Samaria and Jerusalem
23 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: 2 “Human, a woman had two daughters. 3 While they were young, they went to Egypt and became prostitutes. They let men touch and hold their breasts. 4 The older girl was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became my wives and had sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.[a]
5 “While still my wife, Samaria had sexual relations with other men. She had great sexual desire for her lovers, men from Assyria. The Assyrians were warriors and 6 wore blue uniforms. They were all handsome young captains and lieutenants riding on horseback. 7 Samaria became a prostitute for all the important men in Assyria and made herself unclean with all the idols of everyone she desired. 8 She continued the prostitution she began in Egypt. When she was young, she had slept with men, and they touched her breasts and had sexual relations with her.
9 “So I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians, that she wanted so badly. 10 They stripped her naked and took away her sons and daughters. Then they killed her with a sword. Women everywhere began talking about how she had been punished.
11 “Her sister Jerusalem saw what happened, but she became worse than her sister in her sexual desire and prostitution. 12 She also desired the Assyrians, who were all soldiers in beautiful uniforms—handsome young captains and lieutenants riding horses. 13 I saw that both girls were alike; both were prostitutes.
14 “But Jerusalem went even further. She saw carvings of Babylonian men on a wall. They wore red 15 and had belts around their waists and turbans on their heads. They all looked like chariot officers born in Babylonia. 16 When she saw them, she wanted to have sexual relations with them and sent messengers to them in Babylonia. 17 So these Babylonian men came and had sexual relations with her and made her unclean. After that, she became sick of them. 18 But she continued her prostitution so openly that everyone knew about it. And I finally became sick of her, as I had her sister. 19 But she remembered how she was a young prostitute in Egypt, so she took part in even more prostitution. 20 She wanted men who behaved like animals in their sexual desire. 21 In the same way you desired to do the sinful things you had done in Egypt. There men touched and held your young breasts.
God’s Judgment on Jerusalem
22 “So, Jerusalem, this is what the Lord God says: You are tired of your lovers. So now I will make them angry with you and have them attack you from all sides. 23 Men from Babylon and all Babylonia and men from Pekod, Shoa, and Koa will attack you. All the Assyrians will attack you: handsome young captains and lieutenants, all of them important men and all riding horses. 24 Those men will attack with great armies and with their weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will surround you with large and small shields and with helmets. And I will give them the right to punish you, and they will give you their own kind of punishment. 25 Then you will see how strong my anger can be when they punish you in their anger. They will cut off your noses and ears. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those who are left will be burned. 26 They will take off your clothes and steal your jewelry. 27 I will put a stop to the sinful life you began when you were in Egypt so that you will not desire it or remember Egypt anymore.
28 “This is what the Lord God says: You became tired of your lovers, but I am going to hand you over to those men you now hate. 29 They will treat you with hate and take away everything you worked for, leaving you empty and naked. Everyone will know about the sinful things you did. Your sexual sins 30 have brought this on you. You have had sexual relations with the nations and made yourselves unclean by worshiping their idols. 31 You did the same things your sister did, so you will get the same punishment, like a bitter cup to drink.
32 “This is what the Lord God says:
You will drink the same cup your sister did,
and that cup is deep and wide.
Everyone will make fun of you,
because the cup is full.
33 It will make you miserable and drunk.
It is the cup of fear and ruin.
It is the cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You will drink everything in it,
and then you will smash it
and tear at your breasts.
I have spoken, says the Lord God.
35 “So this is what the Lord God says: You have forgotten me and turned your back on me. So you will be punished for your sexual sins.”
Judgment on Samaria and Jerusalem
36 The Lord said to me: “Human, will you judge Samaria and Jerusalem, showing them their hateful acts? 37 They are guilty of adultery and murder. They have taken part in adultery with their idols. They even offered our children as sacrifices in the fire to be food for these idols. 38 They have also done this to me: They made my Temple unclean at the same time they dishonored my Sabbaths. 39 They sacrificed their children to their idols. Then they entered my Temple at that very time to dishonor it. That is what they did inside my Temple!
40 “They even sent for men from far away, who came after a messenger was sent to them. The two sisters bathed themselves for them, painted their eyes, and put on jewelry. 41 They sat on a fine bed with a table set before it, on which they put my incense and my oil.
42 “There was the noise of a reckless crowd in the city. Common people gathered, and drunkards were brought from the desert. They put bracelets on the wrists of the two sisters and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43 Then I said about the one who was worn out by her acts of adultery, ‘Let them continue their sexual sins with her. She is nothing but a prostitute.’ 44 They kept going to her as they would go to a prostitute. So they continued to go to Samaria and Jerusalem, these shameful women. 45 But men who do right will punish them as they punish women who take part in adultery and who murder people, because they are guilty of adultery and murder.
46 “This is what the Lord God says: Bring together a mob against Samaria and Jerusalem, and hand them over to be frightened and robbed. 47 Let the mob kill them by throwing stones at them, and let them cut them down with their swords. Let them kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses down.
48 “So I will put an end to sexual sins in the land. Then all women will be warned, and they will not do the sexual sins you have done. 49 You will be punished for your sexual sins and the sin of worshiping idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.”
Footnotes
- 23:4 Oholah . . . Jerusalem Throughout this chapter Samaria is used in place of Oholah, and Jerusalem is used in place of Oholibah.