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Ezekiel 23
Evangelical Heritage Version

Two Lewd Sisters Act Like Prostitutes

23 The word of the Lord came to me.

2 Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother. 3 They acted like prostitutes in Egypt, where they were prostitutes during their youth. There they let their breasts be fondled. There they let men caress their virgin nipples.[a]

4 The older sister was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah.[b] They became mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. (As for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.)

5 Oholah acted like a prostitute instead of being faithful to me. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—bodyguards 6 clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, cavalrymen riding horses.[c] 7 She bestowed her favors upon all the elite of the Assyrians, and along with all those for whom she lusted, she defiled herself with all their filthy idols. 8 She did not give up the whoring she had practiced since Egypt, when men lay down with her during her youth. They caressed her virgin nipples and poured out their lust upon her. 9 Therefore, I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she had lusted. 10 They exposed her nakedness. They took away her sons and her daughters and killed her with the sword. She became notorious among women because of the punishments they inflicted upon her.

11 Although her sister Oholibah saw this, she behaved even more obscenely and lustfully than her sister, and her lustful whoring was even worse than her sister’s whoring. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians—governors, commanders, bodyguards in full uniform, and cavalrymen riding horses, all of them desirable young men. 13 Then I saw that she too had defiled herself. Both of them had gone the same way. 14 In fact, Oholibah intensified her whoring by looking at figures of men engraved on the wall, images of Chaldeans incised in bright red, 15 with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads. All of them looked like elite officers, like Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. 16 At the mere sight of them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 The Babylonians came to her bed to make love, and they defiled her by acting like whores themselves. But after she had been defiled by them, she tore herself away from them in disgust. 18 Because she had acted like a whore so openly and exposed her nakedness, I tore myself away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister in disgust. 19 Yet she increased her whoring. She remembered the days of her youth when she acted like a prostitute in the land of Egypt. 20 She lusted after her paramours, whose genitals[d] were like the genitals of donkeys and whose ejaculation was like the ejaculation of horses. 21 So you revisited the lewdness of your youth when your nipples were caressed in Egypt, and your young breasts were fondled.[e]

22 Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord God says. Hear this loud and clear! I am about to rouse your lovers against you, those you had turned away from in disgust. I will bring them against you from all sides: 23 the sons of the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, elite officers and men of high rank, all of them riding on horses. 24 They will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a horde of people. With shields, armor,[f] and helmets they will take up positions against you on all sides.

I will give you up to them for judgment, and they will judge you according to their own standards. 25 I will turn my jealousy against you, and they will deal with you in wrath. They will cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and your daughters, and your survivors will be devoured by fire. 26 They will strip you of your clothing and take away your beautiful jewelry. 27 I will put an end to your depravity and to the whoring you began in the land of Egypt. You will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore. 28 For this is what the Lord God says. Listen! I am about to deliver you into the hands of those you hate, into the hands of those you turned away from in disgust. 29 They will treat you hatefully. They will take away everything you have worked for and leave you completely naked. Your whorish nakedness will be exposed. Your depravity and your acts of prostitution 30 have brought those things upon you because of your whoring after the nations, because you defiled yourself with their filthy idols. 31 Because you walked in the way of your sister, I will put her cup into your hand.

32 This is what the Lord God says. You will drink your sister’s cup, a cup deep and wide. It will cause you derision and ridicule because it is so full. 33 You will be filled with drunkenness and grief by the cup of horror and devastation, the cup of your sister Samaria. 34 You will drink it and drain it. You will gnaw its broken pieces and tear your breasts. For I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 35 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must also bear the penalty of your depravity and your whoring.

36 The Lord also said this to me:

Son of man, will you bring charges against Oholah and Oholibah? Make their abominations known to them.

37 They have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their filthy idols. They have even offered up their children, whom they bore for me, to the idols as food.

38 What is more, they have done this to me: They defiled my sanctuary on the same day they desecrated my Sabbaths. 39 When they slaughtered their children for their filthy idols, they entered my sanctuary on that same day to defile it. Just look! This is what they did in my own house.

40 They even sent for men to come from far away, men to whom they had sent a messenger, and those men did come.

For them you[g] bathed. You applied eye shadow and put on your jewelry. 41 You sat on an expensive couch. In front of it you set a table, on which you placed my incense and my perfumed oil.

42 The noise of a carefree crowd surrounded her. In addition to the large throng of all kinds of men, they even brought drunkards[h] from the desert. They put bracelets on their arms and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43 Then I said about the woman worn out with adulteries, “Let them keep using her as a whore because that is what she is.”[i] 44 So they used her the way one uses a whore. So they used Oholah and Oholibah, those depraved women. 45 But righteous men will punish them with the punishment due to adulteresses, and the punishment due to murderers, for they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.

46 So this is what the Lord God says. I will bring an army against them and hand them over to terror and plunder. 47 The army will stone them and cut them down with their swords. They will slaughter their sons and daughters and burn down their houses with fire.

48 In this way I will remove depravity from the land, so that all women may take warning not to act in such a depraved way as you do. 49 They will impose upon you the penalty for your depravity, and you will bear the punishment for your sinful worship of your filthy idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 23:3 As he does elsewhere in the book, Ezekiel uses blunt language to condemn Israel’s sins of physical and spiritual adultery.
  2. Ezekiel 23:4 Oholah means her tent. Samaria had its own sanctuary, not the Lord’s. Oholibah means my tent is in her. Jerusalem had the true sanctuary of the Lord, but they did not honor it.
  3. Ezekiel 23:6 Or charioteers
  4. Ezekiel 23:20 Literally flesh. Once again Ezekiel uses blunt, direct language.
  5. Ezekiel 23:21 The translation your young breasts were fondled is based on the parallel actions in verses 3 and 8. The Hebrew in verse 21 reads for the sake of your young breasts. The two readings fondle and for the sake of look almost identical in Hebrew script.
  6. Ezekiel 23:24 Or small and large shields
  7. Ezekiel 23:40 As is often the case in prophecy, there are a number of rapid switches between words addressed to the prophet and to the people, and between words addressed to the people and words about the people.
  8. Ezekiel 23:42 Or Sabeans
  9. Ezekiel 23:43 The verse is obscure. Literally the Hebrew reads now her whoredom itself will go whoring, and she.
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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.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 23:1 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 23:1 Literally “to say”
  3. Ezekiel 23:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  4. Ezekiel 23:4 Literally “they were for me”
  5. Ezekiel 23:4 Hebrew “name”
  6. Ezekiel 23:5 Literally “under me”
  7. Ezekiel 23:6 Literally “young men of handsomeness/beauty”
  8. Ezekiel 23:6 Literally “riders of horsemen”
  9. Ezekiel 23:7 Literally “sons of Assyria”
  10. Ezekiel 23:9 Literally “sons of Assyria”
  11. Ezekiel 23:9 Literally “which she lusted for them”
  12. Ezekiel 23:11 Literally “she behaved corruptly in lust from her”
  13. Ezekiel 23:12 Literally “sons of Assyria”
  14. Ezekiel 23:12 Hebrew uncertain
  15. Ezekiel 23:12 Or “to”
  16. Ezekiel 23:12 Or “in full armor” or “wonderfully dressed”
  17. Ezekiel 23:12 Literally “horsemen, riders of horses”
  18. Ezekiel 23:12 Literally “young men of handsomeness”
  19. Ezekiel 23:13 Literally “way one was for the two of them”
  20. Ezekiel 23:14 Or “portrayed”
  21. Ezekiel 23:14 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
  22. Ezekiel 23:15 Or “around”
  23. Ezekiel 23:15 Or “officers”
  24. Ezekiel 23:15 Or “likeness”
  25. Ezekiel 23:15 Literally “sons of Babylon”
  26. Ezekiel 23:16 Literally “at the sight of her eyes”
  27. Ezekiel 23:17 Literally “sons of Babylon”
  28. Ezekiel 23:18 Literally “as that”
  29. Ezekiel 23:19 Or “And”
  30. Ezekiel 23:19 Or “remembering”
  31. Ezekiel 23:19 Or “prostituted herself”
  32. Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “sons of Babylon”
  33. Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “sons of Assyria”
  34. Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “young men of beauty/handsomeness”
  35. Ezekiel 23:23 Or “officers”
  36. Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “ones called riders of horses”
  37. Ezekiel 23:24 Or “horde” or “host of”
  38. Ezekiel 23:24 Literally “to the face of them”
  39. Ezekiel 23:25 Literally “and remainder your”
  40. Ezekiel 23:25 Literally “and remainder your”
  41. Ezekiel 23:26 Literally “the jewelry of splendor your”; or “your beautiful jewelry”
  42. Ezekiel 23:28 Literally “them”
  43. Ezekiel 23:30 Or “done”
  44. Ezekiel 23:30 Hebrew “in”
  45. Ezekiel 23:32 Or place “drink deep and wide the cup”
  46. Ezekiel 23:32 Literally “a large among to hold”
  47. Ezekiel 23:34 Literally “I, I”
  48. Ezekiel 23:34 Literally “declaration of”
  49. Ezekiel 23:35 Or “also”
  50. Ezekiel 23:36 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  51. Ezekiel 23:36 Or “for”
  52. Ezekiel 23:39 Literally “thus they did in the midst of house my”
  53. Ezekiel 23:40 Literally “and also for/indeed”
  54. Ezekiel 23:40 Literally “coming”
  55. Ezekiel 23:41 Literally “to the face of her”
  56. Ezekiel 23:41 Or “it”
  57. Ezekiel 23:42 Or “her”
  58. Ezekiel 23:42 A problematic verse; reading according to the reading tradition (Qere)
  59. Ezekiel 23:42 Literally “from an abundance of men being brought in drunken”
  60. Ezekiel 23:42 Or “wilderness”
  61. Ezekiel 23:43 Or “about”
  62. Ezekiel 23:43 Or “that she did”
  63. Ezekiel 23:44 Or “a woman”
  64. Ezekiel 23:47 Hebrew “stone”
  65. Ezekiel 23:48 Or “I will put an end to obscene conduct from the land”
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Ezekiel 22
Ezekiel 24
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Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Lexham English Bible (LEB)

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