1The word of the Lord came to me:2‘Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother.3They became prostitutes in Egypt, engaging in prostitution from their youth. In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed.4The elder one was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.5‘Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine; and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians – warriors6clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted horsemen.7She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after.8She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her.9‘Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she lusted.10They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women, and punishment was inflicted on her.11‘Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister.12She too lusted after the Assyrians – governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men.13I saw that she too defiled herself; both of them went the same way.14‘But she carried her prostitution still further. She saw men portrayed on a wall, figures of Chaldeans[1] portrayed in red,15with belts round their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers, natives of Chaldea.[2]16As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.17Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.18When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her naked body, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister.19Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt.20There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.21So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.[3]22‘Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stir up your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side –23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses.24They will come against you with weapons,[4] chariots and wagons and with a throng of people; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish you according to their standards.25I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire.26They will also strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewellery.27So I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore.28‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to deliver you into the hands of those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust.29They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything you have worked for. They will leave you stark naked, and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your lewdness and promiscuity30have brought this on you, because you lusted after the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.31You have gone the way of your sister; so I will put her cup into your hand.32‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, a cup large and deep; it will bring scorn and derision, for it holds so much.33You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of ruin and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.34You will drink it and drain it dry and chew on its pieces – and you will tear your breasts. I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.35‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: since you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.’36The Lord said to me: ‘Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then confront them with their detestable practices,37for they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me, as food for them.38They have also done this to me: at that same time they defiled my sanctuary and desecrated my Sabbaths.39On the very day they sacrificed their children to their idols, they entered my sanctuary and desecrated it. That is what they did in my house.40‘They even sent messengers for men who came from far away, and when they arrived you bathed yourself for them, applied eye makeup and put on your jewellery.41You sat on an elegant couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed the incense and olive oil that belonged to me.42‘The noise of a carefree crowd was around her; drunkards were brought from the desert along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets on the wrists of the woman and her sister and beautiful crowns on their heads.43Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, “Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is.”44And they slept with her. As men sleep with a prostitute, so they slept with those lewd women, Oholah and Oholibah.45But righteous judges will sentence them to the punishment of women who commit adultery and shed blood, because they are adulterous and blood is on their hands.46‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: bring a mob against them and give them over to terror and plunder.47The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses.48‘So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not imitate you.49You will suffer the penalty for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’
Ezekiel 23
English Standard Version
Oholah and Oholibah
1The word of the Lord came to me:2“Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. (Eze 2:1; Eze 16:45)3They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms[1] handled. (Eze 16:15; Eze 16:22)4Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. (Eze 16:8; Eze 16:46; Eze 23:37)5“Oholah played the whore while she was mine, and she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors (Nu 5:19; 2Ki 15:19; 2Ki 17:3; Ho 2:5; Ho 8:9)6clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. (Isa 5:28; Eze 23:23; Eze 38:15)7She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted.8She did not give up her whoring that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her. (Eze 23:3; Eze 23:19)9Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. (2Ki 15:29; 2Ki 17:4; 2Ki 17:23; 2Ki 18:9)10These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became a byword among women, when judgment had been executed on her. (Eze 5:8; Eze 16:14; Eze 16:37; Eze 23:25; Eze 23:29)11“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sister[2] in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. (Jer 3:8; Jer 3:11; Eze 16:47)12She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. (Eze 23:6)13And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way.14But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, (2Ki 20:12; 2Ki 24:1; Eze 8:10; Eze 16:17; Eze 16:29)15wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea.16When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. (Isa 57:9; Eze 23:14; Eze 23:40)17And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, she turned from them in disgust. (Isa 57:7; Eze 17:15; Eze 23:22; Eze 23:28; Eze 23:41)18When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister.19Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt (Eze 16:15; Eze 23:3)20and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses.21Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed[3] your young breasts.”22Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: (Eze 16:37; Eze 23:17)23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. (Jer 50:21; Eze 23:6; Eze 23:12)24And they shall come against you from the north[4] with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. (2Ki 19:32; 2Ki 25:6; Eze 9:5)25And I will direct my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. (Eze 23:10; Eze 23:29)26They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. (Eze 16:39)27Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore. (Eze 16:41; Eze 23:3; Eze 23:19; Eze 23:48)28“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, (Eze 16:37; Eze 23:17; Eze 23:22)29and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring (Eze 16:7; Eze 16:22; Eze 16:37; Eze 16:39; Eze 23:10; Eze 23:25)30have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. (Ex 34:15; Eze 6:9)31You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand. (Jer 25:15; Eze 23:9)32Thus says the Lord God: “You shall drink your sister’s cup that is deep and large; you shall be laughed at and held in derision, for it contains much;33you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. A cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria; (Isa 51:17; Jer 13:13; Eze 23:4; Re 14:10)34you shall drink it and drain it out, and gnaw its shards, and tear your breasts; for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. (Ps 75:8)35Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.” (1Ki 14:9; Jer 2:32; Eze 14:10; Eze 16:58; Eze 22:12; Eze 23:49)36The Lord said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. (Eze 2:1; Eze 20:4; Eze 22:2)37For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up[5] to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. (Eze 7:23; Eze 16:20; Eze 16:38; Eze 22:2)38Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths. (Eze 5:11; Eze 20:13)39For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, this is what they did in my house. (2Ki 21:4; Jer 23:11; Eze 16:20; Eze 16:36; Eze 23:37; Eze 44:7)40They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. (2Ki 9:30; Jer 4:30; Eze 16:11; Eze 23:16)41You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil. (Es 1:6; Pr 7:17; Eze 16:18; Ho 2:8)42The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards[6] were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns on their heads. (Isa 22:2; Eze 16:11; Eze 16:12)43“Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!’[7]44For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women!45But righteous men shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.” (Eze 16:38; Eze 23:24)46For thus says the Lord God: “Bring up a vast host against them, and make them an object of terror and a plunder. (De 28:25; Eze 7:21; Eze 16:40)47And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses. (Jos 7:24; 2Ch 36:17; 2Ch 36:19; Eze 16:40; Eze 24:21)48Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. (Eze 16:41; Eze 23:27)49And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and you shall know that I am the Lord God.” (Eze 6:7; Eze 23:35)