Ezekiel 23

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:	1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother,	2 “Son of man, two women were daughters of one mother,
3 who even as young girls played the harlot in Egypt. There the Egyptians caressed their bosoms and fondled their virginal breasts.	3 and they fornicated in Egypt; they committed fornication in their youth. In that place, their breasts were conquered; the breasts of their adolescence were subdued.
4 Oholah was the name of the elder, and the name of her sister was Oholibah. They became mine and bore sons and daughters. (As for their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.)	4 Now their names were Oholah, the elder, and Oholibah, her younger sister. And I held them, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names: Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.
5 Oholah became a harlot faithless to me; she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians, warriors	5 And then, Oholah committed fornication against me, and she acted madly with her lovers, with the Assyrians who approached her,
6 dressed in purple, governors and officers, all of them attractive young men, knights mounted on horses.	6 who were clothed with hyacinth: rulers and magistrates, passionate youths and all of the horsemen, mounted on horses.
7 Thus she gave herself as a harlot to them, to all the elite of the Assyrians, and she defiled herself with all those for whom she lusted (with all their idols).	7 And she distributed her fornications to those chosen men, all of them sons of the Assyrians. And she defiled herself with the uncleanness of all those whom she madly desired.
8 She did not give up the harlotry which she had begun in Egypt, when they had lain with her as a young girl, fondling her virginal breasts and pouring out their impurities on her.	8 Moreover, she also did not abandon her fornications, which she had done in Egypt. For they also slept with her in her youth, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication upon her.
9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians for whom she had lusted.	9 Because of this, I have delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the sons of the Assur, whom she has lustfully desired.
10 They exposed her nakedness, her sons and daughters they took away, and herself they slew with the sword. Thus she became a byword for women, for they punished her grievously.	10 They uncovered her shame; they took away her sons and daughters; and they slew her with the sword. And they became infamous women. And they carried out judgments in her.
11 Though her sister Oholibah saw all this, her lust was more depraved than her sister's, and she outdid her in harlotry.	11 And when her sister, Oholibah, had seen this, she was even more mad with lust than the other. And her fornication was beyond the fornication of her sister.
12 She too lusted after the Assyrians, governors and officers, warriors impeccably clothed, knights mounted on horses, all of them attractive young men.	12 She shamelessly offered herself to the sons of the Assyrians, to the rulers and magistrates who brought themselves to her clothed with colorful garments, to the horsemen who were carried by horses, and to the youths, all of them exceptional in appearance.
13 I saw that she had defiled herself. Both had gone down the same path,	13 And I saw that she had been defiled, and that they both took the same path.
14 yet she went further in her harlotry. When she saw men drawn on the wall, the images of Chaldeans drawn with vermillion,	14 And she increased her fornications. And when she had seen men depicted on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans, expressed in colors,
15 with sashes girded about their waists, flowing turbans on their heads, all looking like chariot warriors, the portraits of Babylonians, natives of Chaldea,	15 with belts wrapped around the waist, and with dyed headdresses on their heads, having seen the appearance of all the rulers, the likenesses of the sons of Babylon and of the land of the Chaldeans in which they were born,
16 she lusted for them; no sooner had she set eyes on them than she sent messengers to them in Chaldea.	16 she became mad for them with the desire of her eyes, and she sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
17 Then the Babylonians came to her, to the love couch, and defiled her with their intercourse. As soon as she was defiled by them, she became disgusted with them.	17 And when the sons of Babylon had gone to her, to the bed of breasts, they defiled her with their fornications, and she was polluted by them, and her soul was gorged by them.
18 Her harlotry was discovered and her shame was revealed, and I became disgusted with her as I had become disgusted with her sister.	18 Also, her fornications were uncovered, and her shame was revealed. And my soul withdrew from her, as my soul had withdrawn from her sister.
19 But she played the harlot all the more, recalling the days of her girlhood, when she had been a harlot in the land of Egypt.	19 For she multiplied her fornications, remembering the days of her youth, in which she fornicated in the land of Egypt.
20 She lusted for the lechers of Egypt, whose members are like that of an ass, and whose heat is like that of stallions.	20 And she was mad with lust after lying with them, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys, and whose flow is like the flow of horses.
21 You yearned for the lewdness of your girlhood, when the Egyptians fondled your breasts, caressing your bosom.	21 And you have revisited the crimes of your youth, when your breasts were conquered in Egypt, and the breasts of your adolescence were subdued.
22 Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: I will now stir up your lovers against you, those with whom you are disgusted, and I will bring them against you from every side:	22 Because of this, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will raise up against you all of your lovers, with whom your soul has been gorged. And I will gather them together against you all around:
23 the men of Babylon and all of Chaldea, Pekod, Shoa and Koa, along with all those of Assyria, attractive young men, all of them governors and officers, charioteers and warriors, all of them horsemen.	23 the sons of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, the nobles, the sovereigns and princes, all the sons of the Assyrians, youths of exceptional form, all the rulers and magistrates, the leaders among leaders, and the renowned riders of horses.
24 They shall come against you from the north with chariots and wagons and many peoples. Shields, bucklers, and helmets they shall array against you everywhere.	24 And they will overwhelm you, well-equipped with chariot and wheel, a multitude of peoples. They will be armed against you on every side with armor and shield and helmet. And I will give judgment to their eyes, and they will judge you with their judgments.
25 I will leave it to them to judge, and they will judge you by their own ordinances. I will let loose my jealousy against you, so that they shall deal with you in fury, cutting off your nose and ears; and what is left of you shall fall by the sword. They shall take away your sons and daughters, and what is left of you shall be devoured by fire.	25 And against you, I will set my zeal, which they will execute upon you with fury. They will cut off your nose and your ears. And what remains will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and your daughters, and your youngest will be devoured by fire.
26 They shall strip off your clothes and seize your splendid ornaments.	26 And they will strip you of your vestments, and take away the articles of your glory.
27 I will put an end to your lewdness and to the harlotry you began in Egypt; you shall no longer look toward it, nor shall you remember Egypt again.	27 And I will cause your wickedness to cease from you, and your fornication to cease from the land of Egypt. Neither shall you lift up your eyes toward them, and you shall no longer remember Egypt.
28 For thus says the Lord GOD: I am now handing you over to those whom you hate, to those who fill you with disgust.	28 For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you have hated, into the hands by which your soul has been gorged.
29 They shall deal with you in hatred, seizing all that you have worked for and leaving you stark naked, so that your indecent nakedness is exposed. Your lewdness and harlotry	29 And they will act toward you with hatred, and they will take away all your labors, and they will send you away naked and filled with disgrace. And the shame of your fornication will be revealed: your crimes and your fornications.
30 have brought these things upon you, because you played the harlot with the nations by defiling yourself with their idols.	30 They have done these things to you, because you have fornicated after the Gentiles, among whom you were defiled by their idols.
31 Because you followed in the path of your sister, I will hand you her cup.	31 You have walked in the way of your sister, and so I will give her chalice into your hand.
32 Thus says the Lord GOD: The cup of your sister you shall drink, so wide and deep, which holds so much,	32 Thus says the Lord God: You will drink the chalice of your sister, deep and wide. You will be held in derision and in ridicule, to a very great extent.
33 Filled with destruction and grief, a cup of dismay, the cup of your sister.	33 You will be filled with inebriation and sorrow, by the chalice of grief and sadness, by the chalice of your sister Samaria.
34 You shall drain it dry, and gnaw at the very sherds of the cup, and you shall tear out your breasts; for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD.	34 And you will drink it, and you will empty it, even to the dregs. And you will consume even its particles. And you will wound your own breasts. For I have spoken, says the Lord God.
35 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, it is for you to bear the penalty of your lewdness and harlotry.	35 Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Since you have forgotten me, and you have cast me behind your body, so also will you bear your wickedness and your fornications.”
36 Then the LORD said to me: Son of man, would you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then make known to them their abominations.	36 And the Lord spoke to me, saying: “Son of man, should you not judge Oholah and Oholibah, and announce to them their crimes?
37 For they committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols; to feed them they immolated the children they had borne me.	37 For they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands, and they have fornicated with their idols. Moreover, they have offered even their children, whom they bore for me, to them to be devoured.
38 (This, too, they did to me: they defiled my sanctuary and desecrated my sabbaths.	38 But they have done even this to me: They have defiled my sanctuary on the same day, and they have profaned my Sabbaths.
39 On the very day they slew their children for their idols, they entered my sanctuary to desecrate it. Thus they acted within my house.)	39 And when they immolated their children to their idols, they also entered my sanctuary on the same day, so that they defiled it. They have done these things, even in the midst of my house.
40 Moreover, they sent for men who had to come from afar, to whom messengers were sent. And so they came--and for them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and put on ornaments.	40 They sent for men who were coming from far away, to whom they had sent a messenger. And so, behold, they arrived, those for whom you washed yourself, and smeared cosmetics around your eyes, and were adorned with feminine ornaments.
41 You sat on a couch prepared for them, with a table spread before it, on which you had set my incense and oil.	41 You sat upon a very beautiful bed, and a table was adorned before you, on which you placed my incense and my ointment.
42 Then was heard the shout of a carefree mob in the city, and these were men brought in from the desert, who put bracelets on the women's arms and splendid diadems on their heads.	42 And the voice of a multitude was exulting within her. And concerning certain men, who were being led out of a multitude of persons, and who were arriving from the desert, they placed bracelets on their hands and beautiful crowns on their heads.
43 So I said: "Oh, this woman jaded with adulteries! Now they will commit whoredom with her, and as for her. . . ."	43 And I said about her, as she was being worn away by her adulteries, ‘Even now, she continues in her fornication!’
44 And indeed they did come to her as men come to a harlot. Thus they came to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women.	44 And they entered to her, as if to a kept woman. So did they enter to Oholah and Oholibah, nefarious women.
45 But just men shall punish them with the sentence meted out to adulteresses and murderesses, for they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands.	45 But there are just men; these shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of those who shed blood. For they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.
46 Thus says the Lord GOD: Summon an assembly against them, and deliver them over to terror and plunder.	46 For thus says the Lord God: Lead upon them a multitude, and hand them over to tumult and to pillaging.
47 The assembly shall stone them and hack them to pieces with their swords. They shall slay their sons and daughters, and burn their houses with fire.	47 And may they be stoned with the stones of the peoples, and may they be pierced with their own swords. They will put to death their sons and daughters, and they will burn their houses with fire.
48 Thus I will put an end to lewdness in the land, and all the women will be warned not to imitate your lewdness.	48 And I will take away wickedness from the land. And all women shall learn not to act according to their wickedness.
49 They shall inflict on you the penalty of your lewdness, and you shall pay for your sins of idolatry. Thus you shall know that I am the LORD.	49 And they will set your own crimes upon you, and you will bear the sins of your idols. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.”