Ezekiel 22:1–23:49
22 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Now, son of man, awill you judge, will you judge bthe bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations! 3 Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The city sheds cblood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. 4 You have become guilty by the blood which you have dshed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; etherefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries. 5 Those near and those far from you will mock you as 1infamous and full of tumult.
6 “Look, fthe princes of Israel: each one has used his 2power to shed blood in you. 7 In you they have gmade light of father and mother; in your midst they have hoppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the 3fatherless and the widow. 8 You have despised My holy things and iprofaned My Sabbaths. 9 In you are jmen who slander to cause bloodshed; kin you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness. 10 In you men luncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are mset apart during their impurity. 11 One commits abomination nwith his neighbor’s wife; oanother lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s pdaughter. 12 In you qthey take bribes to shed blood; ryou take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and shave forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.
13 “Behold, therefore, I tbeat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. 14 uCan your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? vI, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it. 15 wI will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and xremove your filthiness completely from you. 16 You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then yyou shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
17 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, zthe house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a afurnace; they have become dross from silver. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to bmelt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. 21 Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. 22 As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have cpoured out My fury on you.’ ”
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is dnot 4cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25 eThe conspiracy of her 5prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they fhave devoured 6people; gthey have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 hHer priests have 7violated My law and iprofaned My holy things; they have not jdistinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her kprinces in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy 8people, and to get dishonest gain. 28 lHer prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, mseeing false visions, and divining nlies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord had not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully ooppress the stranger. 30 pSo I sought for a man among them who would qmake a wall, and rstand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have spoured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed ttheir deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
23 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, there were atwo women,
The daughters of one mother.
3 bThey committed harlotry in Egypt,
They committed harlotry in ctheir youth;
Their breasts were there embraced,
Their virgin bosom was there pressed.
4 Their names: 1Oholah the elder and 2Oholibah dher sister;
eThey were Mine,
And they bore sons and daughters.
As for their names,
Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
5 “Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine;
And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring fAssyrians,
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 harlotry brought gfrom 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 the hAssyrians,
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.
11 “Now ialthough her sister Oholibah saw this, jshe became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry.
12 “She lusted for the neighboring kAssyrians,
lCaptains and rulers,
Clothed most gorgeously,
Horsemen riding on horses,
All of them desirable young men.
13 Then I saw that she was defiled;
Both took the same way.
14 But she increased her harlotry;
She looked at men portrayed on the wall,
Images of mChaldeans 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 nAs soon as her eyes saw them,
She lusted for them
And sent omessengers to them in Chaldea.
17 “Then the 3Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love,
And they defiled her with their immorality;
So she was defiled by them, pand alienated herself from them.
18 She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness.
Then qI ralienated 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,
sWhen she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 For she lusted for her 4paramours,
Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys,
And whose issue is like the issue of horses.
21 Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth,
When the tEgyptians pressed your bosom
Because of your youthful breasts.
22 “Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God:
u‘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:
All the Chaldeans,
vPekod, Shoa, Koa,
wAll 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 My xjealousy 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 yThey shall also strip you of your clothes
And take away your beautiful jewelry.
27 ‘Thus zI will make you cease your lewdness and your aharlotry
Brought from the land of Egypt,
So that you will not lift your eyes to them,
Nor remember Egypt anymore.’
28 “For thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hand of bthose you hate, into the hand of those cfrom whom you alienated yourself. 29 dThey will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and eleave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry. 30 I will do these things to you because you have fgone 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 her gcup in your hand.’
‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup,
The deep and wide one;
hYou 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 shall idrink and drain it,
You shall break its 5shards,
And tear at your own breasts;
For I have spoken,’
Says the Lord God.
35 “Therefore thus says the Lord God:
‘Because you jhave forgotten Me and kcast Me behind your back,
Therefore you shall bear the penalty
Of your lewdness and your harlotry.’ ”
36 The Lord also said to me: “Son of man, will you ljudge Oholah and Oholibah? Then mdeclare to them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, and nblood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons owhom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them. 38 Moreover they have done this to Me: They have pdefiled My sanctuary on the same day and qprofaned My Sabbaths. 39 For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane