Ezekiel 23
Modern English Version
The Sins of Oholah and Oholibah
23 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: 2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. 3 And they committed harlotries in Egypt. They committed harlotries in their youth. There their breasts were pressed, and there their virgin bosom was handled. 4 Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they were mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
Samaria
5 Oholah played the harlot when she was Mine. And she lusted after her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors, 6 who were clothed in purple, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 7 Thus she committed her harlotries with them, with all those who were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself. 8 She did not forsake her harlotries from the time in Egypt. For in her youth they lay with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured their harlotry upon her.
9 Therefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians after whom she doted. 10 They uncovered her nakedness. They took her sons and her daughters and killed her with the sword. And she became a byword among women, for they had executed judgments on her.
Jerusalem
11 Now her sister Oholibah saw this, but she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her harlotries more than her sister in her harlotries. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians her neighbors, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 13 Then I saw that she was defiled, that they both took the same way.
14 So she increased her harlotries. And she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, 15 girded with belts on their loins, exceeding in dyed attire on their heads, all of them looking like officials, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity. 16 And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them into Chaldea. 17 The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their harlotry, and she was polluted with them, and her soul became disgusted with them. 18 So she uncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness. Then My soul became disgusted with her, as My soul became disgusted with her sister. 19 Yet she multiplied her harlotries while remembering the days of her youth in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20 For she lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth when the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth.
Judgment on Jerusalem
22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them. All of them are desirable young men, captains and rulers, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 They shall come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with an assembly of peoples. They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet. And I will set the judgment before them, and they shall judge you according to their customs. 25 I will set My jealousy against you, so that they deal furiously with you. They shall take away 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 the fire. 26 They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your fair jewels. 27 Thus I will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.
28 For thus says the Lord God: I will deliver you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom you were alienated. 29 And they shall deal with you hatefully, and shall take away all your labor, and shall leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your harlotries shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries. 30 I will do these things to you because you have gone whoring after the nations, because you have polluted yourself with their idols. 31 You have walked in the way of your sister. Therefore I will give her cup into your hand.
32 Thus says the Lord God:
You shall drink of your sister’s cup,
which is deep and wide;
you shall be laughed to scorn and held in derision;
it contains much.
33 You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
the cup of horror and desolation,
the cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You shall drink it and drain it,
then you shall gnaw at its fragments
and tear off your own breasts;
for I have spoken, says the Lord God.
35 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, now bear the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.
Judgment on the Sisters
36 The Lord moreover said to me: Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands. Thus with their idols they have committed adultery and have also caused their sons whom they bore to Me to pass through the fire for them as food. 38 Moreover they have done this to 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 thus they have done in the midst of My house.
40 Furthermore, they have even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and they came. For them you washed yourself, painted your eyes, and decked yourself with ornaments. 41 And you sat on a stately couch with a table prepared before it on which you had set My incense and My oil.
42 A sound of a multitude at ease was with her, and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort. And they put bracelets on the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43 Then I said to her who was worn out by adulteries, “Will they now commit harlotries with her when she is so?” 44 Yet they went in to her as they go in to a woman who plays the harlot. So they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. 45 But righteous men shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.
46 For thus says the Lord God: Bring up a company against them and give them over to terror and devastation. 47 The company shall stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords. They shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
48 Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all women may be warned and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49 Your lewdness shall be recompensed upon you, and you shall bear the punishment of worshipping your idols. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God.
Ezekiel 23
Lexham English Bible
Oholah and Oholibah as Symbols of God’s Corrupt People
23 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] 2 “Son of man,[c] there were two women, the daughters of one mother, 3 and they prostituted themselves in Egypt in their childhood; they were prostituting themselves there, and their breasts were fondled, and there they caressed the bosoms of their virginity. 4 Now as for their names, the older was Oholah, and Oholibah was her sister. And they became mine,[d] and they bore sons and daughters, and their names[e] are Samaria for Oholah, and Jerusalem for Oholibah. 5 And Oholah prostituted herself while she was still mine,[f] and she lusted for her lovers, for Assyria who was nearby, 6 clothed in blue cloth, governors and prefects, handsome young men[g] and all of them horsemen, experts on horseback.[h] 7 And she bestowed her fornication on them, on the choice ones of the Assyrians,[i] all of them, and with every one after which she lusted; with all of their idols she defiled herself. 8 And her whorings from the time of Egypt she did not abandon, for they slept with her in her childhood, and they caressed the bosoms of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication on her. 9 Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians[j] after whom she lusted.[k] 10 They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. And she became a name for the women, and they executed judgments against her.
11 “And though Oholibah her sister saw, yet in her lust she behaved more corruptly than her,[l] and her whoring was more than the prostitution of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians,[m] governors and prefects, warriors[n] clothed in[o] perfection,[p] expert horsemen,[q] all of them handsome young men.[r] 13 And I saw that she was defiled; they had both taken the same path![s] 14 And she increased her whorings, and she saw men carved[t] on the wall, images of Chaldeans[u] carved in red, 15 belted with a belt at[v] their waist with turbans on their heads, all of them giving the appearance of adjutants,[w] the image[x] of the Babylonians;[y] Chaldea was the land of their birth. 16 And she lusted for them when her eyes saw them,[z] and she sent messengers to them at Chaldea. 17 And so the Babylonians[aa] came to her for the bed of lovemaking; and they defiled her with their fornication, and she was defiled by them, and she turned from them. 18 And she revealed her whorings, and she revealed her nakedness, and so I turned from her just as[ab] I turned from her sister. 19 Yet[ac] she increased her whorings, recalling[ad] the days of her childhood when she was prostituted[ae] in the land of Egypt. 20 And she lusted after her male lovers whose genitalia were the genitalia of male donkeys and their seminal emission was the seminal emission of horses. 21 And you longed after the obscene conduct of your youth when your bosom was caressed by Egypt, fondling your young breasts.
22 “Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am stirring up your lovers against you concerning whom you turned away, and I will bring them against you from all around: 23 the Babylonians[af] and all of the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, all of the Assyrians[ag] along with them, handsome young men,[ah] governors and prefects, all of them adjutants[ai] and excellent horsemen.[aj] 24 And they will come against you with an army chariot and wagon and with a crowd[ak] of peoples; they will set themselves against you from all around with large shield and small shield and helmet. And I will give before them[al] judgment, and they will judge you with their judgments. 25 And I will direct my zeal against you, and they will deal with you in anger; your nose and your ears they will remove, and those who are left,[am] they will fall by the sword, and they will take your sons and your daughters, and your remnant[an] will be consumed by fire. 26 And they will strip you of your clothes, and they will take your splendid jewelry.[ao] 27 And I will put an end to your obscene conduct coming from you and your fornication from the land of Egypt, and you will not lift your eyes to them; and you will not remember Egypt again.’ 28 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am giving you into the hand of those you hated, into the hand of those from whom[ap] you turned away. 29 And they will deal with you in hatred, and they will take all of your acquisitions, and they will leave you naked and in bareness; and the nakedness of your fornication and your obscene conduct and your whorings will be exposed. 30 These things are accomplished[aq] against[ar] you since you prostituted yourself after the nations, and on account of that, you defiled yourself by their idols. 31 You went in the same way of your sister, and I will give her cup into your hand.”’
32 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “You will drink the deep and wide[as] cup of your sister; you will be as laughter and as scorn; the cup holds so much![at] 33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, for a cup of horror and desolation is the cup of your sister, Samaria. 34 And you will drink it, and you will drain it, and its potsherds you will gnaw, and you will tear out your breasts, for I myself[au] spoke,” declares[av] the Lord Yahweh. 35 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because you have forgotten me, and you threw me behind your back, now in turn[aw] you bear your obscene conduct and your whorings.”
36 And Yahweh said to me, “Son of man,[ax] will you judge Oholah and Oholibah and declare their abominable deeds to[ay] them? 37 For they committed adultery, and blood is on their hands, and they committed adultery with their idols, and even their children that they had borne for me—they sacrificed them as food! 38 Also they did this to me: they defiled my sanctuary on that day, and they profaned my Sabbaths, 39 and when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they came to my sanctuary on that day to profane it. And look, this is what they did in my house![az] 40 What is worse,[ba] they sent for men who come[bb] from a distant place, to whom a messenger was sent to them, and look! They came! Men for whom you bathed and painted your eyes, and you adorned yourself with an ornament. 41 And you sat on a magnificent couch and a table prepared before her,[bc] and my incense and my olive oil you put on her.[bd] 42 And a sound of a carefree crowd was with it,[be] and in addition to these men, a crowd of drunken men[bf] was brought in[bg] from the desert,[bh] and they put bracelets on their arms and a crown of splendor on their heads. 43 And I said to[bi] the one worn out with adulteries, ‘Now they will prostitute her concerning her fornication, even her.’[bj] 44 And so they went to her like going to a female[bk] prostitute; and thus they went to Oholah and to Oholibah, the women of obscene conduct. 45 But righteous men, they will judge them with the judgment of committing adultery, and with the judgment of shedding blood; for they were committing adultery, and blood was on their hands.”
46 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Bring up against them an assembly, and make them as a thing of horror and as plunder. 47 And an assembly must stone them with stones,[bl] and they must cut them down. With their swords they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and with fire they shall burn their houses. 48 And I will cause obscene conduct to cease from the land,[bm] and all of the women will be warned, and they will not do according to your wickedness. 49 And they will repay your obscene conduct upon you, and the guilt of your idols you will bear, and you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 23:1 Literally “was”
- Ezekiel 23:1 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 23:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 23:4 Literally “they were for me”
- Ezekiel 23:4 Hebrew “name”
- Ezekiel 23:5 Literally “under me”
- Ezekiel 23:6 Literally “young men of handsomeness/beauty”
- Ezekiel 23:6 Literally “riders of horsemen”
- Ezekiel 23:7 Literally “sons of Assyria”
- Ezekiel 23:9 Literally “sons of Assyria”
- Ezekiel 23:9 Literally “which she lusted for them”
- Ezekiel 23:11 Literally “she behaved corruptly in lust from her”
- Ezekiel 23:12 Literally “sons of Assyria”
- Ezekiel 23:12 Hebrew uncertain
- Ezekiel 23:12 Or “to”
- Ezekiel 23:12 Or “in full armor” or “wonderfully dressed”
- Ezekiel 23:12 Literally “horsemen, riders of horses”
- Ezekiel 23:12 Literally “young men of handsomeness”
- Ezekiel 23:13 Literally “way one was for the two of them”
- Ezekiel 23:14 Or “portrayed”
- Ezekiel 23:14 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
- Ezekiel 23:15 Or “around”
- Ezekiel 23:15 Or “officers”
- Ezekiel 23:15 Or “likeness”
- Ezekiel 23:15 Literally “sons of Babylon”
- Ezekiel 23:16 Literally “at the sight of her eyes”
- Ezekiel 23:17 Literally “sons of Babylon”
- Ezekiel 23:18 Literally “as that”
- Ezekiel 23:19 Or “And”
- Ezekiel 23:19 Or “remembering”
- Ezekiel 23:19 Or “prostituted herself”
- Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “sons of Babylon”
- Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “sons of Assyria”
- Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “young men of beauty/handsomeness”
- Ezekiel 23:23 Or “officers”
- Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “ones called riders of horses”
- Ezekiel 23:24 Or “horde” or “host of”
- Ezekiel 23:24 Literally “to the face of them”
- Ezekiel 23:25 Literally “and remainder your”
- Ezekiel 23:25 Literally “and remainder your”
- Ezekiel 23:26 Literally “the jewelry of splendor your”; or “your beautiful jewelry”
- Ezekiel 23:28 Literally “them”
- Ezekiel 23:30 Or “done”
- Ezekiel 23:30 Hebrew “in”
- Ezekiel 23:32 Or place “drink deep and wide the cup”
- Ezekiel 23:32 Literally “a large among to hold”
- Ezekiel 23:34 Literally “I, I”
- Ezekiel 23:34 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 23:35 Or “also”
- Ezekiel 23:36 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 23:36 Or “for”
- Ezekiel 23:39 Literally “thus they did in the midst of house my”
- Ezekiel 23:40 Literally “and also for/indeed”
- Ezekiel 23:40 Literally “coming”
- Ezekiel 23:41 Literally “to the face of her”
- Ezekiel 23:41 Or “it”
- Ezekiel 23:42 Or “her”
- Ezekiel 23:42 A problematic verse; reading according to the reading tradition (Qere)
- Ezekiel 23:42 Literally “from an abundance of men being brought in drunken”
- Ezekiel 23:42 Or “wilderness”
- Ezekiel 23:43 Or “about”
- Ezekiel 23:43 Or “that she did”
- Ezekiel 23:44 Or “a woman”
- Ezekiel 23:47 Hebrew “stone”
- Ezekiel 23:48 Or “I will put an end to obscene conduct from the land”
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