Ezekiel 23

23 ¹ The word of our Father came to me:

² "Son of man, there were two women, daughters of one mother. ³ They prostituted themselves in Egypt; in their youth they prostituted themselves sexually. There their breasts were fondled, and there their virgin breasts were caressed. ⁴ Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. They became mine and bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. ¹ 1 v4 The two names are a play on words: Oholah means "her own tent" — Samaria's self-made worship — and Oholibah means "my tent is in her," for the Father's own sanctuary stood in Jerusalem.

⁵ Oholah prostituted herself while she was mine; she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians, warriors ⁶ clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. ⁷ She prostituted herself with them — the finest men of Assyria, every one — and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after. ⁸ She did not give up the whoring she had begun in Egypt, where men had lain with her in her youth and fondled her virgin breasts and poured out their lust on her. ⁹ Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, to the Assyrians for whom she lusted. ¹⁰ They uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and daughters; and killed her with the sword. She became infamous among women, for these judgments were carried out against her.

¹¹ Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than her sister, and her prostitution was worse than her sister's. ¹² She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. ¹³ And I saw that she too had defiled herself; both of them had gone down the same path.

¹⁴ But she carried her whoring further. She saw men carved on the wall, figures of the Chaldeans portrayed in vivid red, ¹⁵ with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. ¹⁶ As soon as she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷ Then the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love, and defiled her with their whoring. After she was defiled by them, she turned from them in disgust. ¹⁸ When she flaunted her whoring and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, as I had turned away from her sister. ¹⁹ Yet she plunged deeper into prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt, ²⁰ and lusted after her lovers there, whose flesh was like the flesh of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. ²¹ So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your breasts and pressed your young body.

The Father's Judgment on Oholibah

²² Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Father says: Look, I will stir up your lovers against you, the very ones from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side — ²³ the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. ²⁴ They will come against you from the north with chariots and wagons and a horde of peoples; they will set themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will hand judgment over to them, and they will deal with you as they see fit. ²⁵ I will set my jealousy against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and your daughters, and what is left of you will be devoured by fire. ²⁶ They will strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. ²⁷ So I will put an end to your lewdness and the whoring you began in the land of Egypt, so that you will never look with longing at them or remember Egypt anymore.

²⁸ For this is what the Sovereign Father says: Look, I am handing you over to those you hate, to those from whom you turned in disgust. ²⁹ They will deal with you in hatred and take away all you have worked for, leaving you naked and bare, so that the nakedness of your whoring is exposed. Your lewdness and your whoring ³⁰ have brought this upon you, because you prostituted yourself with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. ³¹ You have followed in your sister's footsteps; so I will put her cup into your hand.

³² This is what the Sovereign Father says: You will drink your sister's cup, deep and wide; you will be laughed at and ridiculed, for it is filled to the brim. ³³ You will be filled with drunkenness and grief a cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria. ³⁴ You will drink it and drain it dry and gnaw its broken pieces and tear your own breasts for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Father.

³⁵ Therefore this is what the Sovereign Father says: Because you have forgotten me and thrown me behind your back, you yourself must bear the weight of your lewdness and your whoring.

The Father Judges Both Sisters

³⁶ Our Father said to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then confront them with their abominations. ³⁷ For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols, and they even offered up the children they had borne to me, passing them through the fire as food for their idols. ³⁸ They also did this to me: on that same day they defiled my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths. ³⁹ On the very day they slaughtered their children to their idols, they came into my sanctuary to profane it. That is what they did inside my house.

⁴⁰ They even sent for men to come from far away — messengers were sent to them, and sure enough, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and put on your jewels. ⁴¹ You sat on a stately couch with a table spread before it, and on it you set my incense and my oil. ⁴² The sound of a carefree crowd was with her; and along with the rabble, drunkards were brought in from the wilderness, and they put bracelets on the women's wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads. ⁴³ Then I said of this woman worn out by adultery, 'Now they will keep using her as a prostitute, and she lets them.' ⁴⁴ They went in to her as men go in to a prostitute; so they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, these lewd women. ⁴⁵ But righteous men will judge them with the sentence given to adulteresses and to women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

⁴⁶ For this is what the Sovereign Father says: Bring up a horde against them, and hand them over to terror and plunder. ⁴⁷ The horde will stone them and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and burn down their houses. ⁴⁸ So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not imitate your lewdness. ⁴⁹ They will bring the weight of your lewdness upon you, and you will bear the guilt of your idolatry; then you will know that I am the Sovereign Father."