Ezekiel 23
1 The word of Jehovah came to me again, saying:
And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, “Son of man,
2 Son of man, there were two women, daughters of one mother;
Two women were daughters of one mother,
3 and they committed fornication in Egypt; in their youth they committed fornication. There they allowed their breasts to be pressed, and their virgin teats to be handled.
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 Their names were Aholah, the elder, and Aholibah, her sister; and they became mine, and bore sons and daughters; as to their names, moreover, Aholah is Samaria, and Aholibah, Jerusalem.
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 Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians, her neighbors
And Aholah goes whoring under Me, and she lusts on her lovers, on the neighboring Assyrians,
6 who were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen, riding on horses.
Clothed with blue—governors and prefects, All of them desirable young men, Horsemen, riding on horses,
7 Thus she committed fornication with them, with all the choice young men of Assyria, and with all on whom 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 forsook she her whoredoms brought from Egypt; for they lay with her in her youth, and handled the breasts of her virginity, and poured their fornication 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 slew her with the sword; and she became famous among women, when they had executed judgment 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, Aholibah, saw this, but she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.
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, her neighbors, prefects and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable 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 Then I saw that she was defiled; that they both took one way.
And I see that she has been defiled, One way [is] to them both.
14 But she added to her whoredoms; for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, images of Chaldaeans 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, and having long mitres hanging down from their heads, in their appearance all of them princes, after the manner of the sons of Babylon, of Chaldaea, 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 cast her eyes upon them, she doted on them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldaea.
And she lusts on them at the sight of her eyes, And sends messengers to them, to Chaldea.
17 And the sons of Babylon came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredoms, and she was polluted with them. She then became 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 discovered her fornications, and discovered her nakedness. Then my mind was alienated from her, as it had been 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 For she multiplied her whoredoms in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she 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 for she doted on their paramours, whose members were as the members of asses, and whose issue was as 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 calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, when thy teats were handled by the Egyptians, on account of the paps 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 Aholibah, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up against thee thy lovers, from whom thou art 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 Chaldaeans, prefects, rich men, and nobles, and all the Assyrians with them, all of them desirable young men, prefects and rulers, captains and men of renown, 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 arms, chariots and wheels, and with hosts of people; with buckler and shield and helmet shall they set themselves against thee on every side. And I will commit to them judgment, and they shall punish thee according to their punishments.
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 posterity shall fall by the sword. They shall take away thy sons and thy daughters, and thy posterity shall be consumed with 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 garments, 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 whoredom brought from the land of Egypt, so that thou shalt not lift thine eyes to 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 Jehovah: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thou art 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 take away all the fruits of thy labor from thee, and shall leave thee naked and bare; and thy nakedness shall be uncovered, with which thou hast committed lewdness and fornication and foul whoredom.
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 will I do to thee, because thou hast committed whoredom with the nations, and hast been 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 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister, 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 Jehovah: Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup, which is deep and large; it shall make thee a laughing-stock and a derision, for it containeth much.
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. A cup of astonishment and amazement is 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 suck it out, and lick the sherds, and thou shalt tear thy breasts. For I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.
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 Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
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 Moreover, Jehovah said to me, Son of man, punish Aholah and Aholibah; yea, declare to them their abominations;
And YHWH says to me, “Son of man, Do you judge Aholah and Aholibah? Then declare their abominations to them.
37 that they have committed adultery, and blood is upon their hands, and that with their idols they have committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them for food.
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 This also have they done to 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 into my sanctuary the same day to profane it; behold, thus have they done in 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 Yea, ye sent for men to come from afar; messengers were sent to them, and behold, they came; for them didst thou wash thyself, and 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 thou didst seat thyself upon a stately bed before which a table was prepared, and thereon didst thou set my incense and my 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 Also the voice of a multitude at ease was with her; and together with men from the common multitude were brought deep-drinkers from the desert, who 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 concerning her that was worn out with adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, even with her?
And I say of the worn-out one in adulteries, Now they commit her whoredoms—she also!
44 They went in to her, as men go to a harlot; so went they in to Aholah and to Aholibah, 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 shall judge them, as adulteresses are judged, and as women that shed blood are judged; for they are adulteresses, and blood is upon 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 Jehovah: I will bring a great company against them, and will give them up to be harassed and spoiled,
For thus said Lord YHWH: Bring up an assembly against them, And give them to trembling and to spoiling.
47 and the company shall stone them with stones, and cut them in pieces with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn 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 take warning, and not follow them in their 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 they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols; that ye may know that I am the Lord Jehovah.
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!”
