Ezekiel 23 (ARST)

1Yahweh said to me,Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2“Son of man, listen to this parable about Jerusalem and Samaria. Once there were two women, daughters of the same mother.“Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother,

3They 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 young bosoms.and they played in Egypt, prostituting themselves from their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin bosoms caressed.

4The older sister was Oholah, and her younger sister was Oholibah. It was as though they later became my wives. Later they gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah represents Samaria, and Oholibah represents Jerusalem.The older was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their identities, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

5Oholah acted like a prostitute while she was still my wife. She desired to sleep with those whom she loved— soldiers from Assyria.Oholah prostituted herself while she was still Mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors

6Some of them were army officers and commanders. They wore beautiful purple uniforms. They were all handsome young men who rode horses.clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all desirable young men, horsemen mounted on steeds.

7She acted like a prostitute toward all the important Assyrian officials. I could no longer accept her as belonging to me, because she was worshiping all the idols of the men she wanted to sleep with.She offered sexual favors to all the elite of Assyria. She defiled herself with all the idols of those for whom she lusted.

8When she was a young woman in Egypt, she started being a prostitute, and she allowed young men to caress her breasts and have sex with her. When she became older, she did not quit acting like a prostitute.She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust upon her.

9So I allowed the Assyrian soldiers, whom she wanted to sleep with, to capture her.Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians for whom she lusted.

10They 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 how she was disgraced, and about how she deserved to suffer.They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and put her to the sword. Thus she became a byword among women, and they executed judgment against her.

11Her younger sister Oholibah saw those things that happened to Oholah, but she was also a prostitute, and she desired to sleep with men even more than her older sister had desired.Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister.

12Oholibah also wanted to sleep with the Assyrian soldiers. Some of them were army officers and commanders. They all wore beautiful uniforms. They were all handsome young men. And they rode horses.She too lusted after the Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors dressed in splendor, horsemen riding on steeds, all desirable young men.

13I saw what she did that caused me to be unable to accept her, just like her older sister.And I saw that she too had defiled herself; both of them had taken the same path.

14But she did even worse things. She saw drawings of men from Babylonia on the walls, painted in red.But Oholibah carried her prostitution even further. She saw the men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion,

15The men in the drawings had belts around their waists and long turbans on their heads. They all resembled officers from Babylonia who rode in chariots.wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like officers of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.

16As soon as she saw those drawings, she wanted to sleep with those men, and she sent messages to them in Babylonia.At the sight of them, she lusted for them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

17Then the soldiers from Babylonia came to her, lay in bed with her, and slept with her. Then she became disgusted with them and turned away from them.Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. But after she had been defiled by them, she turned away in disgust.

18But when she continued to openly act like a prostitute and to show herself naked to others, I became disgusted with her and rejected her, as I had rejected her older sister.When Oholibah openly prostituted herself and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister.

19But she became even more immoral, as she remembered when she was a young woman learning to be a prostitute in Egypt.Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt

20There she wanted to sleep with those who loved her, whose private parts were very long, like those of donkeys, and whose reproductive emissions were huge, like those of horses.and lusted after their lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions.

21So she desired to be immoral like she was when she was young, when men in Egypt caressed her bosom and fondled her young breasts.So you revisited the indecency of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your bosom and pressed your young breasts.

22Oholibah represents you people of Jerusalem. Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord say: Those soldiers who loved you but from whom you turned away because you became disgusted with them— I will make them angry with you. I will make them come and attack you from every side—Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will incite your lovers against you, those from whom you turned away in disgust. And I will bring them against you from every side—

23soldiers from Babylon and all the other places in Babylonia, and their allies from the regions of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the army of Assyria. Yes, all of them are handsome young men, army officers and commanders, officers who have great fame, all riding on horses.the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them—all desirable young men, governors and commanders, officers and men of renown, mounted on horses.

24Their huge army will attack you with weapons, riding in chariots and pulling wagons that will carry the 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 punish their enemies.They will come against you with a host of peoples, with weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will array themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet. I will delegate judgment to them, and they will punish you according to their own standards.

25Because I am very angry with you, I will cause them to act 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 it will be like a fire that burns up your descendants.And I will set My jealous rage against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your remnant will be consumed by fire.

26They will strip off your clothes and your fine jewelry, and they will take them away.They will strip off your clothes and take your fine jewelry.

27In 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; you will no longer think about what you did in Egypt.So I will put an end to your indecency and prostitution, which began in the land of Egypt, and you will not lift your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’

28This is what I, Yahweh the Lord say: Those whom you hate, those with whom you became disgusted and from whom you turned away— I am about to allow them to capture you.For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hands of those you hate, from whom you turned away in disgust.

29They will be cruel; they will take away everything that you own. They will leave you completely naked, and everyone will see that you truly are a prostitute.They will treat you with hatred, take all for which you have worked, and leave you naked and bare, so that the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your indecency and promiscuity

30It is because of what you have done that you will be punished in that way; you have been an immoral prostitute; you have slept with men of other nations, and you have made it impossible for me to accept you, because you have worshiped their idols.have brought these things upon you, because you have prostituted yourself with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.

31You have behaved like the people of Samaria, who are like your older sister. So I will cause you to be punished as they were punished.Because you have followed the path of your sister, I will put her cup into your hand.’

32This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: You will suffer when you drink from a cup that is deep and large. It will be as though you will drink from the same cup that the people of Samaria drank from. And it is because you will drink what it is in that cup, many people will scorn you and make fun of you, because when you drink from the cup it will make you drunk and then you will be overcome with sadness.This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, a cup deep and wide. It will bring scorn and derision, for it holds so much.

33When you become very drunk, you will become very sad, because drinking what is in that cup will cause you to be ruined; everyone will leave you. This is what happened to the people of Samaria, who are like your sister.You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, with a cup of devastation and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.

34You will drink all the liquid that is in that cup; then you will break that cup into pieces and use those pieces to cut your breasts because you will be very sad. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.You will drink it and drain it; you will dash it to pieces, and tear your breasts. For I have spoken,’ declares the Lord GOD.

35Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: Because you have forgotten me and rejected me, I must punish you for your immoral behavior and for being a prostitute.”Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and have cast Me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and prostitution.’”

36Yahweh said to me,“Son of man, judge the people of those two cities represented by Oholah and Oholibah. You must remind them of their detestable behavior.Then the LORD said to me: “Son of man, will you pass judgment against Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.

37It is as though they have committed adultery and have murdered people. They have been unfaithful to me by worshiping idols. They have even sacrificed their own children, who belonged to me, in fire.For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols.

38They have done other disgraceful things: they have caused my temple to be an unacceptable place for worship, and they treat the Sabbath days like any other day.They have also done this to Me: On that very same day, they defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths.

39On 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. They did these things in my own house!On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house.

40They sent messages to men in countries far away. And as those men were coming, the two sisters bathed themselves for them, painted their eyebrows, and put on jewelry.Furthermore, you sisters sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry.

41They 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.You sat on a couch of luxury with a table spread before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil,

42Soon there was a noisy crowd around them. Among the crowd there were drunkards who had come from the desert of Arabia. They put bracelets on the arms of the two sisters, and they put beautiful crowns on their heads.accompanied by the sound of a carefree crowd. Drunkards were brought in from the desert along with men from the rabble, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your head.

43Then I said about the woman who had become exhausted by sleeping with many men,‘Now those men will act toward her as though she were a prostitute, because that is all that she is.’Then I said of her who had grown old in adulteries: ‘Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is!’

44So they slept with those two women, Oholah and Oholibah, as men sleep with prostitutes.And they slept with her as with a prostitute; they slept with Oholah and Oholibah, those lewd women.

45But righteous men will condemn them to be punished, as women who commit adultery and who murder others are punished, because those women commit adultery and they murder others.But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of those who commit adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses with blood on their hands.

46So 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; allow the mob to rob them.This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Bring a mob against them and consign them to terror and plunder.

47The mob will throw stones at them to kill them; they will cut them into pieces with their swords, they will kill their sons and daughters, and they will burn down their houses.The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses.

48In that way I will cause them to stop their immoral behavior. This will warn other women to not imitate what you people of Jerusalem are doing.So I will put an end to indecency in the land, and all the women will be admonished not to imitate your behavior.

49I will punish you people of Jerusalem for your immoral behavior and for worshiping idols. Then you will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, have the power to do what I say that I will do.”They will repay you for your indecency, and you will bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’”

Ezekiel 23

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Ezekiel 23

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