Ezekiel 23

1 Yahweh said to me,

The word of Jehovah 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].

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.

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 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.

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 Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians, her neighbors

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 with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen, riding 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.

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.

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.

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.

9 So I allowed the Assyrian soldiers, whom she wanted to have sex with, to capture her.

Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.

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.

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.

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, 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.

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 doted upon the Assyrians, her neighbors, prefects and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.

13 I saw what she did that caused her to became unacceptable to me, just like [older] sister.

Then I saw that she was defiled; that they both took one way.

14 But she did [even] worse things. She saw drawings of men from Babylonia on the walls, painted in red.

But she added to her whoredoms; for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, images of Chaldaeans portrayed with vermilion,

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].

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;

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 as soon as she cast her eyes upon them, she doted on them, and sent messengers to them into 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 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.

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 she discovered her fornications, and discovered her nakedness. Then my mind was alienated from her, as it had been alienated 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.

For she multiplied her whoredoms in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she played the harlot 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.

for she doted on their paramours, whose members were as the members of asses, and whose issue was as the issue 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.”

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.

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—

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,

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, 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.

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 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.

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 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.

26 They will strip off your clothes and your fine jewelry and take them away.

They shall also strip thee of thy garments, and take away thy fair jewels.

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.’

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

These things will I do to thee, because thou hast committed whoredom with the nations, and hast been polluted with their idols.

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.’

Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister, therefore will I give her cup into thy 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.

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.

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.

Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. A cup of astonishment and amazement is the cup of thy 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.

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.

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.’”

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.

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:

Moreover, Jehovah said to me, Son of man, punish Aholah and Aholibah; yea, declare to them their abominations;

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.

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.

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.

This also have they done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 thou didst seat thyself upon a stately bed before which a table was prepared, and thereon didst thou set my incense 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.

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.

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 said I concerning her that was worn out with adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, even with her?

44 So they had sex [EUP] with those two women, Oholah and Oholibah, like men have sex with prostitutes.

They went in to her, as men go to a harlot; so went they in to Aholah and to Aholibah, the lewd women.

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.

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.

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 thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will bring a great company against them, and will give them up to be harassed and spoiled,

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 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.

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.

Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may take warning, and not follow them in their lewdness.

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 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.