1 T he Word of the Lord came to me saying,

The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,

2 “ Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother.

Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;

3 T hey sold the use of their bodies in Egypt, and did so when they were young. Their breasts were lain upon in that land. Their breasts, which had never before been held by a man, were held.

And they played the harlot in Egypt. There they played the harlot in their youth; there their bosoms were pressed and there their virgin breasts were handled.

4 T he name of the older sister was Oholah, and her younger sister was Oholibah. They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. The Older Sister—Samaria

And the names of them were Aholah the elder and Aholibah her sister, and they became Mine and they bore sons and daughters. As for the identity of their names, Aholah is Samaria and Aholibah is Jerusalem.

5 “ Oholah sold the use of her body while she was Mine. She was full of desire for her lovers, the Assyrians who lived near her

And Aholah played the harlot when she was Mine, and she was foolishly fond of her lovers and doted on the Assyrians her neighbors,

6 w ho were dressed in purple. They were rulers and leaders, all of them good-looking young men who rode on horses.

Who were clothed with blue, governors and deputies, all of them attractive young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

7 S he gave her body to them for sex. They were all the best men of Assyria. And she also sinned by worshiping the false gods of all the men she desired.

And she bestowed her harlotries upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whomever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.

8 S he did not turn away from her sex sins she had begun in Egypt. Men had lain with her since she was young. They had held her young breasts and used her to fill their desire.

Neither has she left her harlotries since the days of Egypt, for in her youth men there lay with her and handled her girlish bosom, and they poured out their sinful desire upon her.

9 S o I gave her over to her lovers the Assyrians whom she desired.

Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians upon whom she doted.

10 T hey took off her clothes. They took her sons and daughters. But they killed her with the sword. So she became a saying among women, because she was punished. The Younger Sister—Jerusalem

These uncovered her nakedness and shame; they took her sons and her daughters and they slew her with the sword, and her name became notorious and a byword among women when judgments were executed upon her.

11 “ Her sister Oholibah saw this, but she was more sinful in her desire for sex than Oholah. Her sex sins were worse than those of her sister.

And her sister Aholibah saw this; yet she was more corrupt in her foolish fondness than she, and in her harlotries she was more wanton than her sister in her harlotries.

12 S he wanted to have the Assyrians, rulers and leaders, men who were well dressed, those who rode on horses, all those good looking young men.

She doted upon the Assyrians—governors and deputies, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.

13 A nd I saw that she was sinful. Both sisters went the same way.

And I saw that she was defiled, that both took one way.

14 B ut she did even more sex sins. She saw pictures of men on the wall, pictures of Babylonians drawn in bright red.

But carried her harlotries further, for she saw men pictured upon the wall, the pictures of the Chaldeans sketched in bright red pigment,

15 T hey had belts around them, and flowing head-coverings. All of them looked like Babylonian captains who were born in Chaldea.

Girded with girdles on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, a picture of Babylonian men whose native land was Chaldea,

16 A nd when she saw them, she had a desire for sex with them, and sent word to them in Chaldea.

Then as soon as she saw them, she doted on them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

17 T he Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love. They made her sinful with their desire. And after she had had sex with them, she became sick of them.

And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their evil desire; and when she was polluted by them, she broke the relationship and pushed them away from her in disgust.

18 W hen she let her sins and her body be seen, I turned away from her in anger, as I had turned from her sister.

So she flaunted her harlotries and exposed her nakedness, and I was disgusted and turned from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister.

19 Y et she did even more sex sins. She remembered when she was young, when she sold the use of her body in the land of Egypt.

Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

20 S he was full of desire for lovers whose flesh was like those of donkeys, and whose flow was like that of horses.

For she doted upon her paramours there, whose lust was sensuous and vulgar like that of asses or stallions.

21 O holibah, you were filled with desire for the sex sins you did when you were young, when the Egyptians held your breasts. Jerusalem Is Judged

Thus you yearned for the lewdness of your youth, when those of Egypt handled your bosom on account of your girlish breasts.

22 “ So, Oholibah, the Lord God says, ‘I will bring your lovers against you, those you turned away from. I will bring them against you from every side:

Therefore, O Aholibah, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will rouse up your lovers against you, from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you on every side:

23 B abylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, good looking young men, all of them rulers, leaders, captains, and men who are well-known, all of them riding on horses.

The Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and officers all of them, princes, men of renown and counselors, all of them riding on horses.

24 T hey will come against you from the north, with war-wagons and an army of people. They will come against you on every side with battlecoverings and head-coverings. And I will let them punish you. They will punish you in their own way.

And they shall come against you with weapons, chariots, wagons and wheels, and with a host of infantry which shall array themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet round about; and I will commit the judgment and punishment to them, and they shall judge and punish you according to their customs in such matters.

25 B ecause of My jealous anger, I will let them act toward you in anger. They will cut off your nose and ears, and any people who are left will be killed by the sword. They will take your sons and daughters, and any yet left will be burned in the fire.

And I will set My jealous indignation against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears, and those who are left of you shall fall by the sword; they shall take your sons and your daughters, and the remainder shall be devoured by the fire.

26 T hey will take away your clothes and take away the beautiful objects you wear.

They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your fine jewels.

27 S o I will put an end to the sex sins you brought from the land of Egypt. You will never again look at these things with desire or remember Egypt.’

Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them nor remember Egypt any more.

28 F or the Lord God says, ‘I will give you over to those you hate, to the men you turned away from.

For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned away in disgust.

29 A nd because they hate you, they will take away everything you own and leave you without clothing. Then your body without clothes will be seen as a sinful woman.

They shall deal with you in hatred and shall take away all your labor and shall leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your wanton ways.

30 T hese things will be done to you because you have sold the use of your body to the nations, and because you have made yourself sinful with their false gods.

These things shall be done to you, because you have played the harlot after the nations and because you have defiled yourself with their idols.

31 Y ou have followed the way of your sister, so I will give you the same cup of punishment to drink.’

You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.

32 T he Lord God says, ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, which is deep and wide. You will be laughed at and made fun of, for it holds much.

Thus says the Lord God: You shall drink of your sister’s cup which is deep and wide and brimful; you shall be laughed to scorn and held in derision, for it contains much.

33 Y ou will become drunk and filled with sorrow, with the cup of fear and waste, with the cup of your sister Samaria.

You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of wasting astonishment and horror and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.

34 Y ou will drink it until it is empty. Then you will chew its pieces and tear your breasts, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God.

You shall drink it and drain it out, and then gnaw the pieces of it and shall tear your breasts; for I have spoken it, says the Lord God.

35 S o the Lord God says, ‘Because you have forgotten Me and put Me behind your back, now suffer the punishment of your sex sins.’” Both Sisters Are Judged

Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, therefore bear also your lewdness and your harlotry.

36 T he Lord said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Make them know their sinful acts.

The Lord said, moreover, to me: Son of man, will you judge Aholah and Aholibah? Then declare and show to them their abominations (the detestable, loathsome, and shamefully vile things they do),

37 F or they have not been faithful to Me, and blood is on their hands. They have left Me for their false gods. And they gave their sons to these false gods as burnt gifts, the sons they had given to Me at birth.

For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands, even with their idols have they committed adultery. And they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to their images to be devoured.

38 T hat is not all they did. At that same time they have not kept My holy place and My Days of Rest holy.

Moreover, this they have done to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have profaned My Sabbaths.

39 W hen they had killed their children for their false gods, they went into My holy place on the same day to make it unclean. This is what they did within My house.

For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into My sanctuary to profane it! And behold, thus have they done in the midst of My house!

40 T hey even sent for men who came from far away. And when they came, you washed yourselves, colored your eyes, and put on beautiful objects for them.

And furthermore, you have sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came—those for whom you washed yourself, painted your eyelids, and decked yourself with ornaments;

41 Y ou sat on a beautiful seat with a table made ready in front of it on which you had set My special perfume and My oil.

And you sat upon a stately couch with a table spread before it upon which you set My incense and My oil.

42 T he sound of a group free of care was around you. Men who drank too much were brought from the desert with men who were not important. They put beautiful objects on the women’s hands and beautiful crowns on their heads.

And the sound of a careless crowd was with her, and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness, who put bracelets upon the hands of both sisters and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

43 T hen I said about the one who was worn out by sex sins, ‘Will they now lie with her when she is this way?’

Then I said of the one worn out with adulteries, Will they now play the harlot with her and she with them?

44 B ut they went in to her as they would go in to a woman who sells the use of her body. So they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the sinful women.

Yet they went in to her as they go in to a woman who plays the harlot; so they went in to Aholah and to Aholibah, the lewd women.

45 B ut men who are right and good will punish them as women are punished who do sex sins and kill, because they are sinful women and blood is on their hands.

And the righteous men, they shall judge and condemn them to the punishment due to adulteresses, to women who shed blood, for they are adulteresses and blood is upon their hands.

46 “ The Lord God says, ‘Bring up a group against them to fill them with fear and to rob them.

For thus says the Lord God: I will bring up a host upon them and will give them over to be tossed to and fro and robbed.

47 T he group will kill them with stones and with swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses.

And the host shall stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters and burn up their houses with fire.

48 S o I will put an end to sex sins in the land, that all women will learn of the danger and not sin as you have done.

Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.

49 Y ou will suffer the penalty for your sex sins and for worshiping your false gods. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

Thus your lewdness shall be recompensed upon you and you shall suffer the penalty for your sinful idolatry; and you shall know (understand and realize) that I am the Lord God.