Ezekiel 23
1599 Geneva Bible
23 Of the Idolatry of Samaria and Jerusalem, under the names of Oholah and Oholibah.
1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one [a]mother.
3 And they committed fornication in [b]Egypt, they committed fornication in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
4 And the names of [c]them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters: thus were their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.
5 And Oholah played the harlot [d]when [e]she was mine, and she was set on fire with her lovers, to wit, with the Assyrians her neighbors,
6 Which were clothed with blue silk, both captains and princes they were all pleasant young men, and horsemen riding upon horses.
7 Thus she committed her whoredom with them, even with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted, and defiled herself with all their idols.
8 Neither left she her fornications, learned of the Egyptians: for in her youth they [f]lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her.
9 Wherefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, even into the hands of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
10 These discovered her shame: they took away her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword, and she had an evil name among women: for [g]they had executed judgment upon her.
11 And when her sister Oholibah saw this, she marred herself with inordinate love more than she, and with her fornications more than her sister with her fornications.
12 She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbors, both captains and princes clothed with divers suits, horsemen riding upon horses: they were all pleasant young men.
13 Then I saw that she was defiled, and that they were both after one sort,
14 And that she increased her fornications: for when she saw men [h]painted upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans painted with vermilion,
15 And girded with girdles upon their loins, and with dyed attire upon their heads (looking all like princes after the manner of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their nativity)
16 As soon, I say, as she saw them, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them, into Chaldea.
17 Now when the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, they defiled her with their fornication, and she was polluted with them, and her lust departed from them.
18 So she discovered her fornication, and disclosed her shame: then mine heart forsook her, like as mine heart had forsaken her sister.
19 Yet she increased her whoredom more, and called to remembrance the days of her youth wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 For she doted upon their servants whose members are as the members of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
21 Thou calledst to remembrance the wickedness of thy youth, when thy teats were bruised by the Egyptians: therefore the paps of thy youth are thus.
22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thine heart is departed, and I will bring them against thee on every side,
23 To wit, the Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, [i]Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: they were all pleasant young men, captains and princes: all they were valiant and renowned, riding upon horses.
24 Even these shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with a multitude of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield, and helmet round about, and [j]I will leave the punishment unto them, and they shall judge thee according to their [k]judgments.
25 And I will lay mine indignation upon thee, and they shall deal cruelly with thee: they shall cut off thy [l]nose and thine ears, and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall carry away thy sons and thy daughters, and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
26 They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
27 Thus will I make thy wickedness to cease from thee, and thy fornication out of the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt anymore.
28 For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them, whom thou hatest, even into the hands of them from whom thine heart is departed.
29 And they shall handle thee despitefully, and shall take away all thy [m]labor, and shall leave thee naked and bare, and the shame of thy fornications [n]shall be discovered, both thy wickedness, and thy whoredom.
30 I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring 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 [o]cup into thine hand.
32 Thus saith the Lord God, Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup, deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision, because it containeth much.
33 Thou shalt be filled with [p]drunkenness and sorrow, even with the cup of destruction, and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
34 Thou shalt even drink it, and wring it out to the dregs, and thou shalt break the shards thereof, and tear thine 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 thou shalt also bear thy wickedness and thy whoredom.
36 ¶ The Lord said moreover unto me, Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? and wilt thou declare to them their abominations?
37 For they have played the whores, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bore unto me, to pass by the fire to be their [q]meat.
38 Moreover, thus have they done unto 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, they came the same day into my Sanctuary to defile it: and lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.
40 And how much more is it that they sent for men to come from [r]far, unto whom a messenger was sent, and lo, they came? for whom thou didst wash thyself, and paintedst thine eyes, and deckedst thee with ornaments,
41 And satest [s]upon a costly bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.
42 And a voice of a multitude being at ease, was with her: and with the men to make the company great, were brought men of [t]Saba from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
43 Then I said unto her that was old in adulteries, Now shall she and her fornications come to an end.
44 And they went in unto her as they go to a common harlot: so went they to Oholah and Oholibah the wicked women.
45 And the righteous men they shall judge them after the manner of [u]harlots, and after the manner of murderers: for they are harlots, and blood is in their hands.
46 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, I will bring a multitude upon them, and will give them unto the tumult and to the spoil,
47 And the multitude shall stone them with stones, and cut them with their swords: they shall slay their sons, and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
48 Thus will I cause wickedness to cease out of the land, that all [v]women may be taught not to do after your wickedness.
49 And they shall lay your wickedness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols, and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 23:2 Meaning, Israel and Judah, which came both out of one family.
- Ezekiel 23:3 They became idolaters after the manner of the Egyptians.
- Ezekiel 23:4 Oholah signifieth a mansion or dwelling in herself, meaning Samaria, which was the royal city of Israel and Oholibah signifieth my mansion in her, whereby is meant Jerusalem, where God’s Temple was.
- Ezekiel 23:5 Hebrew, under me.
- Ezekiel 23:5 When the Israelites were named the people of God, they became idolaters, and forsook God, and put their trust in the Assyrians.
- Ezekiel 23:8 The holy Ghost useth these terms which seem strange to chaste ears, to cause this wicked vice of idolatry so to be abhorred, that […] any should abide to hear the name thereof.
- Ezekiel 23:10 Meaning, the Assyrians.
- Ezekiel 23:14 This declareth that no words are able sufficiently to express the rage of idolaters, and therefore the holy Ghost here compareth them to those which in their raging love and filthy lusts dote upon the images and paintings of them after whom they lust.
- Ezekiel 23:23 These were the names of certain princes and captains under Nebuchadnezzar.
- Ezekiel 23:24 Hebrew, I will give judgment before them.
- Ezekiel 23:24 Or, laws.
- Ezekiel 23:25 They shall destroy thy princes and priests with the rest of thy people.
- Ezekiel 23:29 All thy treasures and riches which thou hast gotten by labor.
- Ezekiel 23:29 All the world shall see thy shameful forsaking of God to serve idols.
- Ezekiel 23:31 I will execute the same judgments and vengeance against thee, and that with greater severity.
- Ezekiel 23:33 Meaning, that its afflictions should be so great that they should cause them to lose their senses, and reason.
- Ezekiel 23:37 That is, to be sacrifices to their idols, read Ezek. 16:20.
- Ezekiel 23:40 They sent into other countries to have such as should teach the service of their idols.
- Ezekiel 23:41 He meaneth the altar that was prepared for the idols.
- Ezekiel 23:42 Which should teach the manner of worshipping their gods.
- Ezekiel 23:45 That is, worthy of death, read Ezek. 16:38.
- Ezekiel 23:48 Meaning, all other cities and countries.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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