Judgment on Jerusalem’s Sins

22 The word of the Lord came to me:

2 “Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed?b Then confront her with all her detestable practicesc 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding bloodd in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, 4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shede and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come.f Therefore I will make you an object of scorng to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries.h 5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.i

6 “ ‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.j 7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt;k in you they have oppressed the foreignerl and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.m 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.n 9 In you are slandererso who are bent on shedding blood;p in you are those who eat at the mountain shrinesq and commit lewd acts.r 10 In you are those who dishonor their father’s bed;s in you are those who violate women during their period,t when they are ceremonially unclean.u 11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife,v another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law,w and another violates his sister,x his own father’s daughter.y 12 In you are people who accept bribesz to shed blood; you take interesta and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors.b And you have forgottenc me, declares the Sovereign Lord.d

13 “ ‘I will surely strike my handse together at the unjust gainf you have made and at the bloodg you have shed in your midst.h 14 Will your courage endurei or your handsj be strong in the day I deal with you? I the Lord have spoken,k and I will do it.l 15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatterm you through the countries; and I will put an end ton your uncleanness.o 16 When you have been defileda in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

17 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, the people of Israel have become drossp to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace.q They are but the dross of silver.r 19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have all become dross,s I will gather you into Jerusalem. 20 As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.t 21 I will gather you and I will blowu on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her.v 22 As silver is meltedw in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrathx on you.’ ”y

23 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’z 25 There is a conspiracya of her princesb within her like a roaring lionb tearing its prey; they devour people,c take treasures and precious things and make many widowsd within her. 26 Her priests do violence to my lawe and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common;f they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean;g and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profanedh among them.i 27 Her officialsj within her are like wolvesk tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill peoplel to make unjust gain.m 28 Her prophets whitewashn these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations.o They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.p 29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery;q they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner,r denying them justice.s

30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wallt and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.u 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger,v bringing downw on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.x”

Two Adulterous Sisters

23 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother.y 3 They became prostitutes in Egypt,z engaging in prostitutiona from their youth.b In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed.c 4 The older was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.d

5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine; and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrianse—warriorsf 6 clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted horsemen. 7 She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after.g 8 She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt,h when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her.i

9 “Therefore I delivered her into the handsj of her lovers,k the Assyrians, for whom she lusted.l 10 They strippedm her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women,n and punishment was inflictedo on her.p

11 “Her sister Oholibah saw this,q yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister.r 12 She too lusted after the Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men.s 13 I saw that she too defiled herself; both of them went the same way.t

14 “But she carried her prostitution still further. She saw men portrayed on a wall,u figures of Chaldeansa portrayed in red,v 15 with beltsw around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers, natives of Chaldea.b 16 As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengersx to them in Chaldea.y 17 Then the Babyloniansz came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.a 18 When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her naked body,b I turned awayc from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister.d 19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. 21 So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.c e

22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stir up your loversf against you, those you turned away from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every sideg—23 the Babyloniansh and all the Chaldeans,i the men of Pekodj and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses.k 24 They will come against you with weapons,d chariots and wagonsl and with a throng of people; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment,m and they will punish you according to their standards. 25 I will direct my jealous angern against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters,o and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire.p 26 They will also stripq you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry.r 27 So I will put a stops to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore.

28 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to deliver you into the handst of those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust. 29 They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything you have worked for. They will leave you stark naked,u and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed.v Your lewdnessw and promiscuityx 30 have brought this on you, because you lusted after the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.y 31 You have gone the way of your sister; so I will put her cupz into your hand.a

32 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“You will drink your sister’s cup,

a cup large and deep;

it will bring scorn and derision,b

for it holds so much.c

33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,

the cup of ruin and desolation,

the cup of your sister Samaria.d

34 You will drink ite and drain it dry

and chew on its pieces—

and you will tear your breasts.

I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.f

35 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotteng me and turned your back on me,h you must beari the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.”

36 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then confrontj them with their detestable practices,k 37 for they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me, as food for them.l 38 They have also done this to me: At that same time they defiled my sanctuarym and desecrated my Sabbaths.n 39 On the very day they sacrificed their children to their idols, they entered my sanctuary and desecratedo it. That is what they did in my house.p

40 “They even sent messengers for men who came from far away,q and when they arrived you bathed yourself for