Ezekiel
Chapter 23
1 God spoke to me again, saying,
2 Human, there were two sisters from the same mother:
3 In Egypt, they acted immorally; they were immoral since they were young: their bodies were touched, and their virginity was spoiled.
4 The sisters’ names were Aholah the older and Aholibah her sister. They belonged to me and had sons and daughters. Their names mean Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem is Aholibah.
5 Aholah acted like a prostitute while she was with me; she was crazy about her lovers, the Assyrians who lived nearby.
6 They wore blue, were leaders and officials, all handsome young men, horsemen riding on horses.
7 She had relations with them, all the favored men of Assyria, and with everyone she desired; she made herself unclean with all their idols.
8 She did not stop the sexual sins she started in Egypt. When she was young, they slept with her, hurt her virgin breasts, and forced their immorality on her.
9 So, I gave her to her lovers, the Assyrians, whom she adored.
10 They saw her nakedness, took her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became well-known among women because they carried out justice on her.
11 When Aholibah, her sister, saw this, she became even more immoral in her extreme lust than her sister, and in her unfaithfulness, she surpassed her sister’s unfaithfulness.
12 She was attracted to her Assyrian neighbors, handsome young men who were commanders and rulers dressed in beautiful clothes, horsemen riding on horses.
13 Then I saw she was corrupted; they both chose the same path.
14 She grew more unfaithful: she saw pictures of men on the wall, drawings of the Chaldeans colored with red.
15 Wearing belts on their waists, with fancy dyed turbans on their heads, all looking like princes, just like the Babylonians from Chaldea, the place where they were born.
16 As soon as she saw them, she longed for them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
17 The people from Babylon went to her bed to make love, and by sleeping with her, they made her unclean. She became dirty from being with them, and then she started to dislike them.
18 She revealed her unfaithfulness and exposed herself; then I became disgusted with her, just as I had with her sister.
19 She increased her unfaithfulness, remembering her youth when she acted as a prostitute in Egypt.
20 She was crazy about her lovers, who were as well-endowed as donkeys and ejaculated like stallions.
21 You remembered your wild days as a young woman, when the Egyptians touched your breasts.
22 So, O Aholibah, this is what God says: Look, I will turn your lovers against you, those you no longer care for, and I will bring them against you from all sides.
23 The Babylonians, Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, and all the Assyrians with them were all good-looking young men, leaders and officials, important men and famous, all riding horses.
24 They will attack you with chariots, carts, and wheels, surrounded by a crowd of people ready with protective gear and helmets. I will present your case to them, and they will decide what to do with you following their own rules.
25 I will become very jealous of you, and they will treat you with fierce anger. They will cut off your nose and ears; those left will die by the sword. They will take your sons and daughters, and fire will consume what remains of you.
26 They will also take off your clothes and remove your beautiful jewelry.
27 I will stop your indecency and end the unfaithful ways you brought from Egypt; you will not look to them or think of Egypt again.
28 For this is what God says: Look, I will hand you over to those you hate, to those you feel estranged from.
29 They will treat you with hate, take all you’ve worked for, and leave you naked and exposed: your shameful acts and unfaithfulness will be revealed.
30 I will do these things to you because you chased after other nations and became unclean with their idols.
31 You have followed your sister’s path; so I will make you drink from her cup.
32 God says, “You will drink from your sister’s big deep cup; you will be mocked and ridiculed; it holds a lot.”
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sadness, with a cup of shock and ruin, with the cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You will drink it, drain it, break its pieces, and tear off your breasts. I have said it, says God.
35 So God says, because you have forgotten me and ignored me, now you must deal with your bad behavior and your unfaithfulness.
36 God said to me, “Human, will you judge Aholah and Aholibah? Yes, tell them about their horrible acts.”
37 They were unfaithful, their hands are bloody, they were unfaithful with their idols, and they made their sons, whom they had for me, go through fire, consuming them.
38 They have also done this to me: they have made my holy place dirty on that same day, and they have disrespected my special days of rest.
39 After they killed their children for their idols, they entered my sacred place on that same day to disrespect it; look, this is what they have done in my house.
40 You also called men from far away, to whom you sent a messenger; and look, they came. You bathed, put on eye makeup, and wore jewelry for them.
41 You sat on a fancy bed with a table set in front of it, where you placed my incense and my oil.
42 A crowd’s voice enjoying themselves was with her; and ordinary men brought Sabeans from the desert who put bracelets on their arms and pretty crowns on their heads.
43 I said to the woman known for her many sins, “Will they engage in immoral acts with her, and she with them?”
44 They had sex with her like men do with a prostitute. This is how they treated Aholah and Aholibah, the immoral women.
45 The good men will judge them like unfaithful wives and like women who kill, because they are unfaithful and have blood on their hands.
46 God says, I will send a group against them, and they will be taken away and robbed.
47 The group will throw stones at them and kill them with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses.
48 I will stop the shameful behavior in the land so all women learn not to imitate your shamefulness.
49 They will punish you for your bad acts, and you will suffer for worshipping your idols: and you will realize that I am God.