Ezekiel 23

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

And the word of the Lord was maad to me,

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

and he seide, Thou, sone of man, twei wymmen weren the douytris of o modir, and diden fornycacioun in Egipt;

3 They were acting like loose women in Egypt; when they were young their behaviour was loose: there their breasts were crushed, even the points of their young breasts were crushed.

in her yonge wexynge age thei diden fornicacioun; there the brestis of hem weren maad low, and the tetis of the tyme of mariage of hem weren brokun.

4 Their names were Oholah, the older, and Oholibah, her sister: and they became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem, Oholibah.

Forsothe the names of hem ben, Oolla, the more sistir, and Ooliba the lesse sistir of hir. And Y hadde hem, and thei childiden sones and douytris; certis the names of hem ben Samarie Oolla, and Jerusalem Ooliba.

5 And Oholah was untrue to me when she was mine; she was full of desire for her lovers, even for the Assyrians, her neighbours,

Therfor Oolla dide fornicacioun on me, and was wood on hir louyeris, on Assiriens neiyinge,

6 Who were clothed in blue, captains and rulers, all of them young men to be desired, horsemen seated on horses.

clothid with iacinct, princes, and magistratis, yonge men of coueytise, alle kniytis, and stieris of horsis.

7 And she gave her unclean love to them, all of them the noblest men of Assyria: and she made herself unclean with the images of all who were desired by her.

And sche yaf hir fornicaciouns on hem, on alle the chosun sones of Assiriens; and in alle on whiche sche was wood, sche was defoulid in the vnclennessis of hem.

8 And she has not given up her loose ways from the time when she was in Egypt; for when she was young they were her lovers, and by them her young breasts were crushed, and they let loose on her their unclean desire.

Ferthermore and sche lefte not hir fornicaciouns, whiche sche hadde in Egipt; for whi and thei slepten with hir in the yongthe of hir, and thei braken the tetis of the tyme of mariage of hir, and thei scheden out her fornicacioun on hir.

9 For this cause I gave her up into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians on whom her desire was fixed.

Therfor Y yaf hir in to the hondis of hir louyeris, in to the hondis of the sones of Assur, on whos letcherie sche was wood.

10 By these her shame was uncovered: they took her sons and daughters and put her to death with the sword: and she became a cause of wonder to women; for they gave her the punishment which was right.

Thei diskyueriden the schenschipe of hir; thei token awei the sones and the douytris of hir, and killiden hir with swerd; and the wymmen weren maad famouse, that is, sclaundrid, and thei diden domes in hir.

11 And her sister Oholibah saw this, but her desire was even more unmeasured, and her loose behaviour was worse than that of her sister.

And whanne hir sistir Ooliba hadde seyn this, sche was wood in letcherie more than that sistre, and yaf vnschamefastli hir fornicacioun on the fornicacioun of hir sistre,

12 She was full of desire for the Assyrians, captains and rulers, her neighbours, clothed in blue, horsemen going on horses, all of them young men to be desired.

to the sones of Assiriens, to duykis and magistratis comynge to hir, that weren clothid with dyuerse cloth, to knyytis that weren borun on horsis, and to yonge men with noble schap, to alle men.

13 And I saw that she had become unclean; the two of them went the same way.

And Y siy that o weie of both sistris was defoulid,

14 And her loose behaviour became worse; for she saw men pictured on a wall, pictures of the Chaldaeans painted in bright red,

and sche encreesside hir fornycaciouns. And whanne sche hadde seyn men peyntid in the wal, the ymagis of Caldeis expressid with colouris,

15 With bands round their bodies and with head-dresses hanging round their heads, all of them looking like rulers, like the Babylonians, the land of whose birth is Chaldaea.

and gird on the reynes with kniytis girdlis, and cappis peyntid in the heedis of hem, the foormes of alle duykis, the licnesse of the sones of Babiloyne, and of the lond of Caldeis, in which thei weren borun;

16 And when she saw them she was full of desire for them, and sent servants to them in Chaldaea.

sche was wood on hem bi coueitise of hir iyen, and sche sente messangeris to hem in to Caldee.

17 And the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love, and made her unclean with their loose desire, and she became unclean with them, and her soul was turned from them.

And whanne the sones of Babiloyne weren comun to hir, to the bed of tetis, thei defouliden hir in her letcheries of virgyns; and sche was defoulid of hem, and the soule of hir was fillid of hem.

18 So her loose behaviour was clearly seen and her shame uncovered: then my soul was turned from her as it had been turned from her sister.

Also sche made nakid hir fornicaciouns, and diskyuered hir schenschipe; and my soule yede awei fro hir, as my soule hadde go awei fro hir sistir.

19 But still she went on the more with her loose behaviour, keeping in mind the early days when she had been a loose woman in the land of Egypt.

For sche multiplied hir fornicaciouns, and hadde mynde on the daies of hir yongthe, in whiche sche dide fornicacioun in the lond of Egipt.

20 And she was full of desire for her lovers, whose flesh is like the flesh of asses and whose seed is like the seed of horses.

And sche was wood in letcherie on the liggyng bi of hem, whos fleischis ben as the fleischis of assis, and as the membris of horsis ben the membris of hem.

21 And she made the memory of the loose ways of her early years come back to mind, when her young breasts were crushed by the Egyptians.

And thou visitidist the grete trespas of thi yongthe, whanne thi brestis weren maad low in Egipt, and the tetis of the tyme of thi mariage weren brokun.

22 For this cause, O Oholibah, this is what the Lord has said: See, I will make your lovers come up against you, even those from whom your soul is turned away in disgust; and I will make them come up against you on every side;

Therfor, thou Ooliba, the Lord God seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal reise alle thi louyeris ayens thee, of whiche thi soule was fillid, and Y schal gadere hem ayens thee in cumpas;

23 The Babylonians and all the Chaldaeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: young men to be desired, captains and rulers all of them, and chiefs, her neighbours, all of them on horseback.

the sones of Babiloyne, and alle Caldeis, noble and miyti men, and princes, alle the sones of Assiriens, and yonge men of noble foorme, duykis, and magistratis, alle princes of princes, and named stieris of horsis.

24 And they will come against you from the north on horseback, with war-carriages and a great band of peoples; they will put themselves in order against you with breastplate and body-cover and metal head-dress round about you: and I will make them your judges, and they will give their decision against you as seems right to them.

And thei araied with chare and wheel schulen come on thee, the multitude of puplis schulen be armed with haburioun, and scheeld, and basynet, ayens thee on ech side; and Y schal yyue doom bifor hem, and thei schulen deme thee bi her domes.

25 And my bitter feeling will be working against you, and they will take you in hand with passion; they will take away your nose and your ears, and the rest of you will be put to the sword: they will take your sons and daughters, and the rest of you will be burned up in the fire.

And Y schal sette my feruour in thee, which thei schulen vse with thee in woodnesse; thei schulen kitte awei thi nose and thin eeris, and thei schulen sle with swerd tho thingis that weren left; thei schulen take thi sones and thi douytris, and thi laste thing schal be deuourid bi fier.

26 And they will take all your clothing off you and take away your ornaments.

And thei schulen make thee nakid of thi clothis, and thei schulen take awei the vessels of thi glorie.

27 So I will put an end to your evil ways and your loose behaviour which came from the land of Egypt: and your eyes will never be lifted up to them again, and you will have no more memory of Egypt.

And Y schal make thi greet trespasse to reste fro thee, and thi fornicacioun fro the lond of Egipt; and thou schalt not reise thin iyen to hem, and thou schalt no more haue mynde on Egipt.

28 For this is what the Lord has said: See, I will give you up into the hands of those who are hated by you, into the hands of those from whom your soul is turned away in disgust:

For the Lord God seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal yyue thee in to the hondis of hem whiche thou hatist, `in to the hondis of hem of whiche thi soule was fillid,

29 And they will take you in hand with hate, and take away all the fruit of your work, and let you be unveiled and without clothing: and the shame of your loose behaviour will be uncovered, your evil designs and your loose ways.

and thei schulen do with thee in hatrede. And thei schulen take awei alle thi trauels, and thei schulen leeue thee nakid, and ful of schenschipe; and the schenschipe of thi fornicaciouns schal be schewid. Thi greet

30 They will do these things to you because you have been untrue to me, and have gone after the nations, and have become unclean with their images.

trespas and thi fornycaciouns han do these thingis to thee; for thou didist fornicacioun aftir hethene men, among whiche thou were defoulid in the idols of hem.

31 You have gone in the way of your sister; and I will give her cup into your hand.

Thou yedist in the weie of thi sister, and Y schal yyue the cuppe of hir in thin hond.

32 This is what the Lord has said: You will take a drink from your sister's cup, which is deep and wide: you will be laughed at and looked down on, more than you are able to undergo.

The Lord God seith these thingis, Thou schalt drinke the cuppe of thi sistir, the depthe, and the broodnesse; thou that art most able to take, schalt be in to scornyng, and in to mouwyng.

33 You will be broken and full of sorrow, with the cup of wonder and destruction, with the cup of your sister Samaria.

Thou schalt be fillid with drunkenesse and sorewe, with the cuppe of mourenyng and of heuynesse, with the cuppe of thi sister Samarie.

34 And after drinking it and draining it out, you will take the last drops of it to the end, pulling off your breasts: for I have said it, says the Lord.

And thou schalt drynke it, and thou schalt drinke of til to the drastis, and thou schalt deuoure the relifs therof, and thou schalt to-reende thi brestis, for Y the Lord spak, seith the Lord God.

35 So this is what the Lord has said: Because you have not kept me in your memory, and because your back has been turned to me, you will even undergo the punishment of your evil designs and your loose ways.

Therfor the Lord God seith these thingis, For thou hast foryete me, and hast cast forth me bihynde thi bodi, bere thou also thi greet trespas and thi fornicaciouns.

36 Then the Lord said to me: Son of man, will you be the judge of Oholibah? then make clear to her the disgusting things she has done.

And the Lord God seide to me, and spak, Sone of man, whether thou demest Ooliba and Oolla, and tellist to hem the grete trespassis of hem?

37 For she has been false to me, and blood is on her hands, and with her images she has been untrue; and more than this, she made her sons, whom she had by me, go through the fire to them to be burned up.

For thei diden auowtrie, and blood was in the hondis of hem, and thei diden fornicacioun with her idols; ferthermore and thei offriden to tho the sones whiche thei gendriden to me, for to be deuourid.

38 Further, this is what she has done to me: she has made my holy place unclean and has made my Sabbaths unclean.

But also thei diden this to me, thei defouleden my seyntuarie in that dai, and maden vnhooli my sabatis.

39 For when she had made an offering of her children to her images, she came into my holy place to make it unclean; see, this is what she has done inside my house.

And whanne thei sacrifisiden her sones to her idols, and entriden in to my seyntuarie in that dai, that thei schulden defoule it, thei diden also these thingis in the myddis of myn hous.

40 And she even sent for men to come from far away, to whom a servant was sent, and they came: for whom she was washing her body and painting her eyes and making herself fair with ornaments.

Thei senten to men comyng fro fer, to whiche thei hadden sent messangeris. Therfor lo! thei camen, to whiche thou waischidist thee, and anoyntidist thin iyen with oynement of wymmen, and thou were ourned with wymmens atier.

41 And she took her seat on a great bed, with a table put ready before it on which she put my perfume and my oil.

Thou satist in a ful fair bed, and a boord was ourned bifor thee; thou settidist myn encense and myn oynement on it.

42 ... and they put jewels on her hands and beautiful crowns on her head.

And a vois of multitude makynge ful out ioye was ther ynne; and in men that weren brouyt of the multitude of men, and camen fro desert, thei settiden bies in the hondis of hem, and faire corouns on the heedis of hem.

43 Then I said ... now she will go on with her loose ways.

And Y seide to hir, that was defoulid in auoutries, Now also this schal do fornycacioun in hir fornicacioun.

44 And they went in to her, as men go to a loose woman: so they went in to Oholibah, the loose woman.

And thei entriden to hir; as to a womman, an hoore, so thei entriden to Oolla and to Ooliba, cursid wymmen.

45 And upright men will be her judges, judging her as false wives and women who take lives are judged; because she has been untrue to me and blood is on her hands.

Therfor these men ben iust, these schulen deme thilke wymmen bi the doom of auoutressis, and bi the doom of hem that scheden out blood; for thei ben auoutressis, and blood is in the hondis of hem, and thei diden fornicacioun with her idols.

46 For this is what the Lord has said: I will make a great meeting of the people come together against her, and will send on her shaking fear and take everything from her.

For the Lord God seith these thingis, Bringe thou multitudis to hem, and yyue thou hem in to noise, and in to raueyn;

47 And the meeting, after stoning her with stones, will put an end to her with their swords; they will put her sons and daughters to death and have her house burned up with fire.

and be thei stoonyd with the stoonys of puplis, and be thei stikid togidere with the swerdis of hem. Thei schulen sle the sones and the douytris of hem, and thei schulen brenne with fier the housis of hem.

48 And I will put an end to evil in all the land, teaching all women not to do as you have done.

And Y schal do awei greet trespas fro the lond; and alle wymmen schulen lerne, that thei do not aftir the greet trespas of hem.

49 And I will send on you the punishment of your evil ways, and you will be rewarded for your sins with your images: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

And thei schulen yyue youre grete trespas on you; and ye schulen bere the synnes of youre idols, and ye schulen wite, that Y am the Lord God.