Two Harlot Sisters
1 The word of theLordcame again to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, there weretwo women,
The daughters of one mother.
3 They committed harlotry in Egypt,
# They committed harlotry intheir youth;
Their breasts were there embraced,
Their virgin bosom was there pressed.
4 Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibahher sister;
# They were Mine,
And they bore sons and daughters.
Asfortheir names,
SamariaisOholah, and JerusalemisOholibah.
The Older Sister, Samaria
5 “Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine;
# And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboringAssyrians,
6 Whowereclothed in purple,
Captains and rulers,
All of them desirable young men,
Horsemen riding on horses.
7 Thus she committed her harlotry with them,
All of them choice men of Assyria;
And with all for whom she lusted,
With all their idols, she defiled herself.
8 She has never given up her harlotrybroughtfrom Egypt,
For in her youth they had lain with her,
Pressed her virgin bosom,
And poured out their immorality upon her.
9 “Therefore I have delivered her
Into the hand of her lovers,
# Into the hand of theAssyrians,
For whom she lusted.
10 They uncovered her nakedness,
Took away her sons and daughters,
And slew her with the sword;
She became a byword among women,
For they had executed judgment on her.
The Younger Sister, Jerusalem
11 “Nowalthough her sister Oholibah sawthis,she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry.
12 “She lusted for the neighboringAssyrians,
# Captains and rulers,
Clothed most gorgeously,
Horsemen riding on horses,
All of them desirable young men.
13 Then I saw that she was defiled;
Bothtookthe same way.
14 But she increased her harlotry;
She looked at men portrayed on the wall,
# Images ofChaldeans portrayed in vermilion,
15 Girded with belts around their waists,
Flowing turbans on their heads,
All of them looking like captains,
In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea,
The land of their nativity.
16 As soon as her eyes saw them,
She lusted for them
# And sentmessengers to them in Chaldea.
17 “Then the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love,
And they defiled her with their immorality;
# So she was defiled by them,and alienated herself from them.
18 She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness.
# ThenIalienated Myself from her,
As I had alienated Myself from her sister.
19 “Yet she multiplied her harlotry
In calling to remembrance the days of her youth,
# When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 For she lusted for her paramours,
Whose fleshislikethe flesh of donkeys,
And whose issueislikethe issue of horses.
21 Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth,
# When theEgyptians pressed your bosom
Because of your youthful breasts.
Judgment on Jerusalem
22 “Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the LordGod:
# ‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you,
From whom you have alienated yourself,
And I will bring them against you from every side:
23 The Babylonians,
All the Chaldeans,
# Pekod, Shoa, Koa,
# All the Assyrians with them,
All of them desirable young men,
Governors and rulers,
Captains and men of renown,
All of them riding on horses.
24 And they shall come against you
With chariots, wagons, and war-horses,
With a horde of people.
They shall array against you
Buckler, shield, and helmet all around.
‘I will delegate judgment to them,
And they shall judge you according to their judgments.
25 I will set Myjealousy against you,
And they shall deal furiously with you;
They shall remove your nose and your ears,
And your remnant shall fall by the sword;
They shall take your sons and your daughters,
And your remnant shall be devoured by fire.
26 They shall also strip you of your clothes
And take away your beautiful jewelry.
27 ‘ThusI will make you cease your lewdness and yourharlotry
Broughtfrom the land of Egypt,
So that you will not lift your eyes to them,
Nor remember Egypt anymore.’
28 “For thus says the LordGod: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hand ofthose you hate, into the handofthosefrom whom you alienated yourself.
29 They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, andleave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry.
30 I will do thesethingsto you because you havegone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols.
31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put hercup in your hand.’
32 “Thus says the LordGod:
‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup,
The deep and wide one;
# You shall be laughed to scorn
And held in derision;
It contains much.
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
The cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You shalldrink and drain it,
You shall break its shards,
And tear at your own breasts;
For I have spoken,’
Says the LordGod.
35 “Therefore thus says the LordGod:
# ‘Because youhave forgotten Me andcast Me behind your back,
Therefore you shall bear thepenalty
Ofyour lewdness and your harlotry.’ ”
Both Sisters Judged
36 TheLordalso said to me: “Son of man, will youjudge Oholah and Oholibah? Thendeclare to them their abominations.
37 For they have committed adultery, andbloodison their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and evensacrificedtheir sonswhom they bore to Me, passing them throughthefire,to devourthem.
38 Moreover they have done this to Me: They havedefiled My sanctuary on the same day andprofaned My Sabbaths.
39 For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeedthus they have done in the midst of My house.
40 “Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar,to whom a messengerwassent; and there they came. And youwashed yourself for them,painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.
41 You sat on a statelycouch, with a table prepared before it,on which you had set My incense and My oil.
42 The sound of a carefree multitudewaswith her, and Sabeanswerebrought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.
43 Then I said concerningherwhohadgrownold in adulteries, ‘Will they commit harlotry with her now, and shewiththem?’
44 Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women.
45 But righteous men willjudge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because theyareadulteresses, andbloodison their hands.
46 “For thus says the LordGod:‘Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder.
47 The assembly shall stone them with stones and execute them with their swords;they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire.
48 ThusI will cause lewdness to cease from the land,that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness.
49 They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shallpay for your idolatrous sins.Then you shall know that Iamthe LordGod.’ ”