Ezekiel 23
1 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, “Son of man,
A message from the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Two women were daughters of one mother,
“Son of man, there were once two women. They were daughters of the same 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.
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 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.
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 Aholah goes whoring under Me, and she lusts on her lovers, on the neighboring Assyrians,
Oholah prostituted herself while she was still married to me. She wanted to have sex with her lovers, the Assyrians.
6 Clothed with blue—governors and prefects, All of them desirable young men, Horsemen, riding on horses,
They were soldiers dressed in blue, leaders and commanders, all of them handsome young men in the cavalry.
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.
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 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.
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 have given her into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of sons of Asshur on whom she lusted.
So I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians she wanted to have sex with.
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.
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 Aholibah sees, And she makes her unhealthy love more corrupt than she, And her whoredoms 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 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 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 see that she has been defiled, One way [is] to them both.
I saw that she had also made herself unclean—both sisters were doing the same thing.
14 And she adds to her whoredoms, And she sees men carved on the wall, Pictures of Chaldeans, carved with vermillion,
However, Oholibah's prostitution was even worse. She saw pictures of Babylonian soldiers wearing bright red uniforms painted on the wall.
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.
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 she lusts on them at the sight of her eyes, And sends messengers to them, to Chaldea.
When she saw the paintings of them, she wanted to have sex with them and sent messengers to them in 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.
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 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.
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 And she multiplies her whoredoms, To remember the days of her youth, When she went whoring 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 lusts on their lovers, Whose flesh [is] the flesh of donkeys, And the emission of horses—their emission.
She wanted to have sex with her lovers who had genitals like donkeys and who ejaculated like stallions.
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.
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 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.
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 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, 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 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.
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 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.
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 And they have stripped you of your garments, And have taken your beautiful jewels.
They will tear off your clothes and take your beautiful jewelry.
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.
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 said Lord YHWH: Behold, I am giving you into a hand that you have hated, Into a hand from which you were 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 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.
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 To do these things to you, In your going whoring after nations, Because you have been defiled 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 You have walked in the way of your sister, And I have given her cup into your hand.
Because you did what your sister did, I will give you her cup to drink.
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.
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 You are filled with drunkenness and sorrow, A cup of astonishment and desolation, The cup of your 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 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,
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 said Lord YHWH: Because you have forgotten Me, And you cast Me behind your back, Even you also bear your wickedness and your 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 And YHWH says to me, “Son of man, Do you judge Aholah and Aholibah? Then declare their abominations to them.
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, 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 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 Again, they have done this to Me, They defiled My sanctuary in that day, And they have defiled My Sabbaths.
They also did this to me: On the very same day they both made my sanctuary unclean and violated 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,
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 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.
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 you have sat on a couch of honor, And a table arrayed before it, And placed My incense and My oil on it.
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 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.
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 And I say of the worn-out one in adulteries, Now they commit her whoredoms—she also!
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 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.
So they had sex with her like a prostitute. They had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, those immoral 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.
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 said Lord YHWH: Bring up an assembly against them, And give them to trembling and to spoiling.
This is what the Lord God says: Have a mob attack them! Make them terrified and rob them.
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.
The mob will stone them and kill them with their swords, slaughtering their sons and daughters and burning down their houses.
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.
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 have put your wickedness on you, And you bear the sins of your idols, And you have known that I [am] Lord YHWH!”
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.”
