ishtar

¹⁸The sons gather the wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the wives spread the grease, so as to make cakes to the queen of heaven and to offer libations to strange gods, and so as to provoke me to anger.

¹⁴And he led me in through the door of the gate of the Lord’s house, which looked toward the north. And behold, women were sitting there, mourning for Adonis.

²⁵Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You and your wives have spoken it with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying: ‘Let us perform our vows that we have made, so that we may offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and pour out libations to her.’ You have fulfilled your vows and accomplished their works.

³⁰be careful that you do not imitate them, after they have been overturned at your arrival, and that you do not seek their ceremonies, saying: ‘Just as these nations have worshipped their gods, so also will I worship.’ ³¹You shall not act in like manner toward the Lord your God. For they have done to their gods all the abominations that the Lord spurns, offering their sons and daughters, and burning them with fire. ³²What I command to you, this only shall you do, for the Lord. You may neither add nor subtract anything.”

¹And one of the seven Angels, those who hold the seven bowls, approached and spoke with me, saying: “Come, I will show you the condemnation of the great harlot, who sits upon many waters. ²With her, the kings of the earth have fornicated. And those who inhabit the earth have been inebriated by the wine of her prostitution.” ³And he carried me away in spirit to the desert. And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, filled with names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴And the woman was clothed all around with purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand, filled with the abomination and with the filth of her fornication. ⁵And a name was written upon her forehead: Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the fornications and the abominations of the earth. ⁶And I saw that the woman was inebriated from the blood of the saints and from the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And I was amazed, when I had seen her, with a great wonder.

¹⁸The sons gather the wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the wives spread the grease, so as to make cakes to the queen of heaven and to offer libations to strange gods, and so as to provoke me to anger. ¹⁹But are they provoking me to anger, says the Lord? Are they not provoking themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?” ²⁰Therefore, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, my fury and my indignation is kindled against this place, over men and over beasts, and over the trees of the countryside and over the fruits of the land, and it will burn and not be extinguished.”

²⁶And when they had taken an ox, which he had given to them, they prepared it. And they called on the name of Baal, from morning even until midday, saying, “O Baal, heed us.” And there was no voice, nor did anyone respond. And so they leaped upon the altar that they had made.

¹⁷But we will continue to do every word which proceeds from our own mouth, so that we sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and we pour out libations to her, just as we and our fathers have done, our kings and our leaders, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For we were filled with bread, and it was well with us, and we saw no evil. ¹⁸But since the time that we ceased to offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to pour out libations to her, we have been in need of all things, and we have been consumed by the sword and by famine. ¹⁹But when we offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven and pour out libations to her, do we make cakes for her worship and offer libations to her without our husbands?”

¹³Also, the high places which were in Jerusalem, to the right side of the Mount of Offense, which Solomon, the king of Israel, had built to Ashtoreth, the idol of the Sidonians, and to Chemosh, the offense of Moab, and to Milcom, the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled.

¹⁰But afterward, they cried out to the Lord, and they said: ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and we have served the Baals and Ashtaroth. Now therefore, rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.’

⁶But the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, joining new sins to old, and they served idols, the Baals and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria and Sidon, and of Moab and the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines. And they abandoned the Lord, and they did not worship him.

¹And it happened that, in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, and the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. ²And I saw, and behold, there was an image with the appearance of fire. From the appearance of his waist, and downward, there was fire. And from his waist, and upward, there was the appearance of splendor, like the sight of amber. ³And as the image of a hand went out, it took hold of me by a lock of my head. And the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven. And he brought me into Jerusalem, within a vision of God, next to the inner gate that looked toward the north, where there was stationed an idol of rivalry, so as to provoke an envious emulation. ⁴And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, in accord with the vision that I had seen in the plain. ⁵And he said to me: “Son of man, lift up your eyes to the way of the north.” And I lifted up my eyes to the way of the north. And behold, from the north of the gate of the altar was the idol of rivalry, at the same entrance. ⁶And he said to me: “Son of man, you see what these ones are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here. Do you not think, then, that I should withdraw far away from my own sanctuary? But if you turn again, you will see even greater abominations.”

¹³forsaking him, and serving Baal and Ashtaroth.

³³For he has abandoned me, and he has adored Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chemosh, the god of Moab, and Milcom, the god of the sons of Ammon. And he has not walked in my ways, so that he would do justice before me, and so that he would carry out my precepts and judgments, as his father David did.

¹And after these things, I saw another Angel, descending from heaven, having great authority. And the earth was illuminated by his glory. ²And he cried out with strength, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. And she has become the habitation of demons, and the keepsake of every unclean spirit, and the possession of every unclean and hateful flying thing. ³For all the nations have imbibed the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the kings of the earth have fornicated with her. And the merchants of the earth have become wealthy by the power of her pleasures.” ⁴And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: “Go away from her, my people, so that you may not be participants in her pleasures, and so that you may not be recipients of her afflictions. ⁵For her sins have pierced through even to heaven, and the Lord has remembered her iniquities. ⁶Render to her, as she has also rendered to you. And repay her doubly, according to her works. Mix for her a double portion, in the cup with which she mixed.

¹⁰And they placed his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth. But his body they suspended on the wall of Bethshan.

⁴Therefore, the sons of Israel took away the Baals and Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord alone.

²“Thus says Cyrus, the king of the Persians: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me, and he himself has instructed me that I should build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. ³Who among you is from his entire people? May his God be with him. Let him ascend to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and let him build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴And let all who remain, in all the places wherever they may live, assist him, each man from his place, with silver and gold, and goods and cattle, in addition to whatever they may offer voluntarily to the temple of God, which is in Jerusalem.”

¹²How is it that you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who used to rise like the sun? How is it that you have fallen to the earth, you who wounded the peoples?

¹⁷But we will continue to do every word which proceeds from our own mouth, so that we sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and we pour out libations to her, just as we and our fathers have done, our kings and our leaders, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For we were filled with bread, and it was well with us, and we saw no evil.

⁶In all of your habitations, the cities will be made desolate, and the exalted places will be torn down and scattered. And your altars will be broken and destroyed. And your idols will cease to exist. And your shrines will be crushed. And your works will be wiped away. ⁷And the slain will fall in your midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord. ⁸And I will leave among you those who will escape the sword among the Gentiles, when I will have dispersed you upon the earth.

¹The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, in order to make known to his servants the things that must soon occur, and which he signified by sending his Angel to his servant John;