The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

'Son of man, say unto her: Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls, they take treasure and precious things, they have made her widows many in the midst thereof.

Her priests have done violence to My law, and have profaned My holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and the common, neither have they taught difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey: to shed blood, and to destroy souls, so as to get dishonest gain.

And her prophets have daubed for them with whited plaster, seeing falsehood, and divining lies unto them, saying: Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.

The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have wronged the poor and needy, and have oppressed the stranger unlawfully.

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.

Therefore have I poured out Mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I brought upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.'

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

'Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;

and they committed harlotries in Egypt; they committed harlotries in their youth; there were their bosoms pressed, and there their virgin breasts were bruised.

And the names of them 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 Oholibah.

And Oholah played the harlot when she was Mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians, warriors,

clothed with blue, governors and rulers, handsome young men all of them, horsemen riding upon horses.

And she bestowed her harlotries upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whomsoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.

Neither hath she left her harlotries brought from Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised her virgin breasts; and they poured out their lust upon her.

Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.

These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and her they slew with the sword; and she became a byword among women, for judgments were executed upon her.

And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her harlotries more than her sister in her harlotries.

She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and rulers, warriors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them handsome young men.

And I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way.

And she increased her harlotries; for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,

girded with girdles upon their loins, with pendant turbans upon their heads, all of them captains to look upon, the likeness of the sons of Babylon, even of Chaldea, the land of their nativity.

And as soon as she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.

And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their lust; and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.

So she uncovered her harlotries, and uncovered her nakedness; then My soul was alienated from her, like as My soul was alienated from her sister.

Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

And she doted upon concubinage with them, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

Thus thou didst call to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, when they from Egypt bruised thy breasts for the bosom of thy youth.

Therefore, O Oholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy soul is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side:

the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, governors and rulers all of them, captains and councillors, all of them riding upon horses.

And they shall come against thee with hosts, chariots, and wheels, and with an assembly of peoples; they shall set themselves in array against thee with buckler and shield and helmet round about; and I will commit the judgment unto them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.

And I will set My jealousy against thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury; they shall take away thy nose and thine ears, and thy residue shall fall by the sword; they shall take thy sons and thy daughters, and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.

They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.

Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy harlotry brought from the land of Egypt, so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.

For thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy soul is alienated;

and they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare; and the nakedness of thy harlotries shall be uncovered, both thy lewdness and thy harlotries.

These things shall be done unto thee, for that thou hast gone astray after the nations, and because thou art polluted with their idols.

In the way of thy sister hast thou walked; therefore will I give her cup into thy hand.

Thus saith the Lord GOD: Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup, which is deep and large; thou shalt be for a scorn and a derision; it is full to the uttermost.

Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and appalment, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.

Thou shalt even drink it and drain it, and thou shalt craunch the sherds thereof, and shalt tear thy breasts; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because thou hast forgotten Me, and cast Me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy harlotries.'

The LORD said moreover unto me: 'Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare unto them their abominations.

For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery; and their sons, whom they bore unto Me, they have also set apart unto them to be devoured.

Moreover this they have done unto Me: they have defiled My sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned My sabbaths.

For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into My sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of My house.

And furthermore ye have sent for men that come from far; unto whom a messenger was sent, and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paint thine eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments;

and sattest upon a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon thou didst set Mine incense and Mine oil.

And the voice of a multitude being at ease was therein; and for the sake of men, they were so many, brought drunken from the wilderness, they put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

Then said I of her that was worn out by adulteries: Still they commit harlotries with her, even her.

For every one went in unto her, as men go in unto a harlot; so went they in unto Oholah and unto Oholibah, the lewd women.

But righteous men, they shall judge them as adulteresses are judged, and as women that shed blood are judged; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

For thus saith the Lord GOD: An assembly shall be brought up against them, and they shall be made a horror and a spoil.

And the assembly shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.

Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.

And your lewdness shall be recompensed upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.'

And the word of the LORD came unto me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, saying:

'Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this selfsame day; this selfsame day the king of Babylon hath invested Jerusalem.

And utter a parable concerning the rebellious house, and say unto them: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Set on the pot, set it on, and also pour water into it;

Gather into it the pieces belonging to it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

Take the choice of the flock, and pile also the bones under it; make it boil well, that the bones thereof may also be seethed in the midst of it.

Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose filth is therein, and whose filth is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; no lot is fallen upon it.

For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the bare rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;

that it might cause fury to come up, that vengeance might be taken, I have set her blood upon the bare rock, that it should not be covered.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great,

heaping on the wood, kindling the fire, that the flesh may be consumed; and preparing the mixture, that the bones also may be burned;

then will I set it empty upon the coals thereof, that it may be hot, and the bottom thereof may burn, and that the impurity of it may be molten in it, that the filth of it may be consumed.

It hath wearied itself with toil; yet its great filth goeth not forth out of it, yea, its noisome filth.

Because of thy filthy lewdness, because I have purged thee and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have satisfied My fury upon thee.

I the LORD have spoken it; it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.'

Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

'Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke; yet neither shalt thou make lamentation nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

Sigh in silence; make no mourning for the dead, bind thy headtire upon thee, and put thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thine upper lip, and eat not the bread of men.'

So I spoke unto the people in the morning, and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

And the people said unto me: 'Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?'

Then I said unto them: 'The word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

Speak unto the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the longing of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left behind shall fall by the sword.

And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your upper lips, nor eat the bread of men;

and your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet; ye shall not make lamentation nor weep; but ye shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another.

Thus shall Ezekiel be unto you a sign; according to all that he hath done shall ye do; when this cometh, then shall ye know that I am the Lord GOD.

And thou, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and the yearning of their soul, their sons and their daughters,

that in that day he that escapeth shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?

In that day shall thy mouth be opened together with him that is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb; so shalt thou be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.'

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

'Son of man, set thy face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them;

and say unto the children of Ammon: Hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Because thou saidst: 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 captivity;

therefore, behold, I will deliver thee to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in thee, and make their dwellings in thee; they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.

And I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and the children of Ammon a couching-place for flocks; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

For thus saith the Lord GOD: Because thou hast clapped thy hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the disdain of thy soul against the land of Israel;

therefore, behold, I stretch out My hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the nations; and I will cut thee off from the peoples, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries; I will destroy thee, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

Thus saith the Lord GOD: Because that Moab and Seir do say: Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the nations,

therefore, behold, I will open the flank of Moab on the side of the cities, on the side of his cities which are on his frontiers, the beauteous country of Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim,

together with the children of Ammon, unto the children of the east, and I will give them for a possession, that the children of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations;

and I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Thus saith the Lord GOD: Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them;

therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: I will stretch out My hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman, even unto Dedan shall they fall by the sword.

And I will lay My vengeance upon Edom by the hand of My people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to Mine anger and according to My fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.

Thus saith the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with disdain of soul to destroy, for the old hatred;

therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will stretch out My hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea-coast.