Ezekiel 23
Two Sisters Who Played the Harlot
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Oholah and Oholibah
23:1The Lord’s word came to me, saying,
23:2“Son of man, there were two women, daughters of one mother,
23:3and they prostituted themselves in Egypt in their youth. There their breasts fell; there they were deflowered.
23:4Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. They became Mine and bore sons and daughters. Their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
Oholah’s Prostitution with Assyria
23:5Oholah prostituted herself away from Me and set her desire upon her lovers, the Assyrians approaching her,
23:6clothed in blue-purple, leaders and generals; all choice young men, horsemen riding horses.
23:7She bestowed her prostitution upon them, all choice sons of Assyrians; and with all upon whom she set her desire, in all her reflections she was defiled.
23:8She did not abandon her prostitution from Egypt, for they lay with her in her youth; they deflowered her and poured their prostitution upon her.
23:9Therefore I handed her into her lovers’ hands, into the hands of Assyrians’ sons, upon whom she had set her desire.
23:10They uncovered her shame, took her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became a subject of talk among women, and they inflicted punishments upon her, upon the daughters.
Oholibah Corrupted Her Desire
23:11Her sister Oholibah saw this and corrupted her desire beyond hers, and her prostitution beyond her sister’s prostitution.
23:12She set her desire upon Assyrians’ sons, leaders and generals near her, clothed in finely bordered garments, horsemen riding horses; all choice young men.
23:13I saw that she was defiled; one way for the two.
23:14She added to her prostitution and saw men depicted upon the wall, images of Chaldeans drawn with a stylus,
23:15girded with embroidered work at their waists, with dyed tiaras upon their heads, all with a threefold appearance, the likeness of Chaldeans’ sons from their native land.
23:16She set her desire upon them at the sight of her eyes and sent messengers to them in the Chaldeans’ land.
23:17Babylon’s sons came to her, to a bed of lodgers, and defiled her in her prostitution. She was defiled by them, and her soul withdrew from them.
23:18She uncovered her prostitution and uncovered her shame. My soul withdrew from her, as My soul had withdrawn from her sister.
23:19You multiplied your prostitution to recall the days of your youth, in which you prostituted yourself in Egypt,
23:20and you set your desire upon the Chaldeans, whose flesh was like donkeys’ and whose genitals were horses’ genitals.
23:21You revisited the lawlessness of your youth, what you did in Egypt at your lodging, where your youthful breasts were.
The Lovers Brought Against Her
23:22Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord: Behold, I am rousing your lovers against you, those from whom your soul withdrew. I will bring them against you all around:
23:23Babylon’s sons and all the Chaldeans, Phakoud, Soue and Koue, and all Assyrians’ sons with them, choice young men, all leaders and generals, threefold men and renowned men riding horses.
23:24All will come against you from the north: chariots and wheels with a multitude of peoples, large shields and small shields; they will set a guard against you all around. I will set judgment before them, and they will punish you by their judgments.
23:25I will set My jealousy within you, and they will deal with you in fierce anger. They will remove your nose and ears and strike down your remaining people with the sword. They will take your sons and daughters, and fire will consume your remaining people.
23:26They will strip you of your clothing and take the objects of your boasting.
23:27I will turn your impieties away from you and your prostitution from Egypt’s land. You certainly will not lift your eyes toward them, and you certainly will no longer remember Egypt.
23:28For thus says the Lord, the Lord: Behold, I am handing you into the hands of those you hate, those from whom your soul withdrew.
23:29They will deal with you in hatred and take all your pains and toils. You will be naked and exposed to shame, and the shame of your prostitution and your impiety will be uncovered. Your prostitution
23:30did these things to you when you prostituted yourself after nations and were defiled in their reflections.
23:31You walked in your sister’s way; I will put her cup into your hands.
You Will Drink Your Sister’s Cup
23:32Thus says the Lord: You will drink your sister’s cup, deep and wide, abounding to bring about
23:33drunkenness; you will be filled with collapse. And the cup of annihilation, your sister Samaria’s cup—
23:34you will drink it. I will turn away her festivals and her new moons, for I have spoken, says the Lord.
23:35Therefore thus says the Lord: Because you forgot Me and cast Me behind your body, you too must take your impiety and your prostitution.”
Will You Not Judge Them?
23:36The Lord said to me, “Son of man, will you not judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare their lawless deeds to them,
23:37for they committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their reflections, and made their children whom they bore to Me pass through fire offerings for them.
23:38They even did these things to Me: they defiled My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
23:39When they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My holy places to profane them. Indeed, they acted this way within My house.
23:40Indeed, for the men coming from far away, to whom they sent messengers—as soon as they arrived, you immediately bathed, painted your eyes with antimony and adorned yourself with ornaments,
23:41and sat upon a spread couch with an adorned table before it. My incense and My oil—they delighted in them.
23:42They struck up a harmonious sound. With men arriving from the mass of people out of the wilderness, they gave bracelets for their hands and a crown of boasting upon their heads.
23:43I said, ‘Do they not commit adultery in these things? A prostitute’s deeds—and she herself prostituted herself!’
23:44They entered her as they enter a prostitute; so they entered Oholah and Oholibah to commit lawlessness.
The Sentence on the Two Sisters
23:45Righteous men will punish them with the punishment of an adulteress and the punishment of bloodshed, for they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.
23:46Thus says the Lord, the Lord: Bring a multitude against them and set turmoil and plunder among them,
23:47and stone them with the multitude’s stones and pierce them with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses.
23:48I will turn impiety away from the land. All women will be disciplined and certainly will not act according to their impieties.
23:49Your impiety will be brought upon you, and you will receive the sins of your reflections. You will know that I am the Lord.”
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.