¹ The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,

² Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:

³ And they committed lewd deeds in Egypt; they committed lewd deeds in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they were first corrupted.

⁴ And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bore sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.

⁵ And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors.

⁶ Who were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

⁷ Thus she committed her lewd deeds with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.

⁸ Neither left she her lewd deeds brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they first corrupted her, and poured their impurities upon her.

⁹ Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.

¹⁰ These uncovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.

¹¹ And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her prostitutions more than her sister in her prostitutions.

¹² She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbors, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.

¹³ Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way.

¹⁴ And that she increased her prostitutions: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion.

¹⁵ Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:

¹⁶ And as soon as she saw them with her eyes she doted upon them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea.

¹⁷ And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their lewdness, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.

¹⁸ So she disclosed her lewd deeds, and exposed her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, as my mind was alienated from her sister.

¹⁹ Yet she multiplied her prostitutions, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

²⁰ For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

²¹ Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, by being corrupted by the Egyptians in thy youth.

²² Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;

²³ The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.

²⁴ And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet on every side: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.

²⁵ And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thy ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.

²⁶ They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.

²⁷ Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy adultery brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thy eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.

²⁸ 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 mind is alienated:

²⁹ And they shall treat thee with hatred, and shall take away all thy labor, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy prostitutions shall be disclosed, both thy lewdness and thy prostitutions.

³⁰ I will do these things to thee, because thou hast gone astray after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.

³¹ Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thy hand.

³² Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be treated with scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.

³³ Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.

³⁴ Thou shalt even drink it, and empty it to the dregs, and thou shalt break its pieces, and pluck off thy own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

³⁵ 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 prostitutions.

³⁶ The LORD said moreover to me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yes, declare to them their abominations;

³⁷ That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.

³⁸ Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.

³⁹ 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.

⁴⁰ And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, to whom a messenger was sent; and lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paint thy eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments,

⁴¹ And sattest upon a stately bed and a table prepared before it, upon which thou hast set my incense and my oil.

⁴² And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, who put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

⁴³ Then said I to her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit lewd deeds with her, and she with them?

⁴⁴ Yet they went in to her, as they go in to a woman that playeth the harlot: so they went in to Aholah and to Aholibah, the lewd women.

⁴⁵ And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

⁴⁶ For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and plundered.

⁴⁷ And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire.

⁴⁸ Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.

⁴⁹ And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

¹ Of Moab. Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Woe to Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is disappointed, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and broken down.

² The praise of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. You also, Madmen, shall be brought to silence: the sword shall pursue you.

³ The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction!

⁴ Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.

⁵ For by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping shall they go up; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.

⁶ Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

⁷ For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also shall be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together.

⁸ The destroyer shall come on every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed; as Yahweh has spoken.

⁹ Give wings to Moab, that she may fly and get her away: and her cities shall become a desolation, without any to dwell therein.

¹⁰ Cursed is he who does the work of Yahweh negligently; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.

¹¹ Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.

¹² Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will send to him those who pour off, and they shall pour him off; and they shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces.

¹³ Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.

¹⁴ How do you say, We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?

¹⁵ Moab is laid waste, and they are gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies.

¹⁶ The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast.

¹⁷ All you who are around him, bemoan him, and all you who know his name; say, How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod!

¹⁸ You daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, he has destroyed your strongholds.

¹⁹ Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and watch: ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, What has been done?

²⁰ Moab is disappointed; for it is broken down: wail and cry; tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.

²¹ Judgment is come on the plain country, on Holon, and on Jahzah, and on Mephaath,

²² and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth Diblathaim,

²³ and on Kiriathaim, and on Beth Gamul, and on Beth Meon,

²⁴ and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.

²⁵ The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says Yahweh.

²⁶ Make him drunken; for he magnified himself against Yahweh: and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.

²⁷ For wasn't Israel a derision to you? was he found among thieves? for as often as you speak of him, you shake your head.

²⁸ You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock; and be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss.

²⁹ We have heard of the pride of Moab, [that] he is very proud; his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.

³⁰ I know his wrath, says Yahweh, that it is nothing; his boastings have worked nothing.

³¹ Therefore will I wail for Moab; yes, I will cry out for all Moab: for the men of Kir Heres shall they mourn.

³² With more than the weeping of Jazer will I weep for you, vine of Sibmah: your branches passed over the sea, they reached even to the sea of Jazer: on your summer fruits and on your vintage the destroyer is fallen.

³³ Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses: none shall tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting.

³⁴ From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah: for the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolate.

³⁵ Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, says Yahweh, him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods.

³⁶ Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like pipes, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir Heres: therefore the abundance that he has gotten is perished.

³⁷ For every head is bald, and every beard clipped: on all the hands are cuttings, and on the waist sackcloth.

³⁸ On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation every where; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which none delights, says Yahweh.

³⁹ How is it broken down! [how] do they wail! how has Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are around him.

⁴⁰ For thus says Yahweh: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread out his wings against Moab.

⁴¹ Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

⁴² Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Yahweh.

⁴³ Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are on you, inhabitant of Moab, says Yahweh.

⁴⁴ He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring on him, even on Moab, the year of their visitation, says Yahweh.

⁴⁵ Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; for a fire is gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.

⁴⁶ Woe to you, O Moab! the people of Chemosh is undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity.

⁴⁷ Yet will I bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days, says Yahweh. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.