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

Yahweh’s word 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 prostitute in Egypt; they played the prostitute in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity.

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

Their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

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

Oholah played the prostitute when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, 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 rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on 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.

She gave herself as a prostitute to them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whoever 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 prostitution since leaving Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their prostitution on her.

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

Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, on 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; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on 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.

Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her prostitution which were more than the prostitution of her sister.

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 on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.

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

I saw that she was defiled; they 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.

She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,

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

dressed with girdles on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them princes to look on, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.

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

As soon as she saw them she doted on them, and sent messengers to them into 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.

The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.

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 uncovered her prostitution, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated 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 prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the prostitute 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.

She doted on their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

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 called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the handling of your bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth.

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, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, 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, Shoa, Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, 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.

They shall come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet all around; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.

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.

I will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears; and your residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take your sons and your daughters; and your residue 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 beautiful 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 will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your prostitution from the land of Egypt; so that you shall 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 Yahweh: Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated;

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.

and 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 prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution.

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 prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted 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 will I 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 Yahweh: You will drink of your sister’s cup, which is deep and large; you will be ridiculed and held in derision; 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 astonishment 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 even drink it and drain it out, and you shall gnaw the broken pieces of it, and shall tear your breasts; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh.

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 Yahweh: Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.

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

Yahweh said moreover to me: Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare to them their abominations.

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 in their hands; and 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 them 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 in 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 middle 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.

Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and decorate 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 sit on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon 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.

The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on their hands, and beautiful crowns on 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 her who was old in adulteries, Now they will play the prostitute 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.

They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute: so went they in to Oholah and to Oholibah, 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.

Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in 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 Yahweh: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth 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.

The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall kill 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.’”

They shall recompense your lewdness on you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols; and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.