Ezekiel 23

1The word of Yahweh came to me:

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

3They prostituted themselves in Egypt; in their youth they prostituted themselves. There their breasts were fondled, and there their virgin bosoms were caressed.

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

5Oholah prostituted herself while she was mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians close by,

6clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.

7She gave herself as a prostitute to them, all of them the elite of Assyria, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after.

8She did not give up the prostitution she had practiced since Egypt, for in her youth men had lain with her, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust on her.

9Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, to the Assyrians she lusted after.

10They uncovered her nakedness, took her sons and her daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women, and judgment was carried out on her.

11Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than her sister, and her prostitution was worse than her sister’s.

12She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders close by, clothed in full splendor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.

13I saw that she had defiled herself; both of them went the same way.

14But she carried her prostitution further. She saw men carved on the wall, images of Chaldeans engraved in red,

15with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the likeness of Babylonians whose native land is Chaldea.

16As soon as she saw them she lusted after them, and she sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

17The Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and defiled her with their lust. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.

18She carried on her prostitution openly and uncovered her nakedness, and I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister.

19Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt.

20She lusted after her lovers there, whose flesh was like that of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

21So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your bosom and fondled your young breasts.

22Therefore, Oholibah, this is what Lord Yahweh says: I am going to stir up your lovers against you, those you turned from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side:

23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and commanders, officers and men of renown, all of them riding horses.

24They will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a horde of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with large shield, small shield, and helmet. I will give them the task of judging, and they will judge you by their own ways of judging.

25I will direct my jealousy against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your nose and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters, and what is left of you will be consumed by fire.

26They will strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewelry.

27So I will put an end to your lewdness and to the prostitution you brought from the land of Egypt. You will not look to them anymore, and you will no longer remember Egypt.

28For this is what Lord Yahweh says: I am going to hand you over to those you hate, to those you turned from in disgust.

29They will deal with you in hatred, take everything you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your prostitution will be uncovered, your lewdness and your prostitution.

30These things will be done to you because you prostituted yourself with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.

31You have walked in the way of your sister, so I will put her cup in your hand.

32This is what Lord Yahweh says: You will drink your sister’s cup, deep and wide; it will bring you scorn and mockery, for it holds so much.

33You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, a cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.

34You will drink it and drain it; you will gnaw its broken pieces and tear at your breasts. For I have spoken, declares Lord Yahweh.

35Therefore this is what Lord Yahweh says: Because you have forgotten me and thrown me behind your back, you too must bear the consequences of your lewdness and your prostitution.”

36Yahweh said 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 on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and they have even handed over to their idols, to be devoured, the sons they bore to me.

38They have also done this to me: on that same day they defiled my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths.

39On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they came into my sanctuary to profane it. That is what they did inside my house.

40They even sent for men who came from far away. A messenger was sent to them, and they came. For them you bathed, painted your eyes, and put on jewelry.

41You sat on a splendid couch, with a table spread before it, on which you had set my incense and my oil.

42The sound of a carefree crowd was around her. Along with men from the common throng, Sabeans were brought in from the wilderness, and they put bracelets on the women’s arms and beautiful crowns on their heads.

43Then I said about the one worn out by adulteries, ‘Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is what she is.’

44They went in to her as men go in to a prostitute. So they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, those lewd women.

45But righteous men will judge them with the sentence for adulteresses and the sentence for women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

46For this is what Lord Yahweh says: Bring up an assembly against them, and hand them over to terror and plunder.

47The assembly will stone them and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire.

48So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, and all women will take warning and not imitate your lewdness.

49They will repay you for your lewdness, and you will bear the penalty for your sins with idols. Then you will know that I am Lord Yahweh.”