Eze 23:3-49, Hos 9:1, Rev 17:1-6 | ESV | STEP | They played the whore in Egypt ; they played the whore in their youth ; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled .

3 ^aThey played the whore in Egypt; ^bthey played the whore ^cin 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. ^eThey became mine, and they ^fbore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is ^gSamaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

5 “Oholah played the whore ^hwhile she was mine, and ⁱshe lusted after her lovers ^jthe Assyrians, warriors 6 clothed in purple, ^kgovernors and commanders, ^lall of them desirable young men, ^mhorsemen 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 ⁿthat 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 ^oI delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 ^pThese uncovered her nakedness; ^qthey seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became ^ra byword among women, ^swhen judgment had been executed on her.

11 ^t“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became ^umore 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, ^wall 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 ^xportrayed on the wall, the ^yimages of ^zthe 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 ^aasent messengers to them ^abin Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her ^acinto the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, ^adshe 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, ^aeremembering 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 ^agfrom whom you turned in disgust, ^ahand I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, ^aiPekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, ^ajdesirable young men, ^akgovernors 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. ^amThey shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and ^anI will commit the judgment to them, and ^aothey shall judge you according to their judgments. 25 And I will direct my jealousy against you, ^apthat they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. ^aqThey shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 ^arThey shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 ^asThus I will put an end to your lewdness and ^atyour 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: ^auBehold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, ^avinto the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29 and ^awthey shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor ^axand leave you naked and bare, and ^aythe nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring 30 have brought this upon you, because ^azyou played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister; ^batherefore I will give ^bbher 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 ^bcdrunkenness and sorrow.
^bdA cup of horror and desolation,
the cup of ^beyour sister Samaria;
34 ^bfyou 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 ^bgyou have forgotten me and ^bhcast me behind your back, you yourself ^bimust bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

36 The Lord said to me: ^bj“Son of man, ^bkwill you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. 37 For ^blthey have committed adultery, ^bmand blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even ^bnoffered 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: ^bpthey have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and ^bqprofaned my Sabbaths. 39 For when ^brthey had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day ^bsthey came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, ^btthis is what they did in my house. 40 They even sent for men to come from afar, ^buto whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, ^bvpainted your eyes, ^bwand adorned yourself with ornaments. 41 You sat on ^bxa stately couch, with a table spread before it ^byon which you had placed my incense and ^bzmy oil. 42 The ^casound 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 ^ccbracelets on the hands of the women, and ^cdbeautiful 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 ^cfshall 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: ^cg“Bring up a vast host against them, and make them ^chan object of terror and ^cia plunder. 47 ^cjAnd the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. ^ckThey shall kill their sons and their daughters, and ^clburn up their houses. 48 ^cmThus 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 ^cnyou shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and ^coyou shall know that I am the Lord God.”

Hosea 9:1

The Lord Will Punish Israel

1 Rejoice not, O Israel!
Exult not like the peoples;
^cpfor you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
^cqYou have loved a prostitute’s wages
on all threshing floors.

Revelation of John 17:1-6

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

1 Then ^crone of the seven angels who had ^csthe seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of ^ctthe great prostitute ^cuwho is seated on many waters, 2 ^cvwith whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and ^cwwith the wine of whose sexual immorality ^cxthe dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And ^cyhe carried me away in the Spirit ^czinto a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ^daa scarlet beast that was full of ^dbblasphemous names, and ^dcit had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman ^ddwas arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned ^dewith gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ^dfa golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of ^dgmystery: ^dh“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk ^diwith the blood of the saints, the blood of ^djthe martyrs of Jesus. ^{▼▼Greek the witnesses to Jesus}

When I saw her, I marveled greatly.