Ezekiel 23
1 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, “Son of man,
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 Two women were daughters of one mother,
“Son of man, there were two women, 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 acted as prostitutes in Egypt in the time of their youth. They acted as prostitutes there. Their breasts were squeezed and their virgin nipples were fondled there.
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.
Their names were Oholah—the older sister—and Oholibah—her younger sister. Then they became mine and bore sons and daughters. Their names mean this: Oholah means Samaria, and Oholibah means Jerusalem.
5 And Aholah goes whoring under Me, and she lusts on her lovers, on the neighboring Assyrians,
But Oholah acted as a prostitute even when she was mine; she lusted for her lovers, for the Assyrians who were dominant,
6 Clothed with blue—governors and prefects, All of them desirable young men, Horsemen, riding on horses,
the governor who wore blue, and for his officials, who were strong and handsome, all of them men riding on 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.
So she gave herself as a prostitute to them, to all the best of Assyria's men, and she made herself unclean with everyone she lusted for—and with all their idols.
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.
For she had not left her prostitute behavior behind in Egypt, when they had slept with her when she had been a young girl, when they first began to fondle her virgin breasts, when they first began to pour out their promiscuous behavior on 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 gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians for whom she lusted.
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 uncovered her nakedness, took her sons and daughters, killed her with the sword, and she became notorious among other women, so they executed judgment on 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.
Her sister Oholibah saw this, but she lusted even more passionately and acted like a prostitute even more than 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 lusted for the Assyrians, the governors and the dominating officials who dressed impressively, who were men riding horses. All of them were strong, handsome men.
13 And I see that she has been defiled, One way [is] to them both.
I saw that she had made herself unclean. It was the same for both sisters.
14 And she adds to her whoredoms, And she sees men carved on the wall, Pictures of Chaldeans, carved with vermillion,
Then she increased her prostitution even more. She saw men carved on walls, figures of Chaldeans painted in red,
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.
wearing belts around their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads. All of them had the appearance of officers of chariot troops, the likeness of sons of Babylonia, whose native land is Chaldea.
16 And she lusts on them at the sight of her eyes, And sends messengers to them, to Chaldea.
As soon as her eyes saw them, she lusted for them, so she sent out 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.
Then the Babylonians came to her and to her bed of lust, and they made her unclean with their promiscuousness. By what she had done she was made unclean, so she turned herself away from 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 she displayed her acts of prostitution and uncovered her nakedness, I turned away from her, just as I had turned away in disgust 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.
Then she increased her prostitution as she remembered the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute 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.
So she lusted for her lovers, whose private parts were like those of donkeys, and whose reproductive emissions were like those 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.
This is how you committed shameful acts of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your nipples and squeezed 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.
Therefore, Oholibah, the Lord Yahweh says this, 'Behold! I will turn your lovers against you. Those from whom you turned away, I will bring them against you from 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, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, strong, handsome men, governors and commanders, all of them are officers and men of reputation, all of them riding on 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 come against you with weapons, and with chariots and wagons, and with a great crowd of people. They will set large shields, small shields, and helmets against you all around. I will give them the opportunity to punish you, and they will punish you with their actions.
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.
For I will set my jealous anger on you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and your daughters, and your survivors will be devoured by fire.
26 And they have stripped you of your garments, And have taken your beautiful jewels.
They will strip you of your clothes and take away all of your 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.
So I will remove your shameful behavior from you and your acts of prostitution from the land of Egypt. You will not lift up your eyes toward them with longing, and you will think of Egypt no longer.'
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 the Lord Yahweh says this, 'Behold! I will give you into the hand of the ones you hate, back into the hand of the ones from whom you had turned away.
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 deal with you hatefully; they will take all your possessions and abandon you naked and bare, and your nakedness will be uncovered just as when you engaged in promiscuity and prostitutions.
30 To do these things to you, In your going whoring after nations, Because you have been defiled with their idols,
These things will be done to you in your acting like a prostitute, lusting after nations by which you became unclean with their idols.
31 You have walked in the way of your sister, And I have given her cup into your hand.
You have walked in the way of your sister, so I will put her cup of punishment into your 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.
The Lord Yahweh says this, 'You will drink your sister's cup that is deep and large. You will become a laughingstock and a subject for derision—this cup contains a great amount.
33 You are filled with drunkenness and sorrow, A cup of astonishment and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.
You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of horror and devastation; the cup of your 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,
You will drink it and drain it empty; then you will shatter it and tear your breasts with the pieces. For I have declared it—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.'
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, the Lord Yahweh says this, 'Because you have forgotten me and thrown me away behind your back, so also you will bear the consequences of your shameful behavior and acts of sexual immorality.'”
36 And YHWH says to me, “Son of man, Do you judge Aholah and Aholibah? Then declare their abominations to them.
Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? So present to them their disgusting actions,
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.
since they have committed adultery, and since there is blood on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and they have even caused their sons to pass through the fire, as food for their idols.
38 Again, they have done this to Me, They defiled My sanctuary in that day, And they have defiled My Sabbaths.
Then they continue to do this to me: They make my sanctuary unclean, and on the same day they defile 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 slaughtered their children for their idols, then they came to my sanctuary on the same day to defile it! So behold! This is what they have done in the middle 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.
You sent out for men who came from far away, to whom messengers had been sent—now behold. They indeed came, those for whom you bathed, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with 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.
There you sat on a beautiful bed and at a table arranged before it where you placed 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.
So the sound of a noisy crowd was around her; including all kinds of men, even Sabeans were brought in from the wilderness, and they put bracelets on their hands and beautiful crowns on 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 worn out by adultery, 'Now they will be sexually immoral 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.
They went in to her and slept with her as men go in to be with a prostitute. In this way they slept with Oholah and Oholibah, who were 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 righteous men will pass judgment and punish them as adulteresses, and they will punish them with the sentence for those 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.
So the Lord Yahweh says this: I will raise up a company against them and give them up to be terrorized and plundered.
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.
Then that company will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn 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.
For I will remove shameful behavior from the land and discipline all the women so they will no longer act like prostitutes.
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!”
So they will set your shameful behavior against you. You will bear the guilt of your sins with your idols, and in this way you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.”
