Eze 23 | NASB2020 | STEP | The word of the Lord came to me again, saying ,

Ezekiel 23

Oholah and Oholibah’s Sin and Its Consequences

1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 “Son of man, there were ^atwo women, the daughters of one mother; 3 and they prostituted themselves in Egypt. They ^bprostituted themselves in their youth; there their breasts were squeezed and there their virgin breasts were handled. 4 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.

5 “Oholah prostituted herself ^{▼▼Lit under Me}while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the ^dAssyrians, her neighbors, 6 who were clothed in purple, ^egovernors and officials, all of them handsome young men, horsemen riding on horses. 7 She bestowed her ^{▼▼Lit fornications}obscene practices on them, all of whom were the choicest ^{▼▼Lit sons of Asshur}men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she ^hdefiled herself. 8 She did not abandon her obscene practices ⁱfrom the time in Egypt; for in her youth ^{▼▼Lit they}men had slept with her, and they handled her virgin breasts and poured out their obscene practice on her. 9 Therefore, I handed her over to her ^klovers, to the ^{▼▼Lit sons of Asshur}Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 They ^muncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they killed her with the sword. So she became a ^{▼▼Lit name}subject of gossip among women, and they executed judgments on her.

11 “Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was ^omore corrupt in her lust than she, and her obscene practices were ^{▼▼I.e., more numerous, or worse}more than the prostitution of her sister. 12 She lusted after the ^{▼▼Lit sons of Asshur
,} ^rAssyrians, 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 ^{▼▼Lit one}the same way. 14 So she increased her obscene practices. And she saw men ^tcarved on the wall, images of the ^uChaldeans drawn in bright red, 15 wearing belts around their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, ^{▼▼Lit the likeness of}like the ^{▼▼Lit sons of Babel}Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. 16 And ^{▼▼Lit at the sight of her eyes}when she saw them she ^ylusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 And the ^{▼▼Lit sons of Babel
,} ^aaBabylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their obscene practice. And when she had been defiled by them, ^{▼▼Lit her soul}she turned away from them in disgust. 18 She ^acexposed her obscene practices and exposed her nakedness; then ^{▼▼Lit My soul}I turned away from her in ^aedisgust, just as ^{▼▼Lit My soul}I had turned away from her ^agsister 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 ^ahlusted 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 ^aioutrageous sin of your youth, when ^{▼▼As in two mss; MT from Egypt}the Egyptians handled your breasts because of the breasts of your youth.

22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord ^{▼▼Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch}God says: ‘Behold I am going to incite your lovers against you, from whom ^{▼▼Lit your soul}you turned away in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the ^{▼▼Lit sons of Babylon
,} ^anBabylonians and all the ^aoChaldeans, ^apPekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the ^{▼▼Lit sons of Assyria
,} ^arAssyrians with them; handsome young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and ^{▼▼Lit called ones}men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 And they will come against you with weapons, ^atchariots, and ^{▼▼Lit wheel}wagons, and with a contingent of peoples. They will attack you on every side with shield, ^{▼▼I.e., small shield}buckler, and helmet; and I will commit the ^awjudgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. 25 I will set My ^axjealousy against you, so that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your ^{▼▼Lit remainder}survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your ^azsons and your daughters; and your ^{▼▼Lit remainder}survivors will be consumed by the fire. 26 They will also ^bbstrip you of your clothes and take away your ^bcbeautiful jewelry. 27 So ^bdI 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 ^behate, to those from whom ^{▼▼Lit your soul}you turned away in disgust. 29 They will ^bgdeal 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 ^bhadulterously 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 ^biher cup in your hand.’ 32 This is what the Lord God says:

‘You will ^bjdrink your sister’s cup,
Which is deep and wide.
^{▼▼Or It will be for laughter and derision because of its great size}You will be ^bllaughed at and held in derision;
Because it contains much.
33 ‘You will be filled with ^bmdrunkenness and grief,
A cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
34 ‘And you will ^bndrink 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 ^boforgotten Me and ^bpdiscarded 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 ^bqjudge Oholah and Oholibah? Then ^brdeclare 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, ^bswhom they bore to Me, pass through the fire to ^{▼▼I.e., the idols}them as food. 38 Again, they have done this to Me: they have ^budefiled My sanctuary on the same day, and have ^bvprofaned My Sabbaths. 39 For when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My ^bwsanctuary on the same day to profane it; and behold, this is what they did within My house.

40 “Furthermore, ^{▼▼Or you (women)}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, ^byput makeup on your eyes, and ^bzadorned yourselves with jewelry; 41 and you sat on a splendid ^cacouch with a ^cbtable arranged in front of it on which you had set My ^ccincense and My ^cdoil. 42 And the sound of a ^{▼▼Lit at ease
,} ^cfcarefree multitude was with her; and ^cgheavy drinkers were brought from the wilderness with people from the multitude of humanity. And they put ^chbracelets on ^{▼▼Lit their hands}the wrists of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 “Then I said concerning her who was ^cjworn out by adulteries, ‘ ^{▼▼Or Now they will commit adultery with her, and she with them}Will they now commit adultery with her when she is like this?’ 44 ^{▼▼Or And}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 ^cmjudge 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 ^cnterror and plunder. 47 The contingent will ^costone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and ^cpburn their houses with fire. 48 So I will eliminate outrageous conduct from the land, so that all women will take warning and not commit ^{▼▼Lit according to your lewdness}outrageous sin as you have done. 49 Your outrageous conduct ^{▼▼Lit they will give}will be ^csrepaid to you, and you will bear the guilt for your idols; so you will know that I am the Lord God.’”