Eze 16, Eze 23 | ESV | STEP | Again the word of the Lord came to me:

1 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^a“Son of man, ^bmake known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an ^cAmorite and your mother a ^dHittite. 4 And as for your birth, ^eon the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, ^fbut you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, ^gon the day that you were born.

6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing ^hin your blood, I said to you ⁱin your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you ^jin your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 ^kI made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall ^land arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet ^myou were naked and bare.

8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and ⁿI spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you ^oand entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, ^pand you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and ^qanointed you with oil. 10 ^rI clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. ^{▼▼Or with rich fabric} 11 ^tAnd I adorned you with ornaments and ^uput bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. ^vYou ate fine flour and honey and oil. ^wYou grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And ^xyour renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.

15 ^y“But you trusted in your beauty ^zand played the whore ^{▼▼Or were unfaithful; also verses 16, 17, 26, 28} because of your renown ^aband lavished your whorings ^{▼▼Or unfaithfulness; also verses 20, 22, 25, 26, 29, 33, 34, 36} on any passerby; your beauty ^{▼▼Hebrew it} became his. 16 You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be. ^{▼▼The meaning of this Hebrew sentence is uncertain} 17 You also took ^afyour beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and ^agmade for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. 18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, ^ahand set my oil and my incense before them. 19 ^aiAlso my bread that I gave you— ^ajI fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for ^aka pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God. 20 ^alAnd you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and ^amthese you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter 21 that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? 22 And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember ^anthe days of your youth, ^aowhen you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood.

23 “And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord God), 24 you built yourself ^apa vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. 25 At the head of every street ^aqyou built your lofty place and made ^aryour beauty an abomination, ^asoffering yourself ^{▼▼Hebrew spreading your legs} to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. 26 ^auYou also played the whore ^avwith the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, ^awmultiplying your whoring, ^axto provoke me to anger. 27 Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you ^ayand diminished your allotted portion ^azand delivered you to the greed of your enemies, ^bathe daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. 28 ^bbYou played the whore also ^bcwith the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied. 29 You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land ^bdof Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.

30 “How sick is your heart, ^{▼▼Revocalization yields How I am filled with anger against you} declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, 31 building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, ^bfbecause you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, ^bgbut you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. 34 So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and ^bhyou gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.

35 “Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: 36 Thus says the Lord God, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, ^biand because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, 37 therefore, behold, ^bjI will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and ^bkall those you hated. ^blI will gather them against you from every side ^bmand will uncover your nakedness to them, that ^bnthey may see all your nakedness. 38 ^boAnd I will judge you ^bpas women who commit adultery and ^bqshed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. 39 And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your ^brvaulted chamber and break down ^bsyour lofty places. ^btThey shall strip you of your clothes and take ^buyour beautiful jewels and leave you ^bvnaked and bare. 40 ^bwThey shall bring up a crowd against you, ^bxand they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 ^byAnd they shall ^bzburn your houses and ^caexecute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. ^cbI will make you stop playing the whore, and ^ccyou shall also give payment no more. 42 ^cdSo will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry. 43 Because you have not remembered ^cethe days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, ^cfI have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not ^cgcommitted lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

44 “Behold, everyone ^chwho uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ 45 You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of ^ciyour sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. ^cjYour mother was a Hittite and ^ckyour father an Amorite. 46 And ^clyour elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and ^cmyour younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. 47 ^cnNot only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time ^coyou were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 ^cpAs I live, declares the Lord God, your sister ^cqSodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. 49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, ^crexcess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and ^csdid an abomination before me. So ^ctI removed them, when I saw it. 51 ^cuSamaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and ^cvhave made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. 52 ^cwBear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

53 ^cx“I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst, 54 that you may bear your disgrace ^cyand be ashamed of all that you have done, ^czbecoming a consolation to them. 55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, ^daand Samaria and her daughters shall return ^dbto their former state, ^dcand you and your daughters shall return ^ddto your former state. 56 Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth ^dein the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become ^dfan object of reproach for the daughters of Syria ^{▼▼Some manuscripts (compare Syriac) of Edom} and all those around her, and for ^dhthe daughters of the Philistines, ^dithose all around who despise you. 58 ^djYou bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the Lord.

The Lord’s Everlasting Covenant

59 “For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you ^dkwho have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, 60 yet ^dlI will remember my covenant with you ^dmin the days of your youth, ^dnand I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. 61 ^doThen you will remember your ways ^dpand be ashamed when you take ^dqyour sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you ^dras daughters, but not on account of ^{▼▼Or not apart from} the covenant with you. 62 I will establish my covenant with you, ^dtand you shall know that I am the Lord, 63 that you may remember and be confounded, and ^dunever open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 23

Oholah and Oholibah

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^dv“Son of man, there were ^dwtwo women, the daughters of one mother. 3 ^dxThey played the whore in Egypt; ^dythey played the whore ^dzin their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms ^{▼▼Hebrew nipples; also verses 8, 21} handled. 4 Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. ^ebThey became mine, and they ^ecbore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is ^edSamaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

5 “Oholah played the whore ^eewhile she was mine, and ^efshe lusted after her lovers ^egthe Assyrians, warriors 6 clothed in purple, ^ehgovernors and commanders, ^eiall of them desirable young men, ^ejhorsemen 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 ^ekthat 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 ^elI delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 ^emThese uncovered her nakedness; ^enthey seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became ^eoa byword among women, ^epwhen judgment had been executed on her.

11 ^eq“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became ^ermore corrupt than her sister ^{▼▼Hebrew than she} 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, ^etall 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 ^euportrayed on the wall, the ^evimages of ^ewthe 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 ^exsent messengers to them ^eyin Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her ^ezinto the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, ^fashe 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, ^fbremembering 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 ^{▼▼Vulgate, Syriac; Hebrew bosom for the sake of} your young breasts.”

22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers ^fdfrom whom you turned in disgust, ^feand I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, ^ffPekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, ^fgdesirable young men, ^fhgovernors 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 ^{▼▼Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown} with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. ^fjThey shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and ^fkI will commit the judgment to them, and ^flthey shall judge you according to their judgments. 25 And I will direct my jealousy against you, ^fmthat they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. ^fnThey shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 ^foThey shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 ^fpThus I will put an end to your lewdness and ^fqyour 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: ^frBehold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, ^fsinto the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29 and ^ftthey shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor ^fuand leave you naked and bare, and ^fvthe nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring 30 have brought this upon you, because ^fwyou played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister; ^fxtherefore I will give ^fyher 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 ^fzdrunkenness and sorrow.
^gaA cup of horror and desolation,
the cup of ^gbyour sister Samaria;
34 ^gcyou 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 ^gdyou have forgotten me and ^gecast me behind your back, you yourself ^gfmust bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

36 The Lord said to me: ^gg“Son of man, ^ghwill you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. 37 For ^githey have committed adultery, ^gjand blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even ^gkoffered up ^{▼▼Or have even made pass through the fire} to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. 38 Moreover, this they have done to me: ^gmthey have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and ^gnprofaned my Sabbaths. 39 For when ^gothey had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day ^gpthey came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, ^gqthis is what they did in my house. 40 They even sent for men to come from afar, ^grto whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, ^gspainted your eyes, ^gtand adorned yourself with ornaments. 41 You sat on ^gua stately couch, with a table spread before it ^gvon which you had placed my incense and ^gwmy oil. 42 The ^gxsound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards ^{▼▼Or Sabeans} were brought from the wilderness; and they put ^gzbracelets on the hands of the women, and ^habeautiful 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!' ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain} 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 ^hcshall 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: ^hd“Bring up a vast host against them, and make them ^hean object of terror and ^hfa plunder. 47 ^hgAnd the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. ^hhThey shall kill their sons and their daughters, and ^hiburn up their houses. 48 ^hjThus 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 ^hkyou shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and ^hlyou shall know that I am the Lord God.”