Ezekiel 23

1 The Lord’s word came to me. 2 “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother.” 3 “They went whoring in Egypt during their youth. There their breasts fell, and there they lost their virginity.” 4 “The older was named Oholah and her sister Oholibah. They became mine and bore sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.” 5 “Oholah went whoring from me and longed for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians,” 6 “who wore blue. They were rulers and captains, choice young men, all mounted on horses.” 7 “She gave her whoring to them, all the choice sons of Assyria. With everyone she desired, she defiled herself with all her devisings.” 8 “She did not abandon the whoring she began with the Egyptians, who had slept with her in her youth, taken her virginity, and poured out their whoring on her.” 9 “So I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians for whom she longed.” 10 “They exposed her nakedness, took her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women when they executed punishment against her.” 11 “Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet indulged her desire more corruptly and multiplied her whoring beyond her sister’s.” 12 “She longed for the neighboring Assyrians—the rulers and captains dressed in fine linen, all choice young horsemen.” 13 “I saw that both sisters had defiled themselves in the same way.” 14 “But she multiplied her whoring. She saw men portrayed on a wall, images of the Chaldeans drawn with a stylus.” 15 “They wore colorful belts around their waists and richly dyed headwear. They all had a princely appearance, looking like native Chaldeans.” 16 “She longed for them as soon as she saw them and sent messengers to them in the land of the Chaldeans.” [b] 17 “The Babylonians came to her bed of rest and defiled her through her whoring. After they defiled her, she became disgusted with them.” 18 “When she exposed her whoring and nakedness, I became disgusted with her just as I had with her sister.” 19 “You multiplied your whoring and recalled the days of your youth, when you went whoring in Egypt.” 20 “You longed for the Chaldeans, whose flesh was like that of donkeys and whose organs were like those of horses.” 21 “You returned to the lawlessness of your youth, to what you did in your lodging in Egypt, the place of your young breasts.” 22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord says: Look, I will stir up against you the lovers who disgust you and bring them against you from every side.” 23 “The Babylonians, all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians will come with them. They are choice young men, governors, captains, rulers, and renowned horsemen.” [a] 24 “They will all come against you from the north with chariots, wheels, and a multitude of nations with large and small shields. They will set a watch around you on every side, and I will place judgment before them so they can punish you by their judgments.” 25 “I will bring my jealousy against you, and they will deal with you in great wrath. They will remove your nose and ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and daughters, and fire will consume those who remain.” 26 “They will strip off your clothing and take your ornaments.” 27 “In this way I will turn you back from your ungodliness and from the whoring you began in Egypt. You will no longer look toward them or remember Egypt.” 28 “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Look, I will hand you over to those you hate, those who disgust you.” 29 “They will deal with you hatefully, take all the fruit of your labor and toil, and leave you naked and bare. The shame of your whoring and your ungodliness will be exposed.” 30 “Your whoring did this to you, because you went whoring after the nations and defiled yourself with their devisings.” 31 “You followed your sister’s path, so I will place her cup in your hand.” 32 “This is what the Lord says: You will drink your sister’s deep, wide, overflowing cup to the last.” 33 “You will be filled with drunkenness and weakness by the cup of ruin, the cup of your sister Samaria.” 34 “You will drink it, and I will take away her feasts and new moons, because I have spoken, says the Lord.” [c] 35 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Because you forgot me and threw me behind your back, you too must bear your ungodliness and your whoring.” 36 The Lord asked me, 36 “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare their lawless deeds to them.” 37 “They committed adultery and had blood on their hands. They committed adultery with their devisings and passed through the fire the children they bore for me.” 38 “They also defiled my holy things and treated my Sabbaths as common while doing these things.” 39 “When they sacrificed their children to their idols, they also entered my holy place and treated it as common. This is what they did within my temple.” 40 “They also sent messengers to people from far away. As soon as they arrived, you washed yourself, painted your eyes, and put on ornaments.” 41 “You sat on a prepared bed with a table set before it, and they took delight in my incense and oil placed there.” 42 “A sound of music rose with a crowd of men coming from the wilderness. They placed bracelets on the women’s hands and glorious crowns on their heads.” 43 “Then I asked, ‘Do they not commit adultery with these women? She too has gone whoring—the works of a prostitute.’” 44 “They went in to Oholah and Oholibah as men go in to a prostitute, committing lawlessness.” 45 “Righteous men will punish them with the punishment for adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses with blood on their hands.” 46 “This is what the Lord God says: Bring a crowd against them and hand them over to trouble and plunder.” 47 “Have the crowd stone them and pierce them with swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses.” 48 “I will remove ungodliness from the land. All women will learn from this and will not imitate their ungodliness.” 49 “Your ungodliness will be repaid on you, and you will bear the sins of your devisings. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”