as though] they became my [wives. Later] they gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah represents Samaria, and Oholibah represents Jerusalem.

5 And Aholah played the harlot while she was mine; and she longed for her lovers, for the Assyrians that were near [her],

Oholah acted like a prostitute while she was [still] my wife. She desired to have sex with those she loved—soldiers from Assyria.

6 Clothed [as they were] in blue, governors, and rulers, attractive youths all of them, horsemen riding upon horses.

[Some of them] were army officers and commanders. They wore [beautiful] blue [uniforms. They were] all handsome young men. Some of them rode horses.

7 Thus she played the harlot with them, all of them the chosen ones of the sons of Asshur: and with all for whom she longed, —with all their idols did she defile herself.

She acted like a prostitute toward all the important Assyrian officials, and became unacceptable to me by worshiping all the idols of the men she wanted to have sex with.

8 But also her lewdness from Egypt forsook she not; for they had lain with her in her youth, and they had touched her virgin bosom, and had lavished their lewd caresses on her.

When she was a young woman in Egypt, she started being a prostitute, and [young] men caressed her breasts and had sex with her; and when she became older, she did not quit acting like a prostitute.

9 Therefore did I give her up into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Asshur, after whom she longed.

So I allowed the Assyrian soldiers, whom she wanted to have sex with, to capture her.

10 These were they that laid open her nakedness; her sons and her daughters did they take away, and her they slew with the sword: and she became infamous among women, when they inflicted the decreed punishments on her.

They stripped all her clothes off her. They took away her sons and daughters. And then they killed her with a sword. [Other] women started talking about what had happened to her, about how she had been punished.

11 And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her longing than she, and in her lewd acts more than her sister's lewdness.

[younger] sister Oholibah saw those [that happened to Oholah], but she was a prostitute, and she desired to have sex with men more than [older] sister had desired.

12 For the sons of Asshur did she long, the governors and rulers that were near, clothed as they were most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, attractive youths all of them.

Oholibah [also] wanted to have sex with the Assyrian soldiers. [Some of them were] army officers and commanders. [They all] wore beautiful blue uniforms. They were all handsome young men. [Some of] them rode horses.

13 Then saw I that she was defiled, that they followed both one way.

I saw what she did that caused her to became unacceptable to me, just like [older] sister.

14 But she added still more to her acts of lewdness; for when she saw men engraved upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with color,

But she did [even] worse things. She saw drawings of men from Babylonia on the walls, painted in red.

15 Bound with girdles on their loins, with hanging down colored turbans on their heads, in appearance like commanders, all of them, in the likeness of the sons of Babylon of the Chaldeans, the land of their birth:

The [in the drawings] had belts around their waists and long turbans on their heads. They all resembled officers from Babylonia [DOU] [who rode in chariots].

16 Then did she long for them as soon as she saw them with her eyes, and she sent messengers unto them to Chaldea.

As soon as she saw those drawings, she wanted to have sex with those men, and she sent messages to them in Babylonia.

17 And the sons of Babylon came to her unto the couch of love, and they defiled her with their lewd caresses; and [yet] when she had been defiled with them, she tore her soul away from them.

Then the soldiers from Babylonia came to her, they lay in bed with her, and they had sex with her. Then she became disgusted with them and turned away from them.

18 And when she had laid open her lewdness, and had uncovered her nakedness: then my soul tore itself away from her, as my soul had torn itself away from her sister.

But when she continued to openly/boldly act like a prostitute [DOU], I became disgusted with her, and I rejected her like I had rejected [older] sister.

19 Yet she multiplied her deeds of lewdness, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, when she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

But she became even more immoral, as she remembered when she was a young woman who was a prostitute in Egypt.

20 And she longed for her paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose lustfulness is like the lustfulness of horses.

There she wanted to have sex with those who loved her, whose genitals were [very long], like [SIM] those of donkeys, and whose sexual emissions were huge, [like] those of horses.

21 And thou calledst to mind the incest of thy youth, when thy bosom was touched by the Egyptians for the sake of thy youthful breasts.

So she desired to be immoral like she was when she was young, when men in Egypt caressed her bosom and fondled her breasts.”

22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Behold, I will wake up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy soul hath torn itself away, and I will bring them against thee from every side;

“[represents you people of Jerusalem]. Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord say: ‘I will cause those [soldiers] who loved you but whom you turned away from because you became disgusted with them, to be angry with you. I will cause them to come and attack you from every side—

23 The sons of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa and Koa, and all the sons of Asshur with them, attractive youths, governors and rulers all of them, commanders and chiefs, riding upon horses all of them.

soldiers from Babylon and all the other places in Babylonia, [their allies] from Pekod and Shoa and [regions], and all the army of Assyria. [Yes], all of them are handsome young men, army officers and commanders, officers who ride in chariots, all riding on horses.

24 And they shall come over thee with weapons, chariots, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, buckler and shield and helmet shall they set up against thee round about: and I will give up before them the right to judge, and they shall judge thee according to their ordinances.

Their huge army will attack you with weapons, riding in chariots and pulling wagons [that will carry their army supplies]. They will surround you, carrying large and small shields, and wearing helmets. I will allow them to capture you and punish you in the way that they [always] [their enemies].

25 And I will set my zealousness against thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury; thy nose and thy ears shall they cut off; and what is left of thee shall fall by the sword: thy sons and thy daughters shall they take away; and what is left of thee shall be devoured by the fire.

Because I am very angry with you, I will cause them to act [very] furiously toward you. They will cut off your noses and your ears. Then, those who are still alive, they will kill with their swords. They will take away your sons and daughters, and a fire will burn up those who remain alive.

26 And they shall strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy ornamental attire.

They will strip off your clothes and your fine jewelry and take them away.

27 Thus will I make thy incest to cease from thee, and thy lewdness brought from the land of Egypt: and thou shalt not lift up thy eyes unto them, and Egypt shalt thou not remember any more.

In that way, I will stop all the immoral behavior that began when you became a prostitute in Egypt. You will no longer desire to do those things, or think [what you did in] Egypt.’

28 For thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Behold, I will give thee up into the hand of those whom thou hatest, into the hand of those from whom thy soul hath torn itself away;

This is what [I], Yahweh the Lord say: ‘I am about to allow those whom you hate, those you became disgusted with and turned away from, to capture you.

29 And they shall deal with thee in hate, and shall take away all [things acquired by] thy labor, and they shall leave thee naked and bare: and thus shall be uncovered the nakedness of thy lewdness, and thy incest and thy lewd deeds.

They will be cruel and take away everything that you have worked hard to acquire. They will leave you completely naked [DOU], and everyone will see that you truly are a prostitute.

30 I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone with vile lust after the nations, because thou hast defiled thyself with their idols.

It is because of what you have done that you will be punished like that; you have been an immoral prostitute; you have had sex with men of other nations, and you have caused yourselves to become unacceptable to me [worshiping] their idols.

31 On the way of thy sister hast thou walked; therefore will I place her cup into thy hand.

You have behaved [the people of Samaria, who are like] your [older] sister. So I will cause you to be punished [MET] like they were punished.’

32 Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, The cup of thy sister shalt thou drink, the deep and wide one: thou shalt become to be laughed to scorn and to be held in derision, more than thou canst bear.

This is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘[You will suffer like people suffer when they drink from a cup a lot of strong alcoholic drink]: [It will be as though] you will drink from the cup that the people of Samaria drank from; a big and tall cup. Because of your drinking what is in that cup, many people will scorn you and make fun of you because there is a lot of liquid in that cup.

33 With drunkenness and sorrow shalt thou be filled, [out of] the cup of astonishment and confusion, the cup of thy sister Samaria.

When you become very drunk, you will become very sad, [drinking what is in] that cup [MTY] will cause you to become ruined and deserted, like what happened [MET] to [the people of] Samaria, [who are like] [MET] your sister.

34 Thou shalt even drink it and drain it out, and thou shalt break in pieces its fragments, and tear thy own breasts; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Eternal.

You will drink all the liquid that is in that cup; then you will break that cup into pieces [use those pieces to] gash/cut your [because you will be very sad].’ [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it.

35 Therefore thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back: therefore bear thou also thy incest and thy acts of lewdness.

Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘Because you have forgotten me and rejected me [IDM], you must be punished for your immoral behavior and for [like] a prostitute.’”

36 The Lord said moreover unto me, Son of man, wilt thou call Aholah and Aholibah to account? then tell them of their abominations;

Yahweh said to me, “You human, you must [RHQ] [the people of those two cities represented by] Oholah and Oholibah. You must remind them of their detestable behavior:

37 That they have committed adultery, and there is blood on their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and also their sons whom they had born unto me have they caused to pass for them through [the fire], to devour them.

[It is as though the people of those cities] have committed adultery and have murdered [MTY] people. They have been unfaithful to me by [worshiping] idols. They have even sacrificed their own children, who belonged to me, to be food for their idols.

38 Moreover this have they done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day, and my sabbaths have they profaned.

They have done [disgraceful things]: They have caused my temple to be an unacceptable place for worship, and have not respected the Sabbath days.

39 And when they had slain their children to their idols, then came they into my sanctuary on the same day to profane it: and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of my house.

On the same day that they sacrificed their children to their idols, they entered my temple, which caused it to be an unacceptable place for worshiping me.

40 And farthermore yet, because they sent for men who were to come from afar, unto whom messengers were sent; and, lo, they came, for whom thou didst bathe thyself, paint thy eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments;

They sent messages to men [in countries] far away. And when those men arrived, [the women of those two cities] bathed themselves for them, painted their eyebrows, and put on jewelry.

41 And thou didst sit upon a stately bed, with a table spread before it, and my incense and my oil didst thou set upon it.

They sat on a beautiful couch, with a table in front of it on which they had put incense and [olive] oil that belonged to me.

42 And the shout of a peaceful joyous multitude was [heard] within her; and with the men of the masses of the common people were brought Sabeans from the wilderness; and these women placed bracelets on their hands, and crowns of glory upon their heads.

Soon there was a noisy crowd around them. Among the crowd there were men from Sheba who had come from the [of Arabia]. They put bracelets on the arms of the [two] sisters and put beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 Then thought I of her that was worn out in adulteries, Will they now [still] commit lewdness with her, when she [is thus]?

Then I said about the woman who had become exhausted by her having sex with many men, ‘Now allow those men to act toward her as though she is a prostitute, because that is all that she is.’

44 But men went in unto her, as they go in unto a faithless wife: thus went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the incestuous women.

So they had sex [EUP] with those two women, Oholah and Oholibah, like men have sex with prostitutes.

45 Righteous men, however—these shall judge them as adulteresses are judged, and as women that shed blood are judged; because adulteresses are they, and blood is on their hands.

But righteous men will condemn them to be punished, like women who commit adultery and who murder others are punished, because those women commit adultery and they murder [MTY] others.

46 For thus hath said the Lord Eternal, I will bring up against them an assemblage of men, and I will give them up to ill-usage and plunder.

So this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: Bring a mob to attack Samaria and Jerusalem, and allow that mob to cause the people of those cities to be terrified, and to rob them.

47 And the assemblage shall stone them with stones, and cut them down with their swords: their sons and their daughters shall they slay, and their houses shall they burn with fire.

The mob will throw stones at [to kill them]; they will cut them into pieces with their swords, they will kill their sons and daughters, and burn down their houses.

48 Thus will I cause incest to cease out of the land, that all women may be warned by example, and not do after your incestuous course.

In that way I will cause them to stop their immoral behavior. It will warn other women to not imitate/do what you people of Jerusalem are doing.

49 And they shall lay your incest upon you, and the sins of your idols shall ye bear: and ye shall know that I am the Lord Eternal.

[people of Jerusalem] will be punished for your immoral behavior and for your worshiping idols. Then you will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].”