Ezekiel 23:1-21
The Two Immoral Sisters
1 The word of the Lord came to me again:
2 “Son of man, there were two women,(A) daughters of the same mother,
3 who acted like prostitutes in Egypt,(B) behaving promiscuously in their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin nipples caressed.
4 The older one was named Oholah,(a) and her sister was Oholibah.(b) They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah represents Samaria and Oholibah represents Jerusalem.
5 “Oholah acted like a prostitute even though she was Mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians:(C) warriors
6 dressed in blue, governors and prefects, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on steeds.
7 She offered her sexual favors to them; all of them were the elite of Assyria. She defiled herself with all those she lusted after and with all their idols.
8 She didn’t give up her promiscuity that began in Egypt,(D) when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin nipples, and poured out their lust on her.
9 Therefore, I handed her over to her lovers,(E) the Assyrians she lusted for.
10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. Since they executed judgment against her, she became notorious among women.
11 “Now her sister Oholibah saw this, but she was even more depraved in her lust than Oholah, and made her promiscuous acts worse than those of her sister.(F)
12 She lusted after the Assyrians:(G) governors and prefects, warriors splendidly dressed, horsemen riding on steeds, all of them desirable young men.
13 And I saw that she had defiled herself; both of them had taken the same path.
14 But she increased her promiscuity when she saw male figures carved on the wall,(H) images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion,(I)
15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like officers, a depiction of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.
16 At the sight of them(c) she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.(J)
17 Then the Babylonians came to her,(K) to the bed of love, and defiled her with their lust. But after she was defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.
18 When she flaunted her promiscuity and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust just as I turned away from her sister.(L)
19 Yet she multiplied her acts of promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth when she acted like a prostitute in the land of Egypt
20 and lusted after their lovers, whose sexual members were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions.
21 So you revisited the indecency of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your nipples to enjoy your youthful breasts.(M)
Footnotes:
a.
Ezekiel 23:4: Her Tent
b.
Ezekiel 23:4: My Tent Is in Her
c.
Ezekiel 23:16: Lit of her eyes