22Assuredly, Oholibah, thus said the Lord GOD: I am going to rouse against you the lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them upon you from all around—23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, [the people of] Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, all of them handsome young fellows, governors and prefects, officers and warriors,e all of them riding on horseback. 24They shall attack you with fleetse of wheeled chariots and a host of troops; they shall set themselves against you on all sides with bucklers, shields, and helmets. And I will entrust your punishment to them, and they shall inflict their punishments on you. 25I will direct My passion against you, and they shall deal with you in fury: they shall cut off your nose and ears. The last of you shall fall by the sword; theye shall take away your sons and daughters, and your remnant shall be devoured by fire. 26They shall strip you of your clothing and take away your dazzling jewels. 27I will put an end to your wantonness and to your whoring in the land of Egypt, and you shall not long for them or remember Egypt any more.
28For thus said the Lord GOD: I am going to deliver you into the hands of those you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust. 29They shall treat you with hate, and they shall take away all you have toiled for, and leave you naked and bare; your naked whoredom, wantonness, and harlotry will be exposed. 30These things shall be done to you for your harlotries with the nations, for defiling yourself with their fetishes. 31You walked in your sister’s path; therefore I will put her cup into your hand.
32Thus said the Lord GOD:
You shall drink of your sister’s cup,
So deep and wide;
It shall cause derision and scorn,
It holds so much.
33You shall be filled with drunkenness and woe.
The cup of desolation and horror,
The cup of your sister Samaria—
34You shall drink it and drain it,
c-And gnaw its shards;-c
And you shall tear your breasts.
For I have spoken—declares the Lord GOD.
35 Assuredly, thus said the Lord GOD: Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, you in turn must suffer for your wanton whoring.
36Then the LORD said to me: O mortal, arraignf Oholah and Oholibah, and charge them with their abominations. 37For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; truly they have committed adultery with their fetishes, and have even offered to them as food the children they bore to Me. 38At the same time they also did this to Me: they defiled My Sanctuary and profaned My sabbaths. 39On the very day that they slaughtered their children to their fetishes, they entered My Sanctuary to desecrate it. That is what they did in My House.
40Moreover, they sent for men to come from afar, [men] to whom a messenger was sent; and they came. For them, [Oholibah,] you bathed, painted your eyes, and donned your finery; 41and you sat on a grand couch with a set table in front of it—and it was My incense and My oil you laid upon it. 42And the noise of a carefree multitude was there, c-of numerous men brought drunk from the desert;-c and they put bracelets on their arms and splendid crowns upon their heads. 43Then I said, c-“To destruction with adultery! Look, they are still going on with those same fornications of hers.”-c 44And they would go to her as one goes to a prostitute; that is how they went to Oholah and Oholibah, wanton women. 45But righteous men shall punish them with the punishments for adultery and for bloodshed, for they are adulteresses and have blood on their hands.
46For thus said the Lord GOD: Summon an assembly against them, and make them an object of horror and plunder. 47Let the assembly pelt them with stones and cut them down with their swords; let them kill their sons and daughters, and burn down their homes. 48I will put an end to wantonness in the land; and all the women shall take warning not to imitate your wantonness. 49They shall punish you for your wantonness, and you shall suffer the penalty for your sinful idolatry. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
24 In the ninth year, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2O mortal, record this date, this exact day; for this very day the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem. 3Further, speak in an allegory to the rebellious breed and say to them: Thus said the Lord GOD:
Put the caldron [on the fire], put it on,
And then pour water into it.
4Collect in it the pieces [of meat].
Every choice piece, thigh and shoulder;
Fill it with the best cutsa—
5Take the best of the flock.
Also pile the cutsb under it;
Get it boiling briskly,
And cook the cuts in it.
6Assuredly, thus said the Lord GOD:
Woe to the city of blood—
A caldron whose scumc is in it,
Whose scum has not been cleaned out!
Empty it piece by piece;
d-No lot has fallen upon it.-d
7For the blood she shed is still in her;
She set it upon a bare rock;
She did not pour it out on the ground
To cover it with earth.
8Shee set her blood upon the bare rock,
So that it was not covered,
So that it may stir up [My] fury
To take vengeance.
9Assuredly, thus said the Lord GOD:
Woe to the city of blood!
I in turn will make a great blaze.
10Pile on the logs,
Kindle the fire,
Cook the meat through
And f-stew it completely,-f
And let the bones be charred.
11Let it stand empty on the coals,
Until it becomes so hot
That the copper glows.
Then its uncleanness shall melt away in it,
And its rust be consumed.
12d-It has frustrated all effort,
Its thick scum will not leave it—
Into the fire with its scum!-d
13For your vile impurity—because I sought to cleanse you of your impurity, but you would not be cleansed—you shall never be clean again until I have satisfied My fury upon you. 14I the LORD have spoken: It shall come to pass and I will do it. I will not refrain or spare or relent. You shall be punished according to your ways and your deeds—declares the Lord GOD.
15The word of the LORD came to me: 16O mortal, I am about to take away the delight of your eyes from you through pestilence; but you shall not lament or weep or let your tears flow. 17Moan softly; observe no mourning for the dead: Put on your turban and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover over your upper lip, and do not eat the bread of comforters.”g
18In the evening my wife died, and in the morning I did as I had been commanded. And when I spoke to the people that morning, 19the people asked me, “Will you not tell us what these things portend for us, that you are acting so?” 20I answered them, “The word of the LORD has come to me: 21Tell the House of Israel: Thus said the Lord GOD: ‘I am going to desecrate My Sanctuary, your pride and glory, the delight of your eyes and the desire of your heart; and the sons and daughters you have left behind shall fall by the sword. 24hAnd Ezekiel shall become a portent for you: you shall do just as he has done, when it happens; and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’ 22Accordingly, you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover over your upper lips or eat the bread of comforters;g 23and your turbans shall remain on your heads, and your sandals upon your feet. You shall not lament or weep, but you shall be heartsick because of your iniquities and shall moan to one another.”h
25You, O mortal, take note: On the day that I take their stronghold from them, their pride and joy, the delight of their eyes and the longing of their hearts—their sons and daughters—26on that day a fugitive will come to you, to let you hear it with your own ears. 27On that day your mouth shall be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and no longer be dumb.
