Ezekiel 23

New King James Version

Two Harlot Sisters

23 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying:

²“Son of man, there were ^(A)two women,
The daughters of one mother.
³^(B)They committed harlotry in Egypt,
They committed harlotry in ^(C)their youth;
Their breasts were there embraced,
Their virgin bosom was there pressed.
⁴Their names: ^[a]Oholah the elder and ^[b]Oholibah ^(D)her sister;
^(E)They were Mine,
And they bore sons and daughters.
As for their names,
Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

The Older Sister, Samaria

⁵“Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine;
And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring ^(F)Assyrians,
⁶Who were clothed in purple,
Captains and rulers,
All of them desirable young men,
Horsemen riding on horses.
⁷Thus she committed her harlotry with them,
All of them choice men of Assyria;
And with all for whom she lusted,
With all their idols, she defiled herself.
⁸She has never given up her harlotry brought ^(G)from Egypt,
For in her youth they had lain with her,
Pressed her virgin bosom,
And poured out their immorality upon her.

⁹“Therefore I have delivered her
Into the hand of her lovers,
Into the hand of the ^(H)Assyrians,
For whom she lusted.
¹⁰They uncovered her nakedness,
Took away her sons and daughters,
And slew her with the sword;
She became a byword among women,
For they had executed judgment on her.

The Younger Sister, Jerusalem

¹¹“Now ^(I)although her sister Oholibah saw this, ^(J)she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry.

¹²“She lusted for the neighboring ^(K)Assyrians,
^(L)Captains and rulers,
Clothed most gorgeously,
Horsemen riding on horses,
All of them desirable young men.
¹³Then I saw that she was defiled;
Both took the same way.
¹⁴But she increased her harlotry;
She looked at men portrayed on the wall,
Images of ^(M)Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,
¹⁵Girded with belts around their waists,
Flowing turbans on their heads,
All of them looking like captains,
In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea,
The land of their nativity.
¹⁶^(N)As soon as her eyes saw them,
She lusted for them
And sent ^(O)messengers to them in Chaldea.

¹⁷“Then the ^[c]Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love,
And they defiled her with their immorality;
So she was defiled by them, ^(P)and alienated herself from them.
¹⁸She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness.
Then ^(Q)I ^(R)alienated Myself from her,
As I had alienated Myself from her sister.

¹⁹“Yet she multiplied her harlotry
In calling to remembrance the days of her youth,
^(S)When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
²⁰For she lusted for her ^[d]paramours,
Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys,
And whose issue is like the issue of horses.
²¹Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth,
When the ^(T)Egyptians pressed your bosom
Because of your youthful breasts.

Judgment on Jerusalem

²²“Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God:

^(U)‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you,
From whom you have alienated yourself,
And I will bring them against you from every side:
²³The Babylonians,
All the Chaldeans,
^(V)Pekod, Shoa, Koa,
^(W)All the Assyrians with them,
All of them desirable young men,
Governors and rulers,
Captains and men of renown,
All of them riding on horses.
²⁴And they shall come against you
With chariots, wagons, and war-horses,
With a horde of people.
They shall array against you
Buckler, shield, and helmet all around.

‘I will delegate judgment to them,
And they shall judge you according to their judgments.
²⁵I will set My ^(X)jealousy against you,
And they shall deal furiously with you;
They shall remove your nose and your ears,
And your remnant shall fall by the sword;
They shall take your sons and your daughters,
And your remnant shall be devoured by fire.
²⁶^(Y)They shall also strip you of your clothes
And take away your beautiful jewelry.

²⁷‘Thus ^(Z)I will make you cease your lewdness and your ^(AA)harlotry
Brought from the land of Egypt,
So that you will not lift your eyes to them,
Nor remember Egypt anymore.’

²⁸“For thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hand of ^(AB)those you hate, into the hand of those ^(AC)from whom you alienated yourself. ²⁹^(AD)They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and ^(AE)leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry. ³⁰I will do these things to you because you have ^(AF)gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols. ³¹You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her ^(AG)cup in your hand.’

³²“Thus says the Lord God:

‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup,
The deep and wide one;
^(AH)You shall be laughed to scorn
And held in derision;
It contains much.
³³You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
The cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
³⁴You shall ^(AI)drink and drain it,
You shall break its ^[e]shards,
And tear at your own breasts;
For I have spoken,’
Says the Lord God.

³⁵“Therefore thus says the Lord God:

‘Because you ^(AJ)have forgotten Me and ^(AK)cast Me behind your back,
Therefore you shall bear the penalty
Of your lewdness and your harlotry.’ ”

Both Sisters Judged

³⁶The Lord also said to me: “Son of man, will you ^(AL)judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then ^(AM)declare to them their abominations. ³⁷For they have committed adultery, and ^(AN)blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons ^(AO)whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them. ³⁸Moreover they have done this to Me: They have ^(AP)defiled My sanctuary on the same day and ^(AQ)profaned My Sabbaths. ³⁹For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed ^(AR)thus they have done in the midst of My house.

⁴⁰“Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, ^(AS)to whom a messenger was sent; and there they came. And you ^(AT)washed yourself for them, ^(AU)painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. ⁴¹You sat on a stately ^(AV)couch, with a table prepared before it, ^(AW)on which you had set My incense and My oil. ⁴²The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and ^[f]Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their ^[g]wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads. ⁴³Then I said concerning her who had grown old in adulteries, ‘Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?’ ⁴⁴Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women. ⁴⁵But righteous men will ^(AX)judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and ^(AY)blood is on their hands.

⁴⁶“For thus says the Lord God: ^(AZ)‘Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder. ⁴⁷^(BA)The assembly shall stone them with stones and ^[h]execute them with their swords; ^(BB)they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire. ⁴⁸Thus ^(BC)I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, ^(BD)that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness. ⁴⁹They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall ^(BE)pay for your idolatrous sins. ^(BF)Then you shall know that I am the Lord God.’ ”