Ezekiel 23

1 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:

“Son of man, two women were daughters of one mother,

3 And they committed lewd deeds in Egypt; they committed lewd deeds in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they were first corrupted.

and they fornicated in Egypt; they committed fornication in their youth. In that place, their breasts were conquered; the breasts of their adolescence were subdued.

4 And the names of them [were] Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bore sons and daughters. Thus [were] their names; Samaria [is] Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.

Now their names were Oholah, the elder, and Oholibah, her younger sister. And I held them, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names: Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

5 And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians [her] neighbors.

And then, Oholah committed fornication against me, and she acted madly with her lovers, with the Assyrians who approached her,

6 [Who were] clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

who were clothed with hyacinth: rulers and magistrates, passionate youths and all of the horsemen, mounted on horses.

7 Thus she committed her lewd deeds with them, with all them [that were] the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.

And she distributed her fornications to those chosen men, all of them sons of the Assyrians. And she defiled herself with the uncleanness of all those whom she madly desired.

8 Neither left she her lewd deeds [brought] from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they first corrupted her, and poured their impurities upon her.

Moreover, she also did not abandon her fornications, which she had done in Egypt. For they also slept with her in her youth, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication upon her.

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

Because of this, I have delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the sons of the Assur, whom she has lustfully desired.

10 These uncovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.

They uncovered her shame; they took away her sons and daughters; and they slew her with the sword. And they became infamous women. And they carried out judgments in her.

11 And when her sister Aholibah saw [this], she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her prostitutions more than her sister in [her] prostitutions.

And when her sister, Oholibah, had seen this, she was even more mad with lust than the other. And her fornication was beyond the fornication of her sister.

12 She doted upon the Assyrians [her] neighbors, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.

She shamelessly offered herself to the sons of the Assyrians, to the rulers and magistrates who brought themselves to her clothed with colorful garments, to the horsemen who were carried by horses, and to the youths, all of them exceptional in appearance.

13 Then I saw that she was defiled, [that] they [took] both one way.

And I saw that she had been defiled, and that they both took the same path.

14 And [that] she increased her prostitutions: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion.

And she increased her fornications. And when she had seen men depicted on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans, expressed in colors,

15 Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:

with belts wrapped around the waist, and with dyed headdresses on their heads, having seen the appearance of all the rulers, the likenesses of the sons of Babylon and of the land of the Chaldeans in which they were born,

16 And as soon as she saw them with her eyes she doted upon them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea.

she became mad for them with the desire of her eyes, and she sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their lewdness, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.

And when the sons of Babylon had gone to her, to the bed of breasts, they defiled her with their fornications, and she was polluted by them, and her soul was gorged by them.

18 So she disclosed her lewd deeds, and exposed her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, as my mind was alienated from her sister.

Also, her fornications were uncovered, and her shame was revealed. And my soul withdrew from her, as my soul had withdrawn from her sister.

19 Yet she multiplied her prostitutions, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

For she multiplied her fornications, remembering the days of her youth, in which she fornicated in the land of Egypt.

20 For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh [is as] the flesh of asses, and whose issue [is like] the issue of horses.

And she was mad with lust after lying with them, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys, and whose flow is like the flow of horses.

21 Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, by being corrupted by the Egyptians in thy youth.

And you have revisited the crimes of your youth, when your breasts were conquered in Egypt, and the breasts of your adolescence were subdued.

22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;

Because of this, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will raise up against you all of your lovers, with whom your soul has been gorged. And I will gather them together against you all around:

23 The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, [and] all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.

the sons of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, the nobles, the sovereigns and princes, all the sons of the Assyrians, youths of exceptional form, all the rulers and magistrates, the leaders among leaders, and the renowned riders of horses.

24 And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, [which] shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet on every side: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.

And they will overwhelm you, well-equipped with chariot and wheel, a multitude of peoples. They will be armed against you on every side with armor and shield and helmet. And I will give judgment to their eyes, and they will judge you with their judgments.

25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thy ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.

And against you, I will set my zeal, which they will execute upon you with fury. They will cut off your nose and your ears. And what remains will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and your daughters, and your youngest will be devoured by fire.

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

And they will strip you of your vestments, and take away the articles of your glory.

27 Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy adultery [brought] from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thy eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.

And I will cause your wickedness to cease from you, and your fornication to cease from the land of Egypt. Neither shall you lift up your eyes toward them, and you shall no longer remember Egypt.

28 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand [of them] whom thou hatest, into the hand [of them] from whom thy mind is alienated:

For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you have hated, into the hands by which your soul has been gorged.

29 And they shall treat thee with hatred, and shall take away all thy labor, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy prostitutions shall be disclosed, both thy lewdness and thy prostitutions.

And they will act toward you with hatred, and they will take away all your labors, and they will send you away naked and filled with disgrace. And the shame of your fornication will be revealed: your crimes and your fornications.

30 I will do these [things] to thee, because thou hast gone astray after the heathen, [and] because thou art polluted with their idols.

They have done these things to you, because you have fornicated after the Gentiles, among whom you were defiled by 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 so I will give her chalice into your hand.

32 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be treated with scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.

Thus says the Lord God: You will drink the chalice of your sister, deep and wide. You will be held in derision and in ridicule, to a very great extent.

33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.

You will be filled with inebriation and sorrow, by the chalice of grief and sadness, by the chalice of your sister Samaria.

34 Thou shalt even drink it, and empty it to the dregs, and thou shalt break its pieces, and pluck off thy own breasts: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord GOD.

And you will drink it, and you will empty it, even to the dregs. And you will consume even its particles. And you will wound your own breasts. For I have spoken, says the Lord God.

35 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy prostitutions.

Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Since you have forgotten me, and you have cast me behind your body, so also will you bear your wickedness and your fornications.”

36 The LORD said moreover to me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yes, declare to them their abominations;

And the Lord spoke to me, saying: “Son of man, should you not judge Oholah and Oholibah, and announce to them their crimes?

37 That they have committed adultery, and blood [is] in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass for them through [the fire], to devour [them].

For they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands, and they have fornicated with their idols. Moreover, they have offered even their children, whom they bore for me, to them to be devoured.

38 Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.

But they have done even this to me: They have defiled my sanctuary on the same day, and they have profaned my Sabbaths.

39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and lo, thus have they done in the midst of my house.

And when they immolated their children to their idols, they also entered my sanctuary on the same day, so that they defiled it. They have done these things, even in the midst of my house.

40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, to whom a messenger [was] sent; and lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paint thy eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments,

They sent for men who were coming from far away, to whom they had sent a messenger. And so, behold, they arrived, those for whom you washed yourself, and smeared cosmetics around your eyes, and were adorned with feminine ornaments.

41 And sattest upon a stately bed and a table prepared before it, upon which thou hast set my incense and my oil.

You sat upon a very beautiful bed, and a table was adorned before you, on which you placed my incense and my ointment.

42 And a voice of a multitude being at ease [was] with her: and with the men of the common sort [were] brought Sabeans from the wilderness, who put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

And the voice of a multitude was exulting within her. And concerning certain men, who were being led out of a multitude of persons, and who were arriving from the desert, they placed bracelets on their hands and beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 Then said I to [her that was] old in adulteries, Will they now commit lewd deeds with her, and she [with them]?

And I said about her, as she was being worn away by her adulteries, ‘Even now, she continues in her fornication!’

44 Yet they went in to her, as they go in to a woman that playeth the harlot: so they went in to Aholah and to Aholibah, the lewd women.

And they entered to her, as if to a kept woman. So did they enter to Oholah and Oholibah, nefarious women.

45 And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they [are] adulteresses, and blood [is] in their hands.

But there are just men; these shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of those who shed blood. For they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.

46 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and plundered.

For thus says the Lord God: Lead upon them a multitude, and hand them over to tumult and to pillaging.

47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire.

And may they be stoned with the stones of the peoples, and may they be pierced with their own swords. They will put to death their sons and daughters, and they will burn their houses with fire.

48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.

And I will take away wickedness from the land. And all women shall learn not to act according to their wickedness.

49 And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord GOD.

And they will set your own crimes upon you, and you will bear the sins of your idols. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.”