< Ezekiel 23 >

1 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, “Son of man,
The word of Jehovah came again to me, saying,
2 Two women were daughters of one mother,
Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother.
3 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.
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.
4 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.
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.
5 And Aholah goes whoring under Me, and she lusts on her lovers, on the neighboring Assyrians,
And Oholah played the harlot when she was mine, and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors,
6 Clothed with blue—governors and prefects, All of them desirable young men, Horsemen, riding on horses,
who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
7 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.
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.
8 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.
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.
9 Therefore I have given her into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of sons of Asshur on whom she lusted.
Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
10 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.
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.
11 And her sister Aholibah sees, And she makes her unhealthy love more corrupt than she, And her whoredoms than the whoredoms of her sister.
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.
12 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.
She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
13 And I see that she has been defiled, One way [is] to them both.
And I saw that she was defiled. They both took one way.
14 And she adds to her whoredoms, And she sees men carved on the wall, Pictures of Chaldeans, carved with vermillion,
And she increased her whoredoms, for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,
15 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.
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.
16 And she lusts on them at the sight of her eyes, And sends messengers to them, to Chaldea.
And as soon as she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea.
17 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.
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.
18 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.
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.
19 And she multiplies her whoredoms, To remember the days of her youth, When she went whoring in the land of Egypt.
Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, remembering the days of her youth in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 And she lusts on their lovers, Whose flesh [is] the flesh of donkeys, And the emission of horses—their emission.
And she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
21 You look after the wickedness of your youth, In dealing out of Egypt your loves, For the sake of the breasts of your youth.
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.
22 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.
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:
23 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.
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.
24 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.
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.
25 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.
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.
26 And they have stripped you of your garments, And have taken your beautiful jewels.
They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
27 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.
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.
28 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.
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.
29 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.
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.
30 To do these things to you, In your going whoring after nations, Because you have been defiled with their idols,
These things shall be done to thee, because thou have played the harlot after the nations, and because thou are polluted with their idols.
31 You have walked in the way of your sister, And I have given her cup into your hand.
Thou have walked in the way of thy sister, therefore I will give her cup into thy hand.
32 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.
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.
33 You are filled with drunkenness and sorrow, A cup of astonishment and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.
Thou shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
34 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,
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.
35 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.”
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.
36 And YHWH says to me, “Son of man, Do you judge Aholah and Aholibah? Then declare their abominations to them.
Jehovah said moreover to me, Son of man, will thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
37 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.
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.
38 Again, they have done this to Me, They defiled My sanctuary in that day, And they have defiled My Sabbaths.
Moreover they have done this to me: They have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
39 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,
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.
40 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.
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,
41 And you have sat on a couch of honor, And a table arrayed before it, And placed My incense and My oil on it.
and sat upon a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon thou did set my incense and my oil.
42 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.
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.
43 And I say of the worn-out one in adulteries, Now they commit her whoredoms—she also!
Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, Now they will play the harlot with her, and she with them.
44 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.
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.
45 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.
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.
46 For thus said Lord YHWH: Bring up an assembly against them, And give them to trembling and to spoiling.
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.
47 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.
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.
48 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.
Thus I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do according to your lewdness.
49 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!”
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.

< Ezekiel 23 >