Ezekiel - Chapter 23

¹ The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

² 'Son of man, there were once two women, daughters of the same mother.

³ They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore when they were still girls. There their nipples were handled, there their virgin breasts were first fondled.

⁴ Their names were: Oholah the elder, Oholibah her sister. They belonged to me and bore sons and daughters. As regards their names, Samaria is Oholah, Jerusalem Oholibah.

⁵ Now Oholah played the whore, although she belonged to me; she lusted after her lovers, her neighbours the Assyrians,

⁶ dressed in purple, governors and magistrates, all of them young and desirable, and skilful horsemen.

⁷ She played the whore with all of them, the pick of Assyria, and defiled herself with all the foul idols of all those with whom she was in love,

⁸ nor did she give up the whoring begun in Egypt, where men had slept with her from her girlhood, fondling her virgin breasts, debauching her over and over again.

⁹ 'That is why I have handed her over to her lovers, to the Assyrians with whom she was in love.

¹⁰ They stripped her naked, seized her sons and daughters and put her to the sword. She became notorious among women for the justice done on her.

¹¹ 'Her sister Oholibah saw all this, but she was even more depraved, and her whorings were worse than her sister's.

¹² She fell in love with her neighbours the Assyrians, governors and magistrates, dressed in sumptuous clothes, skilful horsemen, all young and desirable.

¹³ Then I saw that she had defiled herself, that both sisters were equally bad.

¹⁴ She began whoring worse than ever; no sooner had she seen wall-carvings of men, pictures of Chaldaeans coloured vermilion,

¹⁵ men with sashes round their waists and elaborate turbans on their heads, all so lordly of bearing, depicting the Babylonians, natives of Chaldaea,

¹⁶ than she fell in love with them at first sight and sent messengers to them in Chaldaea.

¹⁷ The Babylonians came to her, shared her love-bed and defiled her with their whoring. Once defiled by them, she withdrew her affection from them.

¹⁸ Thus she flaunted her whoring, exposing her body, until I withdrew my affection from her as I had withdrawn it from her sister.

¹⁹ But she began whoring worse than ever, remembering her girlhood, when she had played the whore in Egypt,

²⁰ when she had been in love with their profligates, big-membered as donkeys, ejaculating as violently as stallions.

²¹ 'You were hankering for the debauchery of your girlhood, when they used to handle your nipples in Egypt and fondle your young breasts.

²² And so, Oholibah, Lord Yahweh says this, "I shall set all your lovers against you, from whom you have withdrawn your affection, and bring them to assault you from all directions:

²³ the Babylonians and all the Chaldaeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, young and desirable, all governors and magistrates, all famous lords and skilful horsemen.

²⁴ From the north, they will advance on you with chariots and wagons and an international army and beset you with shield, buckler and helmet on all sides. I shall charge them to pass sentence on you and they will pass sentence on you as they think fit.

²⁵ I shall direct my jealousy against you; they will treat you with fury; they will cut off your nose and ears, and what is left of your family will fall by the sword; they will seize your sons and daughters, and what is left will be burnt.

²⁶ They will strip off your garments and rob you of your jewels.

²⁷ I shall put an end to your debauchery and to the whorings you began in Egypt; you will not look to the Egyptians any more, you will never think of them again.

²⁸ For the Lord Yahweh says this: Now, I shall hand you over to those you hate, to those for whom you no longer feel affection.

²⁹ They will treat you with hatred, they will rob you of the entire fruit of your labours and leave you stark naked. And thus your shameful whorings will be exposed, your debauchery and your whorings.

³⁰ This will happen to you because you have played the whore with the nations and have defiled yourself with their foul idols.

³¹ Since you have copied your sister's behaviour, I shall put her cup in your hand."

³² The Lord Yahweh says this: You will drink your sister's cup, a cup both deep and wide, leading to laughter and mockery, so ample the draught it holds.

³³ You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. Cup of affliction and devastation, the cup of your sister Samaria,

³⁴ you will drink it, you will drain it; then you will break it in pieces and lacerate your own breasts. For I have spoken -- declared the Lord Yahweh.

³⁵ "And so, the Lord Yahweh says this: Since you have forgotten me and have turned your back on me, you too will have to bear the weight of your debauchery and whorings." '

³⁶ And Yahweh said to me, 'Son of man, are you ready to judge Oholah and Oholibah and charge them with their loathsome practices?

³⁷ They have been adulteresses, their hands are dripping with blood, they have committed adultery with their foul idols. As for the children they had borne me, they have offered them as burnt sacrifices to feed them.

³⁸ And here is something else they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary today and have profaned my Sabbaths.

³⁹ The same day as sacrificing their children to their idols, they have been to my sanctuary and profaned it. Yes, this is what they have done in my own house.

⁴⁰ 'Worse still, they summoned men from far away, invited by messenger, and they came. For them you bathed, you painted your eyes, put on your jewels

⁴¹ and sat on a sumptuous bed, by which a table was laid out. On this you had put my incense and my oil.

⁴² The noise of the carefree company resounded, made by the crowd of men brought in from the desert; they put bracelets on the women's arms and magnificent crowns on their heads.

⁴³ I thought, "That woman, worn out with adultery! Are they going to fornicate with her too?"

⁴⁴ Yet they visit her like any common prostitute, just as they visited those profligate women Oholah and Oholibah.

⁴⁵ All the same, there are upright men who will judge them as adulteresses and murderesses are judged, since they are adulteresses and their hands are dripping with blood."

⁴⁶ 'The Lord Yahweh says this, "Summon an assembly to deal with them, and hand them over to terror and pillage;

⁴⁷ let the assembly stone them and dispatch them with their swords; let their sons and daughters be slaughtered and their houses set on fire.

⁴⁸ This is how I shall purge the country of debauchery, so that all women will be taught the lesson never to ape your debauchery again.

⁴⁹ Your debauchery will recoil on yourselves, and you will bear the weight of the sins committed with your foul idols and you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh." '

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