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The Harlotries of Oholah and Oholibah

23 The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying, “Son of man, there were (A)two women, the daughters of one mother; and they played the harlot in Egypt. They (B)played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed, and there their virgin bosom was handled. Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

“Oholah played the harlot [a]while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the (C)Assyrians, her neighbors, who were clothed in purple, (D)governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. She gave her harlotries to them, all of them the choicest [b]men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she (E)defiled herself. She did not forsake her harlotries (F)from the time in Egypt; for in her youth [c]men had lain with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured out their harlotry on her. Therefore, I gave her into the hand of her (G)lovers, into the hand of the [d]Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 They (H)uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they killed her with the sword. Thus she became a despised name among women, and they executed judgments on her.

11 “Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was (I)more corrupt in her lust than she, and her harlotries were more than the harlotries of her sister. 12 She lusted after the [e](J)Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, magnificently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable choice men. 13 And I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took [f]the same way. 14 So she increased her harlotries. And she saw men (K)portrayed on the wall, images of the (L)Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, 15 girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, in the likeness of the [g]Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. 16 [h]And she saw them and (M)lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 So the [i](N)Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their harlotry. Then she became defiled by them, and her soul became disgusted with them. 18 And she (O)uncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness; then My soul became (P)disgusted with her, as My soul had become disgusted with her (Q)sister. 19 Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20 She (R)lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21 Thus you [j]longed for the (S)lewdness of your youth, when [k]the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth.

22 “Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will arouse your lovers against you, those with whom your soul was disgusted, and I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the [l](T)Babylonians and all the (U)Chaldeans, (V)Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the [m](W)Assyrians with them; desirable choice men, governors and officials, all of them, officers and [n]men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 They will come against you with weapons, (X)chariots and [o]wagons, and with an assembly of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with large shield and shield and helmet; and I will give the (Y)judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their judgments. 25 And I will set My (Z)jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your [p]survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your (AA)sons and your daughters; and your [q]survivors will be consumed by the fire. 26 They will also (AB)strip you of your clothes and take away your (AC)beautiful jewelry. 27 Thus (AD)I will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’ 28 For thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you (AE)hate, into the hand of those with whom your soul was disgusted. 29 They will (AF)deal with you in hatred, take all the fruit of your labor, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries. 30 These things will be done to you because you have (AG)played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give (AH)her cup into your hand.’ 32 Thus says Lord Yahweh,

‘You will (AI)drink your sister’s cup,
Which is deep and wide.
[r]You will be (AJ)laughed at and held in derision;
It contains much.
33 You will be filled with (AK)drunkenness and sorrow,
The cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You will (AL)drink it and drain it.
Then you will gnaw its fragments
And tear your breasts;

for I have spoken,’ declares Lord Yahweh. 35 Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because you have (AM)forgotten Me and (AN)cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.’”

36 Moreover, Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, will you (AO)judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then (AP)declare to them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. Thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons, (AQ)whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to [s]them as food. 38 Again, they have done this to Me: they have (AR)defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have (AS)profaned My sabbaths. 39 For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My (AT)sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and behold, thus they did within My house.

40 “Furthermore, [t]they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came—for whom you bathed, (AU)painted your eyes, and (AV)decorated yourselves with ornaments; 41 and you sat on a splendid (AW)couch with a (AX)table arranged before it on which you had set My (AY)incense and My (AZ)oil. 42 The sound of a multitude (BA)at ease was with her; and (BB)drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the [u]common sort. And they put (BC)bracelets on [v]the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 “Then I said concerning her who was (BD)worn out by adulteries, ‘[w]Will they now commit harlotry with her when she is thus?’ 44 [x]But they went in to her as they would go in to a harlot. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. 45 But they, righteous men, will (BE)judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

46 “For thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Bring up an assembly against them and give them over to (BF)terror and plunder. 47 The assembly will (BG)stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and (BH)burn their houses with fire. 48 Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be chastised and not commit [y]lewdness as you have done. 49 Your lewdness [z]will be (BI)requited upon you, and you will bear the sin of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am Lord Yahweh.’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 23:5 Lit under Me
  2. Ezekiel 23:7 Lit sons of Asshur
  3. Ezekiel 23:8 Lit they
  4. Ezekiel 23:9 Lit sons of Asshur
  5. Ezekiel 23:12 Lit sons of Asshur
  6. Ezekiel 23:13 Lit one
  7. Ezekiel 23:15 Lit sons of Babel
  8. Ezekiel 23:16 Lit At the sight of her eyes
  9. Ezekiel 23:17 Lit sons of Babel
  10. Ezekiel 23:21 Lit visited
  11. Ezekiel 23:21 As in two mss; M.T. from Egypt
  12. Ezekiel 23:23 Lit sons of Babylon
  13. Ezekiel 23:23 Lit sons of Assyria
  14. Ezekiel 23:23 Lit the called ones
  15. Ezekiel 23:24 Lit wheels
  16. Ezekiel 23:25 Lit remainder
  17. Ezekiel 23:25 Lit remainder
  18. Ezekiel 23:32 Or It will be for jesting and deriding because of its great size
  19. Ezekiel 23:37 Idols
  20. Ezekiel 23:40 Or you (women)
  21. Ezekiel 23:42 Lit multitude of mankind
  22. Ezekiel 23:42 Lit their hands
  23. Ezekiel 23:43 Or Now they will commit adultery with her, and she with them.
  24. Ezekiel 23:44 Or And
  25. Ezekiel 23:48 Lit according to your lewdness
  26. Ezekiel 23:49 Lit they will give

23 The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: and they played the harlot in Egypt; they played the harlot in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity. And the names of them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bare sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is [a]Oholah, and Jerusalem [b]Oholibah.

And Oholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors, who were clothed with blue, governors and [c]rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. And she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whomsoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself. Neither hath she left her whoredoms [d]since the days of Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their whoredom upon her. Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. 10 These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they slew with the sword: and she became a [e]byword among women; for they executed judgments upon her.

11 And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her whoredoms which were more than the whoredoms of her sister. 12 She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. 13 And I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way. 14 And she increased her whoredoms; for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, 15 girded with girdles upon their loins, with flowing turbans upon their heads, all of them princes to look upon, after the likeness of the Babylonians [f]in Chaldea, the land of their nativity. 16 And [g]as soon as she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them. 18 So she uncovered her whoredoms, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister. 19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, remembering the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20 And she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21 Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in the handling of thy bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of thy youth.

22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy soul is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and [h]men of renown, all of them riding upon horses. 24 And they shall come against thee with weapons, chariots, and [i]wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against thee with buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will commit the judgment unto them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments. 25 And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury; they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. 26 They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels. 27 Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt; so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more. 28 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy soul is alienated; 29 and they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take away all thy labor, and shall leave thee naked and bare; and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be uncovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

30 These things shall be done unto thee, for that thou hast played the harlot after the nations, and because thou art polluted with their idols. 31 Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thy hand. 32 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou shalt drink of thy sister’s cup, which is deep and large; thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; [j]it containeth much. 33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria. 34 Thou shalt even drink it and drain it out, and thou shalt gnaw the sherds thereof, and shalt tear thy breasts; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah. 35 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

36 Jehovah said moreover unto me: Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare unto them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass through the fire unto them to be devoured. 38 Moreover this they have 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, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of my house. 40 And furthermore ye have sent for men [k]that come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent, and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paint thine eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments, 41 and sit upon a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon thou didst set mine incense and mine oil. 42 And the voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets upon the hands of them twain, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

43 Then said I [l]of her that was old in adulteries, Now will they play [m]the harlot with her, [n]and she with them. 44 And they went in unto her, as they go in unto a harlot: so went they in unto Oholah and unto Oholibah, the lewd women. 45 And righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands. 46 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed to and fro and robbed. 47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire. 48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. 49 And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols; and ye shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 23:4 That is, Her tent.
  2. Ezekiel 23:4 That is, My tent is in her.
  3. Ezekiel 23:6 Or, deputies. See Jer. 51:23, etc.
  4. Ezekiel 23:8 Or, brought from Egypt
  5. Ezekiel 23:10 Hebrew name.
  6. Ezekiel 23:15 Or, the land of whose nativity is Chaldea
  7. Ezekiel 23:16 Hebrew at the sight of her eyes.
  8. Ezekiel 23:23 Or, counsellors. Hebrew called.
  9. Ezekiel 23:24 Or, wheels
  10. Ezekiel 23:32 Or, too much to endure
  11. Ezekiel 23:40 Or, to come
  12. Ezekiel 23:43 Or, She that is old will commit adulteries
  13. Ezekiel 23:43 Hebrew her whoredoms.
  14. Ezekiel 23:43 Or, even with her