Ezekiel 23
1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother.
3 They prostituted themselves in Egypt; they prostituted themselves in their youth. There they fondled their breasts, and there they squeezed the breasts of their virginity.
4 Their names were Oholah, the older one, and Oholibah, her sister. They became mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
5 Oholah prostituted herself while she was mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians, who were near.
6 They wore blue garments; they were governors and commanders, all handsome young men, horsemen riding horses.
7 She gave herself to them in prostitution, to the finest of the Assyrians, all of them; and she defiled herself with all the repulsive images of those she lusted after.
8 She did not give up the prostitution she had brought from Egypt, for in her youth they had slept with her, squeezed the breasts of her virginity, and poured out their prostitution upon her.
9 So I handed her over to her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, whom she had lusted after.
10 They exposed her nakedness, took her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women, and they carried out judgments against her.
11 Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet her lust was more corrupt than the other's, and her prostitution was worse than her sister's.
12 She lusted after the Assyrians: governors and commanders who were near, finely dressed, horsemen riding horses, all handsome young men.”
13 “I saw that she had defiled herself; the two followed the same path.
14 She increased her prostitution. She saw men painted on the wall, images of Chaldeans engraved in red.
15 They wore belts tied around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads. They all looked like officers, resembling Babylonians whose homeland is Chaldea.
16 She lusted after them as soon as she saw them with her own eyes, and she sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
17 The Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and defiled her with their prostitution. She defiled herself with them, and afterward she turned away from them.
18 She exposed her prostitution and her nakedness. Then I turned away from her, as I had turned away from her sister.
19 She multiplied her prostitution, recalling the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt.
20 She lusted after their lovers, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose emission is like the emission of horses.
21 You longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your breasts because of the breasts of your youth.
22 So, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I am about to stir up against you your lovers, those from whom you turned away, and I will bring them against you from every side:
23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and with them all the Assyrians—handsome young men, governors and commanders, all officers and men of renown, all riding horses.
24 They will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wheels, and with a multitude of peoples. They will surround you with large and small shields and helmets. I will hand down judgment for them, and they will judge you by their own judgments.
25 I will turn my jealousy against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your nose and ears, and what remains of you will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and daughters, and what remains of you will be consumed by fire.’”
26 “‘They will strip off your clothes and take your beautiful ornaments.
27 I will put an end to your lewdness and the prostitution you brought from the land of Egypt. You will no longer look toward them or remember Egypt again.’
28 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I am about to hand you over to those you hate, to those from whom you turned away.
29 They will deal with you in hatred. They will take all your labor and leave you naked and exposed. The nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, along with your lewdness and your prostitution.
30 These things will be done to you because you prostituted yourself after the nations and defiled yourself with their repulsive images.
31 You followed your sister's path, so I will put her cup in your hand.’
32 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You will drink your sister's cup, deep and wide. It will bring laughter and mockery, for it holds much.
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and grief. The cup of your sister Samaria is a cup of horror and desolation.
34 You will drink it dry, gnaw its shards, and tear your breasts, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.’
35 So this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you forgot me and threw me behind your back, you too must bear your lewdness and your prostitution.’”
36 The LORD said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare their abominations to them.
37 They committed adultery, and there is blood on their hands. They committed adultery with their repulsive images, and they made the children they had borne to me pass through the fire as food for them.”
38 “They did this to me as well: they defiled my sanctuary that day and profaned my Sabbaths.
39 When they slaughtered their children for their repulsive images, they entered my sanctuary that same day to profane it. Look, this is what they did inside my house.
40 What is more, they sent for men who were coming from far away, to whom a messenger had been sent; and they came. For them you bathed, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry.
41 You sat on a splendid couch, with a table set before it, and you placed my incense and my oil on it.
42 There was the sound of a carefree crowd around her. Besides those men, drunkards were brought from the wilderness out of a great throng. They put bracelets on the women's hands and beautiful crowns on their heads.
43 I said of the woman worn out by adultery: ‘Now they will continue prostituting themselves with her, and she with them.’
44 They came to her as one comes to a prostitute. That is how they came to Oholah and Oholibah, women of lewdness.
45 But righteous men will judge them with the judgment for adulteresses and the judgment for women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and there is blood on their hands.
46 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Summon a crowd against them and hand them over to terror and plunder.
47 The crowd will stone them and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses with fire.
48 So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, and all women will take warning and will not imitate your lewdness.
49 They will bring your lewdness upon you, and you will bear the sins of your repulsive images. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’”
Read and listen to this chapter in the Shalem app, free: narration, chapter video and reading progress. Get the app