Jer 3:1-4, 9, Eze 6:9, Eze 16, Eze 23, Rev 17:1-2, 5 | ESV | STEP | If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted ? You have played the whore with many lovers ; and would you return to me? declares the Lord .

1 ^a“If ^{▼▼Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Saying, “If} a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
^cWould not that land be greatly polluted?
^dYou have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?

declares the Lord.
2 Lift up your eyes to ^ethe bare heights, and see!
Where have you not been ravished?
^fBy the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers
like an Arab in the wilderness.
^gYou have polluted the land
with your vile whoredom.
3 ^hTherefore the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have ⁱthe forehead of a whore;
you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Have you not just now ^jcalled to me,
‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—

Jeremiah 3:9

9 Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with ^kstone and tree.

Ezekiel 6:9

9 then those of you who escape ^lwill remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how ^mI have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes ⁿthat go whoring after their idols. ^oAnd they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations.

Ezekiel 16

The Lord’s Faithless Bride

1 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^p“Son of man, ^qmake 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 ^rAmorite and your mother a ^sHittite. 4 And as for your birth, ^ton 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, ^ubut you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, ^von the day that you were born.

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

8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and ^acI spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you ^adand entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, ^aeand you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and ^afanointed you with oil. 10 ^agI 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 ^aiAnd I adorned you with ornaments and ^ajput 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. ^akYou ate fine flour and honey and oil. ^alYou grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And ^amyour 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 ^an“But you trusted in your beauty ^aoand played the whore ^{▼▼Or were unfaithful; also verses 16, 17, 26, 28} because of your renown ^aqand 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 ^auyour beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and ^avmade for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. 18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, ^awand set my oil and my incense before them. 19 ^axAlso my bread that I gave you— ^ayI fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for ^aza pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God. 20 ^baAnd you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and ^bbthese 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 ^bcthe days of your youth, ^bdwhen 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 ^bea vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. 25 At the head of every street ^bfyou built your lofty place and made ^bgyour beauty an abomination, ^bhoffering yourself ^{▼▼Hebrew spreading your legs} to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. 26 ^bjYou also played the whore ^bkwith the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, ^blmultiplying your whoring, ^bmto provoke me to anger. 27 Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you ^bnand diminished your allotted portion ^boand delivered you to the greed of your enemies, ^bpthe daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. 28 ^bqYou played the whore also ^brwith 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 ^bsof 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, ^bubecause you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, ^bvbut 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 ^bwyou 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, ^bxand because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, 37 therefore, behold, ^byI will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and ^bzall those you hated. ^caI will gather them against you from every side ^cband will uncover your nakedness to them, that ^ccthey may see all your nakedness. 38 ^cdAnd I will judge you ^ceas women who commit adultery and ^cfshed 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 ^cgvaulted chamber and break down ^chyour lofty places. ^ciThey shall strip you of your clothes and take ^cjyour beautiful jewels and leave you ^cknaked and bare. 40 ^clThey shall bring up a crowd against you, ^cmand they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 ^cnAnd they shall ^coburn your houses and ^cpexecute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. ^cqI will make you stop playing the whore, and ^cryou shall also give payment no more. 42 ^csSo 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 ^ctthe days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, ^cuI have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not ^cvcommitted lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

44 “Behold, everyone ^cwwho 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 ^cxyour sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. ^cyYour mother was a Hittite and ^czyour father an Amorite. 46 And ^dayour elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and ^dbyour younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. 47 ^dcNot only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time ^ddyou were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 ^deAs I live, declares the Lord God, your sister ^dfSodom 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, ^dgexcess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and ^dhdid an abomination before me. So ^diI removed them, when I saw it. 51 ^djSamaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and ^dkhave made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. 52 ^dlBear 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 ^dm“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 ^dnand be ashamed of all that you have done, ^dobecoming a consolation to them. 55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, ^dpand Samaria and her daughters shall return ^dqto their former state, ^drand you and your daughters shall return ^dsto your former state. 56 Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth ^dtin the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become ^duan object of reproach for the daughters of Syria ^{▼▼Some manuscripts (compare Syriac) of Edom} and all those around her, and for ^dwthe daughters of the Philistines, ^dxthose all around who despise you. 58 ^dyYou 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 ^dzwho have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, 60 yet ^eaI will remember my covenant with you ^ebin the days of your youth, ^ecand I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. 61 ^edThen you will remember your ways ^eeand be ashamed when you take ^efyour sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you ^egas daughters, but not on account of ^{▼▼Or not apart from} the covenant with you. 62 I will establish my covenant with you, ^eiand you shall know that I am the Lord, 63 that you may remember and be confounded, and ^ejnever 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 ^ek“Son of man, there were ^eltwo women, the daughters of one mother. 3 ^emThey played the whore in Egypt; ^enthey played the whore ^eoin 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. ^eqThey became mine, and they ^erbore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is ^esSamaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

5 “Oholah played the whore ^etwhile she was mine, and ^eushe lusted after her lovers ^evthe Assyrians, warriors 6 clothed in purple, ^ewgovernors and commanders, ^exall of them desirable young men, ^eyhorsemen 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 ^ezthat 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 ^faI delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 ^fbThese uncovered her nakedness; ^fcthey seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became ^fda byword among women, ^fewhen judgment had been executed on her.

11 ^ff“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became ^fgmore 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, ^fiall 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 ^fjportrayed on the wall, the ^fkimages of ^flthe 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 ^fmsent messengers to them ^fnin Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her ^fointo the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, ^fpshe 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, ^fqremembering 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 ^fsfrom whom you turned in disgust, ^ftand I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, ^fuPekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, ^fvdesirable young men, ^fwgovernors 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. ^fyThey shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and ^fzI will commit the judgment to them, and ^gathey shall judge you according to their judgments. 25 And I will direct my jealousy against you, ^gbthat they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. ^gcThey shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 ^gdThey shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 ^geThus I will put an end to your lewdness and ^gfyour 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: ^ggBehold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, ^ghinto the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29 and ^githey shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor ^gjand leave you naked and bare, and ^gkthe nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring 30 have brought this upon you, because ^glyou played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister; ^gmtherefore I will give ^gnher 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 ^godrunkenness and sorrow.
^gpA cup of horror and desolation,
the cup of ^gqyour sister Samaria;
34 ^gryou 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 ^gsyou have forgotten me and ^gtcast me behind your back, you yourself ^gumust bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

36 The Lord said to me: ^gv“Son of man, ^gwwill you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. 37 For ^gxthey have committed adultery, ^gyand blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even ^gzoffered 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: ^hbthey have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and ^hcprofaned my Sabbaths. 39 For when ^hdthey had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day ^hethey came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, ^hfthis is what they did in my house. 40 They even sent for men to come from afar, ^hgto whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, ^hhpainted your eyes, ^hiand adorned yourself with ornaments. 41 You sat on ^hja stately couch, with a table spread before it ^hkon which you had placed my incense and ^hlmy oil. 42 The ^hmsound 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 ^hobracelets on the hands of the women, and ^hpbeautiful 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 ^hrshall 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: ^hs“Bring up a vast host against them, and make them ^htan object of terror and ^hua plunder. 47 ^hvAnd the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. ^hwThey shall kill their sons and their daughters, and ^hxburn up their houses. 48 ^hyThus 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 ^hzyou shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and ^iayou shall know that I am the Lord God.”

Revelation of John 17:1-2

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

1 Then ^ibone of the seven angels who had ^icthe seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of ^idthe great prostitute ^iewho is seated on many waters, 2 ^ifwith whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and ^igwith the wine of whose sexual immorality ^ihthe dwellers on earth have become drunk.”

Revelation of John 17:5

5 And on her forehead was written a name of ⁱⁱmystery: ^ij“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”