Oholah and Oholibah’s Sin and Its Consequences

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

“Oholah prostituted herself [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 handsome young men, horsemen riding on horses. She bestowed her [b]obscene practices on them, all of whom were the choicest [c]men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she (E)defiled herself. She did not abandon her obscene practices (F)from the time in Egypt; for in her youth [d]men had slept with her, and they handled her virgin breasts and poured out their obscene practice on her. Therefore, I handed her over to her (G)lovers, to the [e]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. So she became a [f]subject of gossip 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 obscene practices were [g]more than the prostitution of her sister. 12 She lusted after the [h](J)Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, opulently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them handsome young men. 13 And I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took [i]the same way. 14 So she increased her obscene practices. And she saw men (K)carved on the wall, images of the (L)Chaldeans drawn in bright red, 15 wearing belts around their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, [j]like the [k]Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. 16 And [l]when she saw them she (M)lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 And the [m](N)Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their obscene practice. And when she had been defiled by them, [n]she turned away from them in disgust. 18 She (O)exposed her obscene practices and exposed her nakedness; then [o]I turned away from her in (P)disgust, just as [p]I had turned away from her (Q)sister in disgust. 19 Yet she multiplied her obscene practices, remembering the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt. 20 She (R)lusted after their lovers, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose discharge is like the discharge of horses. 21 So you longed for the (S)outrageous sin of your youth, when [q]the Egyptians handled your breasts because of the breasts of your youth.

22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord [r]God says: ‘Behold I am going to incite your lovers against you, from whom [s]you turned away in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the [t](T)Babylonians and all the (U)Chaldeans, (V)Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the [u](W)Assyrians with them; handsome young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and [v]men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 And they will come against you with weapons, (X)chariots, and [w]wagons, and with a contingent of peoples. They will attack you on every side with shield, [x]buckler, and helmet; and I will commit the (Y)judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. 25 I will set My (Z)jealousy against you, so that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your [y]survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your (AA)sons and your daughters; and your [z]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 So (AD)I will remove from you your outrageous sin and your prostitution that you brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not raise your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’ 28 For this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I am going to hand you over to those whom you (AE)hate, to those from whom [aa]you turned away in disgust. 29 They will (AF)deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, both your outrageous sin and your obscene practices. 30 These things will be done to you because you have (AG)adulterously pursued the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put (AH)her cup in your hand.’ 32 This is what the Lord God says:

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

for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God. 35 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you have (AM)forgotten Me and (AN)discarded Me behind your back, suffer on your own part the punishment for your outrageous sin and your obscene practices.’”

36 Moreover, the Lord 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. So they have committed adultery with their idols, and even made their sons, (AQ)whom they bore to Me, pass through the fire to [ac]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 slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My (AT)sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and behold, this is what they did within My house.

40 “Furthermore, [ad]they have even sent for men who come from a great distance, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came—for whom you bathed, (AU)put makeup on your eyes, and (AV)adorned yourselves with jewelry; 41 and you sat on a splendid (AW)couch with a (AX)table arranged in front of it on which you had set My (AY)incense and My (AZ)oil. 42 And the sound of a [ae](BA)carefree multitude was with her; and (BB)heavy drinkers were brought from the wilderness with people from the multitude of humanity. And they put (BC)bracelets on [af]the wrists of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 “Then I said concerning her who was (BD)worn out by adulteries, ‘[ag]Will they now commit adultery with her when she is like this?’ 44 [ah]But they went in to her as they would go in to a prostitute. This is how they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. 45 But they, righteous people, 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 this is what the Lord God says: ‘Bring up a contingent against them and turn them over to (BF)terror and plunder. 47 The contingent 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 So I will eliminate outrageous conduct from the land, so that all women will take warning and not commit [ai]outrageous sin as you have done. 49 Your outrageous conduct [aj]will be (BI)repaid to you, and you will bear the guilt for your idols; so you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 23:5 Lit under Me
  2. Ezekiel 23:7 Lit fornications
  3. Ezekiel 23:7 Lit sons of Asshur
  4. Ezekiel 23:8 Lit they
  5. Ezekiel 23:9 Lit sons of Asshur
  6. Ezekiel 23:10 Lit name
  7. Ezekiel 23:11 I.e., more numerous, or worse
  8. Ezekiel 23:12 Lit sons of Asshur
  9. Ezekiel 23:13 Lit one
  10. Ezekiel 23:15 Lit the likeness of
  11. Ezekiel 23:15 Lit sons of Babel
  12. Ezekiel 23:16 Lit at the sight of her eyes
  13. Ezekiel 23:17 Lit sons of Babel
  14. Ezekiel 23:17 Lit her soul
  15. Ezekiel 23:18 Lit My soul
  16. Ezekiel 23:18 Lit My soul
  17. Ezekiel 23:21 As in two mss; MT from Egypt
  18. Ezekiel 23:22 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
  19. Ezekiel 23:22 Lit your soul
  20. Ezekiel 23:23 Lit sons of Babylon
  21. Ezekiel 23:23 Lit sons of Assyria
  22. Ezekiel 23:23 Lit called ones
  23. Ezekiel 23:24 Lit wheel
  24. Ezekiel 23:24 I.e., small shield
  25. Ezekiel 23:25 Lit remainder
  26. Ezekiel 23:25 Lit remainder
  27. Ezekiel 23:28 Lit your soul
  28. Ezekiel 23:32 Or It will be for laughter and derision because of its great size
  29. Ezekiel 23:37 I.e., the idols
  30. Ezekiel 23:40 Or you (women)
  31. Ezekiel 23:42 Lit at ease
  32. Ezekiel 23:42 Lit their hands
  33. Ezekiel 23:43 Or Now they will commit adultery with her, and she with them
  34. Ezekiel 23:44 Or And
  35. Ezekiel 23:48 Lit according to your lewdness
  36. Ezekiel 23:49 Lit they will give

Oholah and Oholibah

23 The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother; they played the harlot in Egypt; they played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled. Oho′lah was the name of the elder and Ohol′ibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oho′lah is Samar′ia, and Ohol′ibah is Jerusalem.

“Oho′lah played the harlot while she was mine; and she doted on her lovers the Assyrians, warriors clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. She bestowed her harlotries upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and she defiled herself with all the idols of every one on whom she doted. She did not give up her harlotry which she had practiced since her days in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their lust upon her. Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. 10 These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters; and her they slew with the sword; and she became a byword among women, when judgment had been executed upon her.

11 “Her sister Ohol′ibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt than she in her doting and in her harlotry, which was worse than that of her sister. 12 She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 13 And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. 14 But she carried her harlotry further; she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chalde′ans portrayed in vermilion, 15 girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, a picture of Babylonians whose native land was Chalde′a. 16 When she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers to them in Chalde′a. 17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their lust; and after she was polluted by them, she turned from them in disgust. 18 When she carried on her harlotry so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned from her sister. 19 Yet she increased her harlotry, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt 20 and doted upon her paramours there, whose members were like those of asses, and whose issue was like that of horses. 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians[a] handled your bosom and pressed[b] your young breasts.”

22 Therefore, O Ohol′ibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will rouse against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chalde′ans, Pekod and Sho′a and Ko′a, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and warriors,[c] all of them riding on horses. 24 And they shall come against you from the north[d] with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples; they shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet, and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. 25 And I will direct my indignation against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your fine jewels. 27 Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes to the Egyptians or remember them any more. 28 For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust; 29 and they shall deal with you in hatred, and take away all the fruit of your labor, and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your harlotry 30 have brought this upon you, because you played the harlot with the nations, and polluted yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand. 32 Thus says the Lord God:

“You shall drink your sister’s cup
    which is deep and large;
you shall be laughed at and held in derision,
    for it contains much;
33 you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow.
A cup of horror and desolation,
    is the cup of your sister Samar′ia;
34 you shall drink it and drain it out,
    and pluck out your hair,[e]
    and tear your 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, therefore bear the consequences of your lewdness and harlotry.”

36 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oho′lah and Ohol′ibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds. 37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is upon their hands; with their idols they have committed adultery; and they have even offered up to them for food the sons whom they had borne to me. 38 Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my sabbaths. 39 For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And lo, this is what they did in my house. 40 They even sent for men to come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and lo, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and decked yourself with ornaments; 41 you sat upon a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil. 42 The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort drunkards[f] were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets upon the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

43 “Then I said, Do not men now commit adultery[g] when they practice harlotry with her? 44 For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a harlot. Thus they went in to Oho′lah and to Ohol′ibah to commit lewdness.[h] 45 But righteous men shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is upon their hands.”

46 For thus says the Lord God: “Bring up a host against them, and make them an object of terror and a spoil. 47 And the host shall stone them and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses. 48 Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49 And your lewdness shall be requited upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry; and you shall know that I am the Lord God.”

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 23:21 Two Mss: Heb from Egypt
  2. Ezekiel 23:21 Cn: Heb for the sake of
  3. Ezekiel 23:23 Compare verses 6 and 12: Heb called
  4. Ezekiel 23:24 Gk: The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown
  5. Ezekiel 23:34 Compare Syr: Heb gnaw its sherds
  6. Ezekiel 23:42 Heb uncertain
  7. Ezekiel 23:43 Compare Gk: Heb obscure
  8. Ezekiel 23:44 Gk: Heb a woman of lewdness