23:1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,
23:2 “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;
23:3 and they prostituted themselves in Egypt. They prostituted themselves in their youth; there their breasts were squeezed and there their virgin breasts were handled.
23:4 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.
23:5 “Oholah prostituted herself ①while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, her neighbors,
▷ ①Lit under Me
23:6 who were clothed in purple, governors and officials, all of them handsome young men, horsemen riding on horses.
23:7 She bestowed her ①obscene practices on them, all of whom were the choicest ②men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she defiled herself.
▷ ①Lit fornications ②Lit sons of Asshur
23:8 She did not abandon her obscene practices from the time in Egypt; for in her youth ①men had slept with her, and they handled her virgin breasts and poured out their obscene practice on her.
▷ ①Lit they
23:9 Therefore, I handed her over to her lovers, to the ①Assyrians, after whom she lusted.
▷ ①Lit sons of Asshur
23:10 They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they killed her with the sword. So she became a ①subject of gossip among women, and they executed judgments on her.
▷ ①Lit name
23:11 “Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her obscene practices were ①more than the prostitution of her sister.
▷ ①I.e., more numerous, or worse
23:12 She lusted after the ①Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, opulently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them handsome young men.
▷ ①Lit sons of Asshur
23:13 And I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took ①the same way.
▷ ①Lit one
23:14 So she increased her obscene practices. And she saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans drawn in bright red,
23:15 wearing belts around their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, ①like the ②Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.
▷ ①Lit the likeness of ②Lit sons of Babel
23:16 And ①when she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
▷ ①Lit at the sight of her eyes
23:17 And the ①Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their obscene practice. And when she had been defiled by them, ②she turned away from them in disgust.
▷ ①Lit sons of Babel ②Lit her soul
23:18 She exposed her obscene practices and exposed her nakedness; then ①I turned away from her in disgust, just as ②I had turned away from her sister in disgust.
▷ ①Lit My soul ②Lit My soul
23:19 Yet she multiplied her obscene practices, remembering the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt.
23:20 She lusted after their lovers, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose discharge is like the discharge of horses.
23:21 So you longed for the outrageous sin of your youth, when ①the Egyptians handled your breasts because of the breasts of your youth.
▷ ①As in two mss; MT from Egypt
23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord ①GOD says: ‘Behold I am going to incite your lovers against you, from whom ②you turned away in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side:
▷ ①Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch ②Lit your soul
23:23 the ①Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the ②Assyrians with them; handsome young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and ③men of renown, all of them riding on horses.
▷ ①Lit sons of Babylon ②Lit sons of Assyria ③Lit called ones
23:24 And they will come against you with weapons, chariots, and ①wagons, and with a contingent of peoples. They will attack you on every side with shield, ②buckler, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs.
▷ ①Lit wheel ②I.e., small shield
23:25 I will set My jealousy against you, so that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your ①survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your ②survivors will be consumed by the fire.
▷ ①Lit remainder ②Lit remainder
23:26 They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewelry.
23:27 So I 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.’
23:28 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am going to hand you over to those whom you hate, to those from whom ①you turned away in disgust.
▷ ①Lit your soul
23:29 They will deal 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.
23:30 These things will be done to you because you have adulterously pursued the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols.
23:31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’
23:32 This is what the Lord GOD says:
‘You will drink your sister’s cup,
Which is deep and wide.
①You will be laughed at and held in derision;
Because it contains much.
▷ ①Or It will be for laughter and derision because of its great size
23:33 You will be filled with drunkenness and grief,
A cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
23:34 And you will drink it and drain it.
Then you will gnaw on its fragments
And tear your breasts; for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord GOD.
23:35 Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and discarded Me behind your back, suffer on your own part the punishment for your outrageous sin and your obscene practices.’ ”
23:36 Moreover, the LORD said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
23:37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. So they have committed adultery with their idols, and even made their sons, whom they bore to Me, pass through the fire to ①them as food.
▷ ①I.e., the idols
23:38 Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day, and have profaned My Sabbaths.
23:39 For when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and behold, this is what they did within My house.
23:40 “Furthermore, ①they 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, put makeup on your eyes, and adorned yourselves with jewelry;
▷ ①Or you (women)
23:41 and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged in front of it on which you had set My incense and My oil.
23:42 And the sound of a ①carefree multitude was with her; and heavy drinkers were brought from the wilderness with people from the multitude of humanity. And they put bracelets on ②the wrists of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.
▷ ①Lit at ease ②Lit their hands
23:43 “Then I said concerning her who was worn out by adulteries, ‘ ①Will they now commit adultery with her when she is like this?’
▷ ①Or Now they will commit adultery with her, and she with them
23:44 ①But 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.
▷ ①Or And
23:45 But they, righteous people, will judge 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.
23:46 “For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Bring up a contingent against them and turn them over to terror and plunder.
23:47 The contingent will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire.
23:48 So I will eliminate outrageous conduct from the land, so that all women will take warning and not commit ①outrageous sin as you have done.
▷ ①Lit according to your lewdness
23:49 Your outrageous conduct ①will be repaid to you, and you will bear the guilt for your idols; so you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”
▷ ①Lit they will give