Ezekiel 23 - English Standard Version (ESV)

Oholah and Oholibah

23 The word of the Lord came to me: ^{2 (A)}“Son of man, there were ^(B)two women, the daughters of one mother. ^{3 (C)}They played the whore in Egypt; ^(D)they played the whore ^(E)in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms^[a] handled. ⁴ Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. ^(F)They became mine, and they ^(G)bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is ^(H)Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

⁵ “Oholah played the whore ^(I)while she was mine, and ^(J)she lusted after her lovers ^(K)the Assyrians, warriors ⁶ clothed in purple, ^(L)governors and commanders, ^(M)all of them desirable young men, ^(N)horsemen riding on horses. ⁷ She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted. ⁸ She did not give up her whoring ^(O)that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her. ⁹ Therefore ^(P)I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. ^{10 (Q)}These uncovered her nakedness; ^(R)they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became ^(S)a byword among women, ^(T)when judgment had been executed on her.

^{11 (U)}“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became ^(V)more corrupt than her sister^[b] in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. ¹² She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, ^(W)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 whoring further. She saw men ^(X)portrayed on the wall, the ^(Y)images of ^(Z)the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, ¹⁵ wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. ¹⁶ When she saw them, she lusted after them and ^(AA)sent messengers to them ^(AB)in Chaldea. ¹⁷ And the Babylonians came to her ^(AC)into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, ^(AD)she turned from them in disgust. ¹⁸ When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. ¹⁹ Yet she increased her whoring, ^(AE)remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt ²⁰ and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. ²¹ Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed^[c] your young breasts.”

²² Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers ^(AF)from whom you turned in disgust, ^(AG)and I will bring them against you from every side: ²³ the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, ^(AH)Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, ^(AI)desirable young men, ^(AJ)governors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, 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. ^(AK)They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and ^(AL)I will commit the judgment to them, and ^(AM)they shall judge you according to their judgments. ²⁵ And I will direct my jealousy against you, ^(AN)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. ^(AO)They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. ^{26 (AP)}They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. ^{27 (AQ)}Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and ^(AR)your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.

²⁸ “For thus says the Lord God: ^(AS)Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, ^(AT)into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, ²⁹ and ^(AU)they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor ^(AV)and leave you naked and bare, and ^(AW)the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring ³⁰ have brought this upon you, because ^(AX)you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. ³¹ You have gone the way of your sister; ^(AY)therefore I will give ^(AZ)her cup into your hand. ³² Thus says the Lord God:

“You shall drink your sister's cup
that is deep and large;
you shall be laughed at and held in derision,
for it contains much;
³³ you will be filled with ^(BA)drunkenness and sorrow.
^(BB)A cup of horror and desolation,
the cup of ^(BC)your sister Samaria;
^{34 (BD)}you shall drink it and drain it out,
and gnaw its shards,
and tear your breasts;

for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. ³⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because ^(BE)you have forgotten me and ^(BF)cast me behind your back, you yourself ^(BG)must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

³⁶ The Lord said to me: ^(BH)“Son of man, ^(BI)will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. ³⁷ For ^(BJ)they have committed adultery, ^(BK)and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even ^(BL)offered up^[e] to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. ³⁸ Moreover, this they have done to me: ^(BM)they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and ^(BN)profaned my Sabbaths. ³⁹ For when ^(BO)they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day ^(BP)they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, ^(BQ)this is what they did in my house. ⁴⁰ They even sent for men to come from afar, ^(BR)to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, ^(BS)painted your eyes, ^(BT)and adorned yourself with ornaments. ⁴¹ You sat on ^(BU)a stately couch, with a table spread before it ^(BV)on which you had placed my incense and ^(BW)my oil. ⁴² The ^(BX)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 ^(BY)bracelets on the hands of the women, and ^(BZ)beautiful crowns on their heads.

⁴³ “Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!’^{[g] 44} For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women! ⁴⁵ But righteous men ^(CA)shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.”

⁴⁶ For thus says the Lord God: ^(CB)“Bring up a vast host against them, and make them ^(CC)an object of terror and ^(CD)a plunder. ^{47 (CE)}And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. ^(CF)They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and ^(CG)burn up their houses. ^{48 (CH)}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 they shall return your lewdness upon you, and ^(CI)you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and ^(CJ)you shall know that I am the Lord God.”

Footnotes

1. Ezekiel 23:3 Hebrew nipples; also verses 8, 21
2. Ezekiel 23:11 Hebrew than she
3. Ezekiel 23:21 Vulgate, Syriac; Hebrew bosom for the sake of
4. Ezekiel 23:24 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown
5. Ezekiel 23:37 Or have even made pass through the fire
6. Ezekiel 23:42 Or Sabeans
7. Ezekiel 23:43 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain

Cross references

1. Ezekiel 23:2 : See ch. 2:1
2. Ezekiel 23:2 : [ch. 16:45, 46]
3. Ezekiel 23:3 : See ch. 16:15
4. Ezekiel 23:3 : See ch. 16:15
5. Ezekiel 23:3 : [ch. 16:22]
6. Ezekiel 23:4 : ch. 16:8
7. Ezekiel 23:4 : [ver. 37]
8. Ezekiel 23:4 : [ch. 16:46]
9. Ezekiel 23:5 : Num. 5:19, 20
10. Ezekiel 23:5 : [Hos. 2:5]
11. Ezekiel 23:5 : 2 Kgs. 15:19; 17:3; Hos. 8:9
12. Ezekiel 23:6 : ver. 23
13. Ezekiel 23:6 : ver. 23
14. Ezekiel 23:6 : ch. 38:15; [Isa. 5:28]
15. Ezekiel 23:8 : [ver. 3, 19]
16. Ezekiel 23:9 : [2 Kgs. 15:29]; See 2 Kgs. 17:4-6, 23; 18:9-11
17. Ezekiel 23:10 : ver. 29; See ch. 16:37
18. Ezekiel 23:10 : ver. 25
19. Ezekiel 23:10 : [ch. 16:14]
20. Ezekiel 23:10 : See ch. 5:8
21. Ezekiel 23:11 : Jer. 3:8, 9
22. Ezekiel 23:11 : Jer. 3:11; See ch. 16:47
23. Ezekiel 23:12 : [See ver. 6 above]; ver. 23
24. Ezekiel 23:14 : ch. 8:10
25. Ezekiel 23:14 : [ch. 16:17]
26. Ezekiel 23:14 : ch. 16:29; [2 Kgs. 20:12, 13; 24:1]
27. Ezekiel 23:16 : [ver. 40; Isa. 57:9]
28. Ezekiel 23:16 : [See ver. 14 above]; ch. 16:29; [2 Kgs. 20:12, 13; 24:1]
29. Ezekiel 23:17 : [ver. 41; Isa. 57:7, 8]
30. Ezekiel 23:17 : ver. 22, 28; [ch. 17:15]
31. Ezekiel 23:19 : [ver. 3]; See ch. 16:15
32. Ezekiel 23:22 : [See ver. 17 above]; ver. 22, 28; [ch. 17:15]
33. Ezekiel 23:22 : ch. 16:37
34. Ezekiel 23:23 : Jer. 50:21
35. Ezekiel 23:23 : ver. 6, 12
36. Ezekiel 23:23 : ver. 6, 12
37. Ezekiel 23:24 : [2 Kgs. 19:32]
38. Ezekiel 23:24 : [ch. 9:5, 6]
39. Ezekiel 23:24 : 2 Kgs. 25:6
40. Ezekiel 23:25 : ver. 29
41. Ezekiel 23:25 : ver. 10
42. Ezekiel 23:26 : ch. 16:39
43. Ezekiel 23:27 : ver. 48; ch. 16:41
44. Ezekiel 23:27 : ver. 3, 19
45. Ezekiel 23:28 : ch. 16:37
46. Ezekiel 23:28 : ver. 17, 22
47. Ezekiel 23:29 : ver. 25
48. Ezekiel 23:29 : ch. 16:7, 22, 39
49. Ezekiel 23:29 : ver. 10; See ch. 16:37
50. Ezekiel 23:30 : ch. 6:9; See Ex. 34:15
51. Ezekiel 23:31 : [ver. 9, 10]
52. Ezekiel 23:31 : [Jer. 25:15]
53. Ezekiel 23:33 : Isa. 51:17; Jer. 13:13; [Rev. 14:10]
54. Ezekiel 23:33 : Isa. 51:17; Jer. 13:13; [Rev. 14:10]
55. Ezekiel 23:33 : [ver. 4]
56. Ezekiel 23:34 : Ps. 75:8
57. Ezekiel 23:35 : ch. 22:12; See Jer. 2:32
58. Ezekiel 23:35 : 1 Kgs. 14:9
59. Ezekiel 23:35 : [ver. 49; ch. 14:10; 16:58]
60. Ezekiel 23:36 : See ch. 2:1
61. Ezekiel 23:36 : [ch. 20:4; 22:2]
62. Ezekiel 23:37 : See ch. 16:38
63. Ezekiel 23:37 : [ch. 22:2]
64. Ezekiel 23:37 : ch. 16:20, 21; [ch. 7:23]
65. Ezekiel 23:38 : See ch. 5:11
66. Ezekiel 23:38 : See ch. 20:13
67. Ezekiel 23:39 : ver. 37; ch. 16:20, 21, 36
68. Ezekiel 23:39 : ch. 44:7
69. Ezekiel 23:39 : [2 Kgs. 21:4]; See Jer. 23:11
70. Ezekiel 23:40 : [ver. 16]
71. Ezekiel 23:40 : [2 Kgs. 9:30; Jer. 4:30]
72. Ezekiel 23:40 : [ch. 16:11, 12]
73. Ezekiel 23:41 : [Esth. 1:6]
74. Ezekiel 23:41 : ch. 16:18; [Prov. 7:17]
75. Ezekiel 23:41 : [Hos. 2:8]
76. Ezekiel 23:42 : [Isa. 22:2]
77. Ezekiel 23:42 : [ch. 16:11]
78. Ezekiel 23:42 : [ch. 16:12]
79. Ezekiel 23:45 : [ver. 24]; See ch. 16:38
80. Ezekiel 23:46 : ch. 16:40
81. Ezekiel 23:46 : Deut. 28:25
82. Ezekiel 23:46 : ch. 7:21
83. Ezekiel 23:47 : ch. 16:40, 41; [Josh. 7:24, 25]
84. Ezekiel 23:47 : ch. 24:21; See 2 Chr. 36:17
85. Ezekiel 23:47 : 2 Chr. 36:19
86. Ezekiel 23:48 : ver. 27; [ch. 16:41]
87. Ezekiel 23:49 : [ver. 35]
88. Ezekiel 23:49 : [See ch. 6:7]