Ezekiel 23
1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 'Son of man,
Yahweh said to me,
2 Two women were daughters of one mother,
“You human, [listen to this parable about Jerusalem and Samaria]. Once there were two women, daughters of the same mother.
3 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.
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].
4 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.
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.
5 And go a-whoring doth Aholah under Me, And she doteth on her lovers, On the neighbouring Assyrians,
Oholah acted like a prostitute while she was [still] my wife. She desired to have sex with those she loved—soldiers from Assyria.
6 Clothed with blue — governors and prefects, Desirable young men all of them, Horsemen, riding on horses,
[Some of them] were army officers and commanders. They wore [beautiful] blue [uniforms. They were] all handsome young men. Some of them rode horses.
7 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.
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.
8 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.
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.
9 Therefore I have given her into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of sons of Asshur on whom she doted.
So I allowed the Assyrian soldiers, whom she wanted to have sex with, to capture her.
10 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.
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.
11 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.
[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.
12 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.
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.
13 And I see that she hath been defiled, One way [is] to them both.
I saw what she did that caused her to became unacceptable to me, just like [older] sister.
14 And she doth add unto her whoredoms, And she seeth graved men on the wall, Pictures of Chaldeans, graved with red lead,
But she did [even] worse things. She saw drawings of men from Babylonia on the walls, painted in red.
15 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.
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].
16 And she doteth on them at the sight of her eyes, And sendeth messengers to them, to Chaldea.
As soon as she saw those drawings, she wanted to have sex with those men, and she sent messages to them in Babylonia.
17 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.
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.
18 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.
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.
19 And she multiplieth her whoredoms, To remember the days of her youth, When she went a-whoring in the land of Egypt.
But she became even more immoral, as she remembered when she was a young woman who was a prostitute in Egypt.
20 And she doteth on their paramours, Whose flesh [is] the flesh of asses, And the issue of horses — their issue.
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.
21 Thou lookest after the wickedness of thy youth, In dealing out of Egypt thy loves, For the sake of the breasts of thy youth.
So she desired to be immoral like she was when she was young, when men in Egypt caressed her bosom and fondled her breasts.”
22 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.
“[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—
23 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.
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.
24 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.
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].
25 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.
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.
26 And they have stripped thee of thy garments, And have taken thy beauteous jewels.
They will strip off your clothes and your fine jewelry and take them away.
27 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.
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.’
28 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.
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.
29 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.
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.
30 To do these things to thee, In thy going a-whoring after nations, Because thou hast been defiled with their idols,
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.
31 In the way of thy sister thou hast walked, And I have given her cup into thy hand.
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.’
32 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.
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.
33 With drunkenness and sorrow thou art filled, A cup of astonishment and desolation, The cup of thy sister Samaria.
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.
34 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,
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.
35 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.'
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.’”
36 And Jehovah saith unto me, 'Son of man, Dost thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? Declare then to them their abominations.
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:
37 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.
[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.
38 Again, this they have done to Me, They defiled My sanctuary in that day, And My sabbaths they have polluted.
They have done [disgraceful things]: They have caused my temple to be an unacceptable place for worship, and have not respected the Sabbath days.
39 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,
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.
40 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.
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.
41 And thou hast sat on a couch of honour, And a table arrayed before it, And My perfume and My oil placed on it.
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.
42 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.
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.
43 And I say of the worn-out one in adulteries, Now they commit her whoredoms — she also!
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.’
44 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.
So they had sex [EUP] with those two women, Oholah and Oholibah, like men have sex with prostitutes.
45 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.
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.
46 For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Bring up against them an assembly, And give them to trembling and to spoiling.
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.
47 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.
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.
48 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.
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.
49 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!
[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].”
