< Ezekiel 23 >
1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 'Son of man,
2 “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother.
Two women were daughters of one mother,
3 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.
And they go a-whoring in Egypt, In their youth they have gone a-whoring, There they have bruised their breasts, And there they have dealt with the loves of their virginity.
4 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.
And their names [are] Aholah the elder, And Aholibah her sister, And they are Mine, and bear sons and daughters. As to their names — Samaria [is] Aholah, And Jerusalem [is] Aholibah.
5 But Oholah acted as a prostitute even when she was mine; she lusted for her lovers, for the Assyrians who were dominant,
And go a-whoring doth Aholah under Me, And she doteth on her lovers, On the neighbouring Assyrians,
6 the governor who wore blue, and for his officials, who were strong and handsome, all of them men riding on horses.
Clothed with blue — governors and prefects, Desirable young men all of them, Horsemen, riding on horses,
7 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.
And she giveth her whoredoms on them, The choice of the sons of Asshur, All of them — even all on whom she doted, By all their idols she hath been defiled.
8 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.
And her whoredoms out of Egypt she hath not forsaken, 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 Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians for whom she lusted.
Therefore I have given her into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of sons of Asshur on whom she doted.
10 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.
They have uncovered her nakedness, Her sons and her daughters they have taken, And her by sword they have slain, And she is a name for women, And judgments they have done with her.
11 Her sister Oholibah saw this, but she lusted even more passionately and acted like a prostitute even more than her sister.
And see doth her sister Aholibah, And she maketh her doting love more corrupt than she, And her whoredoms than the whoredoms of her sister.
12 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.
On sons of Asshur she hath doted, Governors and prefects, Neighbouring ones — clothed in perfection, Horsemen, riding on horses, Desirable young men all of them.
13 I saw that she had made herself unclean. It was the same for both sisters.
And I see that she hath been defiled, One way [is] to them both.
14 Then she increased her prostitution even more. She saw men carved on walls, figures of Chaldeans painted in red,
And she doth add unto her whoredoms, And she seeth graved men on the wall, Pictures of Chaldeans, graved with red lead,
15 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.
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 As soon as her eyes saw them, she lusted for them, so she sent out messengers to them in Chaldea.
And she doteth on them at the sight of her eyes, And sendeth messengers to them, to Chaldea.
17 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.
And come in unto her do sons of Babylon, 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 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.
And she revealeth her whoredoms, And she revealeth her nakedness, And alienated is My soul from off her, As alienated was My soul from off her sister.
19 Then she increased her prostitution as she remembered the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in the land of Egypt.
And she multiplieth her whoredoms, To remember the days of her youth, When she went a-whoring in the land of Egypt.
20 So she lusted for her lovers, whose private parts were like those of donkeys, and whose reproductive emissions were like those of horses.
And she doteth on their paramours, Whose flesh [is] the flesh of asses, And the issue of horses — their issue.
21 This is how you committed shameful acts of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your nipples and squeezed your young breasts.
Thou lookest after the wickedness of thy youth, In dealing out of Egypt thy loves, For the sake of the breasts of thy youth.
22 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:
Therefore, O Aholibah, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am stirring up thy lovers against thee, From whom thy soul hath been alienated, And have brought them in against thee from round about.
23 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.
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, Riding on horses, all of them.
24 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.
And they have come in against thee, With arms, rider, and wheel, And with an assembly of peoples; Target, and shield, and helmet, They do set against thee round about, And I have set before them judgment, They have judged thee in their Judgments.
25 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.
And I have set My jealousy against thee, And they have dealt with thee in fury, Thy nose and thine ears they turn aside, And thy posterity by sword falleth, They, thy sons and thy daughters do take away, And thy posterity is devoured by fire.
26 They will strip you of your clothes and take away all of your jewelry.
And they have stripped thee of thy garments, And have taken thy beauteous jewels.
27 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.'
And I have caused thy wickedness to cease from thee, And thy whoredoms out of the land of Egypt, And thou liftest not up thine eyes unto them, And Egypt thou dost not remember again.
28 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.
For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am giving thee into a hand that thou hast hated, Into a hand from which thou wast alienated.
29 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.
And they have dealt with thee in hatred, And they have taken all thy labour, And they have left thee naked and bare, And revealed hath been the nakedness of thy whoredoms, And the wickedness of thy whoredoms.
30 These things will be done to you in your acting like a prostitute, lusting after nations by which you became unclean with their idols.
To do these things to thee, In thy going a-whoring after nations, Because thou hast been defiled with their idols,
31 You have walked in the way of your sister, so I will put her cup of punishment into your hand.'
In the way of thy sister thou hast walked, And I have given her cup into thy hand.
32 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.
Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The cup of thy sister thou dost drink, The deep and the wide one, (Thou art for laughter and for scorn, ) Abundant to contain.
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of horror and devastation; the cup of your sister Samaria.
With drunkenness and sorrow thou art filled, A cup of astonishment and desolation, The cup of thy sister Samaria.
34 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.'
And thou hast drunk it, and hast drained [it], And its earthen ware thou dost gnaw, And thine own breasts thou pluckest off, For I have spoken, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah,
35 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.'”
Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten Me, And thou dost cast Me behind thy back, Even thou also bear thy wickedness and thy whoredoms.'
36 Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? So present to them their disgusting actions,
And Jehovah saith unto me, 'Son of man, Dost thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? Declare then to them their abominations.
37 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.
For they have committed adultery, And blood [is] in their hands, With their idols they committed adultery, And also their sons whom they bore to Me, They caused to pass over to them for food.
38 Then they continue to do this to me: They make my sanctuary unclean, and on the same day they defile my Sabbaths.
Again, this they have done to Me, They defiled My sanctuary in that day, And My sabbaths they have polluted.
39 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.
And in their slaughtering their sons to their idols They also come in unto My sanctuary in that day to pollute it, And lo, thus they have done in the midst of My house,
40 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.
And also that they send to men coming from afar, Unto whom a messenger is sent, And lo, they have come in for whom thou hast washed, Painted thine eyes, and put on adornment.
41 There you sat on a beautiful bed and at a table arranged before it where you placed my incense and my oil.
And thou hast sat on a couch of honour, And a table arrayed before it, And My perfume and My oil placed on it.
42 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.
And the voice of a multitude at ease [is] with her, And unto men of the common people are brought in Sabeans from the wilderness, And they put bracelets on their hands, And a beauteous crown on their heads.
43 Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, 'Now they will be sexually immoral with her, and she with them.'
And I say of the worn-out one in adulteries, Now they commit her whoredoms — she also!
44 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.
And they come in unto her, As the coming in unto a whorish woman, So they have come in unto Aholah, And unto Aholibah — the wicked women.
45 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.
As to 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 So the Lord Yahweh says this: I will raise up a company against them and give them up to be terrorized and plundered.
For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Bring up against them an assembly, And give them to trembling and to spoiling.
47 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.
And they have cast at them the stone of the assembly, And cut them with their swords, Their sons and their daughters they do slay, And their houses with fire they burn.
48 For I will remove shameful behavior from the land and discipline all the women so they will no longer act like prostitutes.
And I have caused wickedness to cease from the land, And instructed have been all the women, And they do not according to your wickedness.
49 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.”
And they have put your wickedness on you, And the sins of your idols ye bear, And ye have known that I [am] the Lord Jehovah!