Ezekiel 23

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

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

³They 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.

⁴Their 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.

⁵And Oholah was untrue to me when she was mine; she was full of desire for her lovers, even for the Assyrians, her neighbours,

⁶Who were clothed in blue, captains and rulers, all of them young men to be desired, horsemen seated on horses.

⁷And 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.

⁸And 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.

⁹For this cause I gave her up into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians on whom her desire was fixed.

¹⁰By 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.

¹¹And her sister Oholibah saw this, but her desire was even more unmeasured, and her loose behaviour was worse than that of her sister.

¹²She 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.

¹³And I saw that she had become unclean; the two of them went the same way.

¹⁴And her loose behaviour became worse; for she saw men pictured on a wall, pictures of the Chaldaeans painted in bright red,

¹⁵With 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.

¹⁶And when she saw them she was full of desire for them, and sent servants to them in Chaldaea.

¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸So 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.

¹⁹But 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.

²⁰And 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.

²¹And 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.

²²For 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;

²³The 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.

²⁴And 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.

²⁵And 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.

²⁶And they will take all your clothing off you and take away your ornaments.

²⁷So 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.

²⁸For 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:

²⁹And 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.

³⁰They 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.

³¹You have gone in the way of your sister; and I will give her cup into your hand.

³²This 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.

³³You will be broken and full of sorrow, with the cup of wonder and destruction, with the cup of your sister Samaria.

³⁴And 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.

³⁵So 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.

³⁶Then 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.

³⁷For 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.

³⁸Further, this is what she has done to me: she has made my holy place unclean and has made my Sabbaths unclean.

³⁹For 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.

⁴⁰And 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.

⁴¹And 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... and they put jewels on her hands and beautiful crowns on her head.

⁴³Then I said ... now she will go on with her loose ways.

⁴⁴And they went in to her, as men go to a loose woman: so they went in to Oholibah, the loose woman.

⁴⁵And 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.

⁴⁶For 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.

⁴⁷And 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.

⁴⁸And I will put an end to evil in all the land, teaching all women not to do as you have done.

⁴⁹And 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.

Ezekiel 23

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

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

³and they played the prostitute in Egypt; they played the prostitute in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity.

⁴Their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

⁵"Oholah played the prostitute when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors,

⁶who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.

⁷She bestowed her prostitution on them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.

⁸Neither has she left her prostitution since the days of Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their prostitution on her.

⁹Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, on whom she doted.

¹⁰These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her.

¹¹"Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her prostitution which were more than the prostitution of her sister.

¹²She doted on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.

¹³I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way.

¹⁴She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,

¹⁵dressed with girdles on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them princes to look on, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.

¹⁶As soon as she saw them she doted on them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea.

¹⁷The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.

¹⁸So she uncovered her prostitution, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.

¹⁹Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the prostitute in the land of Egypt.

²⁰She doted on their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

²¹Thus you called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the handling of your bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth.

²²"Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side:

²³the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.

²⁴They shall come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet all around; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.

²⁵I will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears; and your residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take your sons and your daughters; and your residue shall be devoured by the fire.

²⁶They shall also strip you of your clothes, and take away your beautiful jewels.

²⁷Thus will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your prostitution brought from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.

²⁸"'For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated;

²⁹and they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labor, and shall leave you naked and bare; and the nakedness of your prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution.

³⁰These things shall be done to you, because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols.

³¹You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore will I give her cup into your hand.'

³²"Thus says the Lord God: 'You will drink of your sister's cup, which is deep and large; you will be ridiculed and held in derision; it contains much.

³³You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.

³⁴You shall even drink it and drain it out, and you shall gnaw the broken pieces of it, and shall tear your breasts; for I have spoken it,' says the Lord God.

³⁵"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.'"

³⁶The Lord said moreover to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.

³⁷For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them to be devoured.

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

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

⁴⁰"'Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and decorate yourself with ornaments,

⁴¹and sit on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set my incense and my oil.'

⁴²The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on their hands twain, and beautiful crowns on their heads.

⁴³Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, 'Now will they play the prostitute with her, and she with them.'

⁴⁴They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute: so went they in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.

⁴⁵Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

⁴⁶"For thus says the Lord God: 'I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed.

⁴⁷The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up 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.

⁴⁹They shall recompense your lewdness on you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols; and you shall know that I am the Lord God.'"