Ezekiel 23 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Two Harlot Sisters

23 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying:

² “Son of man, there were ^(A)two women,
The daughters of one mother.
^{3 (B)}They committed harlotry in Egypt,
They committed harlotry in ^(C)their youth;
Their breasts were there embraced,
Their virgin bosom was there pressed.
⁴ Their names: ^[a]Oholah the elder and ^[b]Oholibah ^(D)her sister;
^(E)They were Mine,
And they bore sons and daughters.
As for their names,
Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

The Older Sister, Samaria

⁵ “Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine;
And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring ^(F)Assyrians,
⁶ Who were clothed in purple,
Captains and rulers,
All of them desirable young men,
Horsemen riding on horses.
⁷ Thus she committed her harlotry with them,
All of them choice men of Assyria;
And with all for whom she lusted,
With all their idols, she defiled herself.
⁸ She has never given up her harlotry brought ^(G)from Egypt,
For in her youth they had lain with her,
Pressed her virgin bosom,
And poured out their immorality upon her.

⁹ “Therefore I have delivered her
Into the hand of her lovers,
Into the hand of the ^(H)Assyrians,
For whom she lusted.
¹⁰ They uncovered her nakedness,
Took away her sons and daughters,
And slew her with the sword;
She became a byword among women,
For they had executed judgment on her.

The Younger Sister, Jerusalem

¹¹ “Now ^(I)although her sister Oholibah saw this, ^(J)she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry.

¹² “She lusted for the neighboring ^(K)Assyrians,
^(L)Captains and rulers,
Clothed most gorgeously,
Horsemen riding on horses,
All of them desirable young men.
¹³ Then I saw that she was defiled;
Both took the same way.
¹⁴ But she increased her harlotry;
She looked at men portrayed on the wall,
Images of ^(M)Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,
¹⁵ Girded with belts around their waists,
Flowing turbans on their heads,
All of them looking like captains,
In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea,
The land of their nativity.
^{16 (N)}As soon as her eyes saw them,
She lusted for them
And sent ^(O)messengers to them in Chaldea.

¹⁷ “Then the ^[c]Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love,
And they defiled her with their immorality;
So she was defiled by them, ^(P)and alienated herself from them.
¹⁸ She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness.
Then ^(Q)I ^(R)alienated Myself from her,
As I had alienated Myself from her sister.

¹⁹ “Yet she multiplied her harlotry
In calling to remembrance the days of her youth,
^(S)When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
²⁰ For she lusted for her ^[d]paramours,
Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys,
And whose issue is like the issue of horses.
²¹ Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth,
When the ^(T)Egyptians pressed your bosom
Because of your youthful breasts.

Judgment on Jerusalem

²² “Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God:

^(U)‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you,
From whom you have alienated yourself,
And I will bring them against you from every side:
²³ The Babylonians,
All the Chaldeans,
^(V)Pekod, Shoa, Koa,
^(W)All the Assyrians with them,
All of them desirable young men,
Governors and rulers,
Captains and men of renown,
All of them riding on horses.
²⁴ And they shall come against you
With chariots, wagons, and war-horses,
With a horde of people.
They shall array against you
Buckler, shield, and helmet all around.

‘I will delegate judgment to them,
And they shall judge you according to their judgments.
²⁵ I will set My ^(X)jealousy against you,
And they shall deal furiously with you;
They shall remove 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 fire.
^{26 (Y)}They shall also strip you of your clothes
And take away your beautiful jewelry.

²⁷ ‘Thus ^(Z)I will make you cease your lewdness and your ^(AA)harlotry
Brought from the land of Egypt,
So that you will not lift your eyes to them,
Nor remember Egypt anymore.’

²⁸ “For thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hand of ^(AB)those you hate, into the hand of those ^(AC)from whom you alienated yourself. ^{29 (AD)}They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and ^(AE)leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry. ³⁰ I will do these things to you because you have ^(AF)gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols. ³¹ You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her ^(AG)cup in your hand.’

³² “Thus says the Lord God:

‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup,
The deep and wide one;
^(AH)You shall be laughed to scorn
And held in derision;
It contains much.
³³ You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
The cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
³⁴ You shall ^(AI)drink and drain it,
You shall break its ^[e]shards,
And tear at your own breasts;
For I have spoken,’
Says the Lord God.

³⁵ “Therefore thus says the Lord God:

‘Because you ^(AJ)have forgotten Me and ^(AK)cast Me behind your back,
Therefore you shall bear the penalty
Of your lewdness and your harlotry.’ ”

Both Sisters Judged

³⁶ The Lord also said to me: “Son of man, will you ^(AL)judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then ^(AM)declare to them their abominations. ³⁷ For they have committed adultery, and ^(AN)blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons ^(AO)whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them. ³⁸ Moreover they have done this to Me: They have ^(AP)defiled My sanctuary on the same day and ^(AQ)profaned My Sabbaths. ³⁹ For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed ^(AR)thus they have done in the midst of My house.

⁴⁰ “Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, ^(AS)to whom a messenger was sent; and there they came. And you ^(AT)washed yourself for them, ^(AU)painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. ⁴¹ You sat on a stately ^(AV)couch, with a table prepared before it, ^(AW)on which you had set My incense and My oil. ⁴² The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and ^[f]Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their ^[g]wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads. ⁴³ Then I said concerning her who had grown old in adulteries, ‘Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?’ ⁴⁴ Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women. ⁴⁵ But righteous men will ^(AX)judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and ^(AY)blood is on their hands.

⁴⁶ “For thus says the Lord God: ^(AZ)‘Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder. ^{47 (BA)}The assembly shall stone them with stones and ^[h]execute them with their swords; ^(BB)they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire. ⁴⁸ Thus ^(BC)I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, ^(BD)that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness. ⁴⁹ They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall ^(BE)pay for your idolatrous sins. ^(BF)Then you shall know that I am the Lord God.’ ”

Footnotes

1. Ezekiel 23:4 Lit. Her Own Tabernacle
2. Ezekiel 23:4 Lit. My Tabernacle Is in Her
3. Ezekiel 23:17 Lit. sons of Babel
4. Ezekiel 23:20 Illicit lovers
5. Ezekiel 23:34 Earthenware fragments
6. Ezekiel 23:42 Or drunkards
7. Ezekiel 23:42 Lit. hands
8. Ezekiel 23:47 Lit. cut down

Cross references

1. Ezekiel 23:2 : Jer. 3:7, 8; Ezek. 16:44–46
2. Ezekiel 23:3 : Lev. 17:7; Josh. 24:14; Jer. 3:9
3. Ezekiel 23:3 : Ezek. 16:22
4. Ezekiel 23:4 : Jer. 3:6, 7
5. Ezekiel 23:4 : Ezek. 16:8, 20
6. Ezekiel 23:5 : 2 Kin. 15:19; 16:7; 17:3; Ezek. 16:28; Hos. 5:13; 8:9, 10
7. Ezekiel 23:8 : Ex. 32:4; 1 Kin. 12:28; 2 Kin. 10:29; 17:16; Ezek. 23:3, 19
8. Ezekiel 23:9 : 2 Kin. 17:3
9. Ezekiel 23:11 : Jer. 3:8
10. Ezekiel 23:11 : Jer. 3:8–11; Ezek. 16:51, 52
11. Ezekiel 23:12 : 2 Kin. 16:7, 8; Ezek. 16:28
12. Ezekiel 23:12 : Ezek. 23:6, 23
13. Ezekiel 23:14 : Jer. 50:2; Ezek. 8:10; 16:29
14. Ezekiel 23:16 : 2 Kin. 24:1
15. Ezekiel 23:16 : Is. 57:9
16. Ezekiel 23:17 : Ezek. 23:22, 28
17. Ezekiel 23:18 : Jer. 6:8
18. Ezekiel 23:18 : Ps. 78:59; 106:40; Jer. 12:8
19. Ezekiel 23:19 : Lev. 18:3; Ezek. 23:2
20. Ezekiel 23:21 : Ezek. 16:26
21. Ezekiel 23:22 : Ezek. 16:37–41; 23:28
22. Ezekiel 23:23 : Jer. 50:21
23. Ezekiel 23:23 : Ezek. 23:12
24. Ezekiel 23:25 : Ex. 34:14; Ezek. 5:13; 8:17, 18; Zeph. 1:18
25. Ezekiel 23:26 : Is. 3:18–23; Ezek. 16:39
26. Ezekiel 23:27 : Ezek. 16:41; 22:15
27. Ezekiel 23:27 : Ezek. 23:3, 19
28. Ezekiel 23:28 : Jer. 21:7–10; Ezek. 16:37–41
29. Ezekiel 23:28 : Ezek. 23:17
30. Ezekiel 23:29 : Deut. 28:48; Ezek. 23:25, 26, 45–47
31. Ezekiel 23:29 : Ezek. 16:39
32. Ezekiel 23:30 : Ezek. 6:9
33. Ezekiel 23:31 : 2 Kin. 21:13; Jer. 7:14, 15; 25:15; Ezek. 23:33
34. Ezekiel 23:32 : Ezek. 22:4, 5
35. Ezekiel 23:34 : Ps. 75:8; Is. 51:17
36. Ezekiel 23:35 : Is. 17:10; Jer. 3:21; Ezek. 22:12; Hos. 8:14; 13:6
37. Ezekiel 23:35 : 1 Kin. 14:9; Jer. 2:27; 32:33; Neh. 9:26
38. Ezekiel 23:36 : Jer. 1:10; Ezek. 20:4; 22:2
39. Ezekiel 23:36 : Is. 58:1; Ezek. 16:2; Mic. 3:8
40. Ezekiel 23:37 : Ezek. 16:38
41. Ezekiel 23:37 : Ezek. 16:20, 21, 36, 45; 20:26, 31
42. Ezekiel 23:38 : 2 Kin. 21:4, 7; Ezek. 5:11; 7:20
43. Ezekiel 23:38 : Ezek. 22:8
44. Ezekiel 23:39 : 2 Kin. 21:2–8
45. Ezekiel 23:40 : Is. 57:9
46. Ezekiel 23:40 : Ruth 3:3
47. Ezekiel 23:40 : 2 Kin. 9:30; Jer. 4:30
48. Ezekiel 23:41 : Esth. 1:6; Is. 57:7; Amos 2:8; 6:4
49. Ezekiel 23:41 : Prov. 7:17; Ezek. 16:18, 19; Hos. 2:8
50. Ezekiel 23:45 : Ezek. 16:38
51. Ezekiel 23:45 : Ezek. 23:37
52. Ezekiel 23:46 : Ezek. 16:40
53. Ezekiel 23:47 : Lev. 20:10; Ezek. 16:40
54. Ezekiel 23:47 : 2 Chr. 36:17, 19; Ezek. 24:21
55. Ezekiel 23:48 : Ezek. 22:15
56. Ezekiel 23:48 : Deut. 13:11; Ezek. 22:15; 2 Pet. 2:6
57. Ezekiel 23:49 : Is. 59:18; Ezek. 23:35
58. Ezekiel 23:49 : Ezek. 20:38, 42, 44; 25:5