יחזקאל 23

1 ויהי דבר יהוה אלי לאמר׃

The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

2 בן אדם שתים נשים בנות אם אחת היו׃

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

3 ותזנינה במצרים בנעוריהן זנו שמה מעכו שדיהן ושם עשו דדי בתוליהן׃

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 ושמותן אהלה הגדולה ואהליבה אחותה ותהיינה לי ותלדנה בנים ובנות ושמותן שמרון אהלה וירושלם אהליבה׃

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 ותזן אהלה תחתי ותעגב על מאהביה אל אשור קרובים׃

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 לבשי תכלת פחות וסגנים בחורי חמד כלם פרשים רכבי סוסים׃

Who were clothed in blue, captains and rulers, all of them young men to be desired, horsemen seated on horses.

7 ותתן תזנותיה עליהם מבחר בני אשור כלם ובכל אשר עגבה בכל גלוליהם נטמאה׃

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 ואת תזנותיה ממצרים לא עזבה כי אותה שכבו בנעוריה והמה עשו דדי בתוליה וישפכו תזנותם עליה׃

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 לכן נתתיה ביד מאהביה ביד בני אשור אשר עגבה עליהם׃

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 המה גלו ערותה בניה ובנותיה לקחו ואותה בחרב הרגו ותהי שם לנשים ושפוטים עשו בה׃

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 ותרא אחותה אהליבה ותשחת עגבתה ממנה ואת תזנותיה מזנוני אחותה׃

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 אל בני אשור עגבה פחות וסגנים קרבים לבשי מכלול פרשים רכבי סוסים בחורי חמד כלם׃

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 וארא כי נטמאה דרך אחד לשתיהן׃

And I saw that she had become unclean; the two of them went the same way.

14 ותוסף אל תזנותיה ותרא אנשי מחקה על הקיר צלמי כשדיים חקקים בששר׃

And her loose behaviour became worse; for she saw men pictured on a wall, pictures of the Chaldaeans painted in bright red,

15 חגורי אזור במתניהם סרוחי טבולים בראשיהם מראה שלישים כלם דמות בני בבל כשדים ארץ מולדתם׃

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 ותעגב עליהם למראה עיניה ותשלח מלאכים אליהם כשדימה׃

And when she saw them she was full of desire for them, and sent servants to them in Chaldaea.

17 ויבאו אליה בני בבל למשכב דדים ויטמאו אותה בתזנותם ותטמא בם ותקע נפשה מהם׃

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 ותגל תזנותיה ותגל את ערותה ותקע נפשי מעליה כאשר נקעה נפשי מעל אחותה׃

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 ותרבה את תזנותיה לזכר את ימי נעוריה אשר זנתה בארץ מצרים׃

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 ותעגבה על פלגשיהם אשר בשר חמורים בשרם וזרמת סוסים זרמתם׃

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 ותפקדי את זמת נעוריך בעשות ממצרים דדיך למען שדי נעוריך׃

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 לכן אהליבה כה אמר אדני יהוה הנני מעיר את מאהביך עליך את אשר נקעה נפשך מהם והבאתים עליך מסביב׃

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 בני בבל וכל כשדים פקוד ושוע וקוע כל בני אשור אותם בחורי חמד פחות וסגנים כלם שלשים וקרואים רכבי סוסים כלם׃

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 ובאו עליך הצן רכב וגלגל ובקהל עמים צנה ומגן וקובע ישימו עליך סביב ונתתי לפניהם משפט ושפטוך במשפטיהם׃

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 ונתתי קנאתי בך ועשו אותך בחמה אפך ואזניך יסירו ואחריתך בחרב תפול המה בניך ובנותיך יקחו ואחריתך תאכל באש׃

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 והפשיטוך את בגדיך ולקחו כלי תפארתך׃

And they will take all your clothing off you and take away your ornaments.

27 והשבתי זמתך ממך ואת זנותך מארץ מצרים ולא תשאי עיניך אליהם ומצרים לא תזכרי עוד׃

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 כי כה אמר אדני יהוה הנני נתנך ביד אשר שנאת ביד אשר נקעה נפשך מהם׃

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 ועשו אותך בשנאה ולקחו כל יגיעך ועזבוך עירם ועריה ונגלה ערות זנוניך וזמתך ותזנותיך׃

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 עשה אלה לך בזנותך אחרי גוים על אשר נטמאת בגלוליהם׃

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 בדרך אחותך הלכת ונתתי כוסה בידך׃

You have gone in the way of your sister; and I will give her cup into your hand.

32 כה אמר אדני יהוה כוס אחותך תשתי העמקה והרחבה תהיה לצחק וללעג מרבה להכיל׃

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 שכרון ויגון תמלאי כוס שמה ושממה כוס אחותך שמרון׃

You will be broken and full of sorrow, with the cup of wonder and destruction, with the cup of your sister Samaria.

34 ושתית אותה ומצית ואת חרשיה תגרמי ושדיך תנתקי כי אני דברתי נאם אדני יהוה׃

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 לכן כה אמר אדני יהוה יען שכחת אותי ותשליכי אותי אחרי גוך וגם את שאי זמתך ואת תזנותיך׃

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 ויאמר יהוה אלי בן אדם התשפוט את אהלה ואת אהליבה והגד להן את תועבותיהן׃

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 כי נאפו ודם בידיהן ואת גלוליהן נאפו וגם את בניהן אשר ילדו לי העבירו להם לאכלה׃

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 עוד זאת עשו לי טמאו את מקדשי ביום ההוא ואת שבתותי חללו׃

Further, this is what she has done to me: she has made my holy place unclean and has made my Sabbaths unclean.

39 ובשחטם את בניהם לגלוליהם ויבאו אל מקדשי ביום ההוא לחללו והנה כה עשו בתוך ביתי׃

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 ואף כי תשלחנה לאנשים באים ממרחק אשר מלאך שלוח אליהם והנה באו לאשר רחצת כחלת עיניך ועדית עדי׃

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 וישבת על מטה כבודה ושלחן ערוך לפניה וקטרתי ושמני שמת עליה׃

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 וקול המון שלו בה ואל אנשים מרב אדם מובאים סובאים ממדבר ויתנו צמידים אל ידיהן ועטרת תפארת על ראשיהן׃

... and they put jewels on her hands and beautiful crowns on her head.

43 ואמר לבלה נאופים עת יזנה תזנותיה והיא׃

Then I said ... now she will go on with her loose ways.

44 ויבוא אליה כבוא אל אשה זונה כן באו אל אהלה ואל אהליבה אשת הזמה׃

And they went in to her, as men go to a loose woman: so they went in to Oholibah, the loose woman.

45 ואנשים צדיקם המה ישפטו אותהם משפט נאפות ומשפט שפכות דם כי נאפת הנה ודם בידיהן׃

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 כי כה אמר אדני יהוה העלה עליהם קהל ונתן אתהן לזעוה ולבז׃

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 ורגמו עליהן אבן קהל וברא אותהן בחרבותם בניהם ובנותיהם יהרגו ובתיהן באש ישרפו׃

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 והשבתי זמה מן הארץ ונוסרו כל הנשים ולא תעשינה כזמתכנה׃

And I will put an end to evil in all the land, teaching all women not to do as you have done.

49 ונתנו זמתכנה עליכן וחטאי גלוליכן תשאינה וידעתם כי אני אדני יהוה׃

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.