Ezekiel 23
The Lord describes two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah, who represent Samaria and Jerusalem, as having committed spiritual adultery by turning to other nations and idols for help and comfort. Oholah, representing Samaria, was first to commit adultery with the Assyrians, while Oholibah, representing Jerusalem, followed her example and also committed adultery with the Assyrians and the Babylonians. The Lord declares that He will judge both sisters for their sins, and they will be punished by the very nations with whom they committed adultery. The chapter concludes with the Lord stating that He will put an end to their wickedness and that all women will learn not to act according to their wickedness.
1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying2"Son of man, two women were daughters of one mother3and they fornicated in Egypt; they committed fornication in their youth. In that place, their breasts were conquered; the breasts of their adolescence were subdued4Now their names were Oholah, the elder, and Oholibah, her younger sister. And I held them, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names: Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem5And then, Oholah committed fornication against me, and she acted madly with her lovers, with the Assyrians who approached her6who were clothed with hyacinth: rulers and magistrates, passionate youths and all of the horsemen, mounted on horses7And she distributed her fornications to those chosen men, all of them sons of the Assyrians. And she defiled herself with the uncleanness of all those whom she madly desired8Moreover, she also did not abandon her fornications, which she had done in Egypt. For they also slept with her in her youth, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication upon her9Because of this, I have delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the sons of the Assur, whom she has lustfully desired10They uncovered her shame; they took away her sons and daughters; and they slew her with the sword. And they became infamous women. And they carried out judgments in her11And when her sister, Oholibah, had seen this, she was even more mad with lust than the other. And her fornication was beyond the fornication of her sister12She shamelessly offered herself to the sons of the Assyrians, to the rulers and magistrates who brought themselves to her clothed with colorful garments, to the horsemen who were carried by horses, and to the youths, all of them exceptional in appearance13And I saw that she had been defiled, and that they both took the same path14And she increased her fornications. And when she had seen men depicted on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans, expressed in colors15with belts wrapped around the waist, and with dyed headdresses on their heads, having seen the appearance of all the rulers, the likenesses of the sons of Babylon and of the land of the Chaldeans in which they were born16she became mad for them with the desire of her eyes, and she sent messengers to them in Chaldea17And when the sons of Babylon had gone to her, to the bed of breasts, they defiled her with their fornications, and she was polluted by them, and her soul was gorged by them18Also, her fornications were uncovered, and her shame was revealed. And my soul withdrew from her, as my soul had withdrawn from her sister19For she multiplied her fornications, remembering the days of her youth, in which she fornicated in the land of Egypt20And she was mad with lust after lying with them, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys, and whose flow is like the flow of horses21And you have revisited the crimes of your youth, when your breasts were conquered in Egypt, and the breasts of your adolescence were subdued22Because of this, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will raise up against you all of your lovers, with whom your soul has been gorged. And I will gather them together against you all around23the sons of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, the nobles, the sovereigns and princes, all the sons of the Assyrians, youths of exceptional form, all the rulers and magistrates, the leaders among leaders, and the renowned riders of horses24And they will overwhelm you, well-equipped with chariot and wheel, a multitude of peoples. They will be armed against you on every side with armor and shield and helmet. And I will give judgment to their eyes, and they will judge you with their judgments25And against you, I will set my zeal, which they will execute upon you with fury. They will cut off your nose and your ears. And what remains will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and your daughters, and your youngest will be devoured by fire26And they will strip you of your vestments, and take away the articles of your glory27And I will cause your wickedness to cease from you, and your fornication to cease from the land of Egypt. Neither shall you lift up your eyes toward them, and you shall no longer remember Egypt28For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you have hated, into the hands by which your soul has been gorged29And they will act toward you with hatred, and they will take away all your labors, and they will send you away naked and filled with disgrace. And the shame of your fornication will be revealed: your crimes and your fornications30They have done these things to you, because you have fornicated after the Gentiles, among whom you were defiled by their idols31You have walked in the way of your sister, and so I will give her chalice into your hand32Thus says the Lord God: You will drink the chalice of your sister, deep and wide. You will be held in derision and in ridicule, to a very great extent33You will be filled with inebriation and sorrow, by the chalice of grief and sadness, by the chalice of your sister Samaria34And you will drink it, and you will empty it, even to the dregs. And you will consume even its particles. And you will wound your own breasts. For I have spoken, says the Lord God35Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Since you have forgotten me, and you have cast me behind your body, so also will you bear your wickedness and your fornications.36And the Lord spoke to me, saying: "Son of man, should you not judge Oholah and Oholibah, and announce to them their crimes37For they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands, and they have fornicated with their idols. Moreover, they have offered even their children, whom they bore for me, to them to be devoured38But they have done even this to me: They have defiled my sanctuary on the same day, and they have profaned my Sabbaths39And when they immolated their children to their idols, they also entered my sanctuary on the same day, so that they defiled it. They have done these things, even in the midst of my house40They sent for men who were coming from far away, to whom they had sent a messenger. And so, behold, they arrived, those for whom you washed yourself, and smeared cosmetics around your eyes, and were adorned with feminine ornaments41You sat upon a very beautiful bed, and a table was adorned before you, on which you placed my incense and my ointment42And the voice of a multitude was exulting within her. And concerning certain men, who were being led out of a multitude of persons, and who were arriving from the desert, they placed bracelets on their hands and beautiful crowns on their heads43And I said about her, as she was being worn away by her adulteries, ‘Even now, she continues in her fornication!44And they entered to her, as if to a kept woman. So did they enter to Oholah and Oholibah, nefarious women45But there are just men; these shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of those who shed blood. For they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands46For thus says the Lord God: Lead upon them a multitude, and hand them over to tumult and to pillaging47And may they be stoned with the stones of the peoples, and may they be pierced with their own swords. They will put to death their sons and daughters, and they will burn their houses with fire48And I will take away wickedness from the land. And all women shall learn not to act according to their wickedness49And they will set your own crimes upon you, and you will bear the sins of your idols. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.
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