The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,
``Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;
and they played the harlot in Egypt. They played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and there their virgin bosom was handled.
``Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
``Oholah played the harlot while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, her neighbors,
who were clothed in purple, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.
``She bestowed her harlotries on them, all of whom were the choicest men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she defiled herself.
``She did not forsake her harlotries from the time in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her.
``Therefore, I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.
``They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they slew her with the sword. Thus she became a byword among women, and they executed judgments on her.
``Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her harlotries were more than the harlotries of her sister.
``She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, magnificently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.
``I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took the same way.
``So she increased her harlotries. And she saw men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,
girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.
``When she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
``The Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their harlotry. And when she had been defiled by them, she became disgusted with them.
``She uncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness; then I became disgusted with her, as I had become disgusted with her sister.
``Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
``She lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
``Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth.
``Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD, `Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated, and I will bring them against you from every side:
the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.
`They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs.
`I will set My jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your survivors will be consumed by the fire.
`They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels.
`Thus I will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.'
``For thus says the Lord GOD, `Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom you were alienated.
`They will deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries.
`These things will be done to you because you have played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols.
`You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.'
``Thus says the Lord GOD, `You will drink your sister's cup, Which is deep and wide. You will be laughed at and held in derision; It contains much.
`You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.
`You will drink it and drain it. Then you will gnaw its fragments And tear your breasts; for I have spoken,' declares the Lord GOD.
``Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, `Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.'"
Moreover, the LORD said to me, ``Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
``For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. Thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to them as food.
``Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have profaned My sabbaths.
``For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and lo, thus they did within My house.
``Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and lo, they came--for whom you bathed, painted your eyes and decorated yourselves with ornaments;
and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged before it on which you had set My incense and My oil.
``The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort. And they put bracelets on the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.
``Then I said concerning her who was worn out by adulteries, `Will they now commit adultery with her when she is thus? '
``But they went in to her as they would go in to a harlot. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.
``But they, righteous men, will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.
``For thus says the Lord GOD, `Bring up a company against them and give them over to terror and plunder.
`The company will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will slay their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire.
`Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be admonished and not commit lewdness as you have done.
`Your lewdness will be requited upon you, and you will bear the penalty of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am the Lord GOD.'"
And the word of the LORD came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying,
``Son of man, write the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.
``Speak a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, `Thus says the Lord GOD, ``Put on the pot, put it on and also pour water in it;
Put in it the pieces, Every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; Fill it with choice bones.
``Take the choicest of the flock, And also pile wood under the pot. Make it boil vigorously. Also seethe its bones in it."
`Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ``Woe to the bloody city, To the pot in which there is rust And whose rust has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, Without making a choice.
``For her blood is in her midst; She placed it on the bare rock; She did not pour it on the ground To cover it with dust.
``That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have put her blood on the bare rock, That it may not be covered."
`Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ``Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great.
``Heap on the wood, kindle the fire, Boil the flesh well And mix in the spices, And let the bones be burned.
``Then set it empty on its coals So that it may be hot And its bronze may glow And its filthiness may be melted in it, Its rust consumed.
``She has wearied Me with toil, Yet her great rust has not gone from her; Let her rust be in the fire!
``In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I would have cleansed you, Yet you are not clean, You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again Until I have spent My wrath on you.
``I, the LORD, have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not pity and I will not be sorry; according to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you," declares the Lord GOD.'"
And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
``Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come.
``Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet, and do not cover your mustache and do not eat the bread of men."
So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded.
The people said to me, ``Will you not tell us what these things that you are doing mean for us?"
Then I said to them, ``The word of the LORD came to me saying,
`Speak to the house of Israel, ``Thus says the Lord GOD, `Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword.
`You will do as I have done; you will not cover your mustache and you will not eat the bread of men.
`Your turbans will be on your heads and your shoes on your feet. You will not mourn and you will not weep, but you will rot away in your iniquities and you will groan to one another.
`Thus Ezekiel will be a sign to you; according to all that he has done you will do; when it comes, then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.'"
`As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their stronghold, the joy of their pride, the desire of their eyes and their heart's delight, their sons and their daughters,
that on that day he who escapes will come to you with information for your ears?
`On that day your mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and be mute no longer. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.'"
And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
``Son of man, set your face toward the sons of Ammon and prophesy against them,
and say to the sons of Ammon, `Hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD, ``Because you said, `Aha!' against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into exile,
therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the sons of the east for a possession, and they will set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk.
``I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the sons of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Thus you will know that I am the LORD."
`For thus says the Lord GOD, ``Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the scorn of your soul against the land of Israel,
therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and I will give you for spoil to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands; I will destroy you. Thus you will know that I am the LORD."
`Thus says the Lord GOD, ``Because Moab and Seir say, `Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,'
therefore, behold, I am going to deprive the flank of Moab of its cities, of its cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the land, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon and Kiriathaim,
and I will give it for a possession along with the sons of Ammon to the sons of the east, so that the sons of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations.
``Thus I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am the LORD."
`Thus says the Lord GOD, ``Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has incurred grievous guilt, and avenged themselves upon them,"
therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ``I will also stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off man and beast from it. And I will lay it waste; from Teman even to Dedan they will fall by the sword.
``I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom according to My anger and according to My wrath; thus they will know My vengeance," declares the Lord GOD.
`Thus says the Lord GOD, ``Because the Philistines have acted in revenge and have taken vengeance with scorn of soul to destroy with everlasting enmity,"
therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ``Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, even cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast.
``I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they will know that I am the LORD when I lay My vengeance on them."'"
