Ezekiel 23
1 Yahweh said to me,
The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
2 “You human, [listen to this parable about Jerusalem and Samaria]. Once there were two women, daughters of the same mother.
Son of man, there were two women, daughters of one mother:
3 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].
They were acting like loose women in Egypt; when they were young their behaviour was loose: there their breasts were crushed, even the points of their young breasts were crushed.
4 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.
Their names were Oholah, the older, and Oholibah, her sister: and they became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem, Oholibah.
5 Oholah acted like a prostitute while she was [still] my wife. She desired to have sex with those she loved—soldiers from Assyria.
And Oholah was untrue to me when she was mine; she was full of desire for her lovers, even for the Assyrians, her neighbours,
6 [Some of them] were army officers and commanders. They wore [beautiful] blue [uniforms. They were] all handsome young men. Some of them rode horses.
Who were clothed in blue, captains and rulers, all of them young men to be desired, horsemen seated on horses.
7 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.
And she gave her unclean love to them, all of them the noblest men of Assyria: and she made herself unclean with the images of all who were desired by her.
8 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.
And she has not given up her loose ways from the time when she was in Egypt; for when she was young they were her lovers, and by them her young breasts were crushed, and they let loose on her their unclean desire.
9 So I allowed the Assyrian soldiers, whom she wanted to have sex with, to capture her.
For this cause I gave her up into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians on whom her desire was fixed.
10 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.
By these her shame was uncovered: they took her sons and daughters and put her to death with the sword: and she became a cause of wonder to women; for they gave her the punishment which was right.
11 [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.
And her sister Oholibah saw this, but her desire was even more unmeasured, and her loose behaviour was worse than that of her sister.
12 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.
She was full of desire for the Assyrians, captains and rulers, her neighbours, clothed in blue, horsemen going on horses, all of them young men to be desired.
13 I saw what she did that caused her to became unacceptable to me, just like [older] sister.
And I saw that she had become unclean; the two of them went the same way.
14 But she did [even] worse things. She saw drawings of men from Babylonia on the walls, painted in red.
And her loose behaviour became worse; for she saw men pictured on a wall, pictures of the Chaldaeans painted in bright red,
15 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].
With bands round their bodies and with head-dresses hanging round their heads, all of them looking like rulers, like the Babylonians, the land of whose birth is Chaldaea.
16 As soon as she saw those drawings, she wanted to have sex with those men, and she sent messages to them in Babylonia.
And when she saw them she was full of desire for them, and sent servants to them in Chaldaea.
17 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.
And the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love, and made her unclean with their loose desire, and she became unclean with them, and her soul was turned from them.
18 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.
So her loose behaviour was clearly seen and her shame uncovered: then my soul was turned from her as it had been turned from her sister.
19 But she became even more immoral, as she remembered when she was a young woman who was a prostitute in Egypt.
But still she went on the more with her loose behaviour, keeping in mind the early days when she had been a loose woman in the land of Egypt.
20 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.
And she was full of desire for her lovers, whose flesh is like the flesh of asses and whose seed is like the seed of horses.
21 So she desired to be immoral like she was when she was young, when men in Egypt caressed her bosom and fondled her breasts.”
And she made the memory of the loose ways of her early years come back to mind, when her young breasts were crushed by the Egyptians.
22 “[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—
For this cause, O Oholibah, this is what the Lord has said: See, I will make your lovers come up against you, even those from whom your soul is turned away in disgust; and I will make them come up against you on every side;
23 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.
The Babylonians and all the Chaldaeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: young men to be desired, captains and rulers all of them, and chiefs, her neighbours, all of them on horseback.
24 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].
And they will come against you from the north on horseback, with war-carriages and a great band of peoples; they will put themselves in order against you with breastplate and body-cover and metal head-dress round about you: and I will make them your judges, and they will give their decision against you as seems right to them.
25 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.
And my bitter feeling will be working against you, and they will take you in hand with passion; they will take away your nose and your ears, and the rest of you will be put to the sword: they will take your sons and daughters, and the rest of you will be burned up in the fire.
26 They will strip off your clothes and your fine jewelry and take them away.
And they will take all your clothing off you and take away your ornaments.
27 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.’
So I will put an end to your evil ways and your loose behaviour which came from the land of Egypt: and your eyes will never be lifted up to them again, and you will have no more memory of Egypt.
28 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.
For this is what the Lord has said: See, I will give you up into the hands of those who are hated by you, into the hands of those from whom your soul is turned away in disgust:
29 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.
And they will take you in hand with hate, and take away all the fruit of your work, and let you be unveiled and without clothing: and the shame of your loose behaviour will be uncovered, your evil designs and your loose ways.
30 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.
They will do these things to you because you have been untrue to me, and have gone after the nations, and have become unclean with their images.
31 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.’
You have gone in the way of your sister; and I will give her cup into your hand.
32 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.
This is what the Lord has said: You will take a drink from your sister's cup, which is deep and wide: you will be laughed at and looked down on, more than you are able to undergo.
33 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.
You will be broken and full of sorrow, with the cup of wonder and destruction, with the cup of your sister Samaria.
34 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.
And after drinking it and draining it out, you will take the last drops of it to the end, pulling off your breasts: for I have said it, says the Lord.
35 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.’”
So this is what the Lord has said: Because you have not kept me in your memory, and because your back has been turned to me, you will even undergo the punishment of your evil designs and your loose ways.
36 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:
Then the Lord said to me: Son of man, will you be the judge of Oholibah? then make clear to her the disgusting things she has done.
37 [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.
For she has been false to me, and blood is on her hands, and with her images she has been untrue; and more than this, she made her sons, whom she had by me, go through the fire to them to be burned up.
38 They have done [disgraceful things]: They have caused my temple to be an unacceptable place for worship, and have not respected the Sabbath days.
Further, this is what she has done to me: she has made my holy place unclean and has made my Sabbaths unclean.
39 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.
For when she had made an offering of her children to her images, she came into my holy place to make it unclean; see, this is what she has done inside my house.
40 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.
And she even sent for men to come from far away, to whom a servant was sent, and they came: for whom she was washing her body and painting her eyes and making herself fair with ornaments.
41 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.
And she took her seat on a great bed, with a table put ready before it on which she put my perfume and my oil.
42 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.
... and they put jewels on her hands and beautiful crowns on her head.
43 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.’
Then I said ... now she will go on with her loose ways.
44 So they had sex [EUP] with those two women, Oholah and Oholibah, like men have sex with prostitutes.
And they went in to her, as men go to a loose woman: so they went in to Oholibah, the loose woman.
45 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.
And upright men will be her judges, judging her as false wives and women who take lives are judged; because she has been untrue to me and blood is on her hands.
46 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.
For this is what the Lord has said: I will make a great meeting of the people come together against her, and will send on her shaking fear and take everything from her.
47 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.
And the meeting, after stoning her with stones, will put an end to her with their swords; they will put her sons and daughters to death and have her house burned up with fire.
48 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.
And I will put an end to evil in all the land, teaching all women not to do as you have done.
49 [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].”
And I will send on you the punishment of your evil ways, and you will be rewarded for your sins with your images: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.
