Two Sisters
23:1 The word of the Lord came to me:
23:2 “Son of man, there were two women who were daughters of the same mother.
23:3 They engaged in prostitution in Egypt; in their youth they engaged in prostitution. Their breasts were squeezed there; lovers1 fondled their virgin nipples there.
23:4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah2 the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters.3 Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.
23:5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine.4 She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians5—warriors6
23:6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.
23:7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria.7 She defiled herself with all whom she desired8—with all their idols.
23:8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her.9
23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians10 for whom she lusted.
23:10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious11 among women, and they executed judgments against her.
23:11 “Her sister Oholibah watched this,12 but she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister had been, and her acts of prostitution were more numerous than those of her sister.
23:12 She lusted after the Assyrians—governors and officials, warriors in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.
23:13 I saw that she was defiled; both of them followed the same path.
23:14 But she increased her prostitution. She saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans carved in bright red,13
23:15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians14 whose native land is Chaldea.
23:16 When she saw them,15 she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.16
23:17 The Babylonians crawled into bed with her.17 They defiled her with their lust; after she was defiled by them, she18 became disgusted with them.
23:18 When she lustfully exposed her nakedness,19 I20 was disgusted with her, just as I21 had been disgusted with her sister.
23:19 Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt.
23:20 She lusted after their genitals—they were as large as those of donkeys22 and their seminal emission was as strong as that of horses.
23:21 You longed for23 the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled24 your nipples and squeezed25 your young breasts.
23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side:
23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod,26 Shoa,27 and Koa,28 and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses.
23:24 They will attack29 you with weapons,30 chariots, wagons, and with a huge army;31 they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment;32 they will punish you according to their laws.
23:25 I will direct33 my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears,34 and your survivors will die35 by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire.
23:26 They will strip your clothes off you and take away your beautiful jewelry.
23:27 So I will put an end to your obscene conduct and your prostitution which you have practiced in the land of Egypt.36 You will not seek their help37 or remember Egypt anymore.
23:28 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am handing you over to38 those whom you hate, to those with whom you were disgusted.
23:29 They will act with hatred toward you, take away all you have worked for,39 and leave you bare naked. Your nakedness will be exposed, just as when you engaged in prostitution and obscene conduct.40
23:30 Your behavior has brought this upon you,41 because you engaged in prostitution with the nations, polluting yourself with their idols.
23:31 You have copied your sister;42 so I will place her cup of judgment43 in your hand.
23:32 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “You will drink your sister’s deep and wide cup;44 you will be scorned and derided, for it holds a great deal.
23:33 You will be overcome by45 drunkenness and sorrow. The cup of your sister Samaria is a cup of horror and desolation.
23:34 you will drain it dry,46 break it in pieces,47 and tear out your breasts;48 for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.
23:35 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you have forgotten me and completely disregarded me,49 you must bear now the punishment50 for your obscene conduct and prostitution.”
23:36 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment51 on Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds.
23:37 For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols; and their sons, whom they bore to me,52 they have offered as food to their idols.53
23:38 Moreover, they have done this to me: in the very same day54 they desecrated my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths.
23:39 On the same day they slaughtered their sons for their idols, they came to my sanctuary to desecrate it. This is what they have done in the middle of my house.
23:40 “They even sent for men from far away; when the messenger arrived, they came.55 For them you bathed,56 painted your eyes, and decorated yourself with jewelry.
23:41 You sat on a magnificent couch, with a table arranged in front of it where you placed my incense and my oil.
23:42 The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her,57 including all kinds of men;58 even Sabeans59 were brought from the desert. The sisters60 put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.
23:43 Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will commit immoral acts with her.’
23:44 They had sex with her61 as one does with a prostitute. In this way they had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, promiscuous women.
23:45 But upright men will punish them appropriately for their adultery and bloodshed,62 because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.
23:46 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Bring up an army63 against them and subject them64 to terror and plunder.
23:47 That army will pelt them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses.65
23:48 I will put an end to the obscene conduct in the land; all the women will learn a lesson from this and not engage in obscene conduct.
23:49 They will repay you for your obscene conduct, and you will be punished for the sin of idol worship.66 Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.”
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