Oholah and Oholibah
1
The word of the LORD came to me:
3
3They played the whore in Egypt; 4they played the whore 5in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosomsa handled.
4
Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. 6They became mine, and they 7bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is 8Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem
5
"Oholah played the whore 9while she was mine, and 10she lusted after her lovers 11the Assyrians, warriors
6
clothed in purple, 12governors and commanders, 13all of them desirable young men, 14horsemen 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 15that 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 16I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.
10
17These uncovered her nakedness; 18they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became 19a byword among women, 20when judgment had been executed on her.
11
21"Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became 22more corrupt than her sisterb 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, 23all 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 24portrayed on the wall, the 25images of 26the 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.
17
And the Babylonians came to her 29into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, 30she 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, 31remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egyp
20
and lusted after her paramours 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 pressedc your young breasts.
22
Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers 32from whom you turned in disgust, 33and I will bring them against you from every side:
23
the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, 34Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, 35desirable young men, 36governors 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 northd with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. 37They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and 38I will commit the judgment to them, and 39they shall judge you according to their judgments.
25
And I will direct my jealousy against you, 40that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. 41They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire.
26
42They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels.
27
43Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and 44your 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: 45Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, 46into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust,
29
and 47they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor 48and leave you naked and bare, and 49the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring
30
have brought this upon you, because 50you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.
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 53drunkenness and sorrow. 54A cup of horror and desolation, the cup of 55your sister Samaria;
34
56you 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 57you have forgotten me and 58cast me behind your back, you yourself 59must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring."
36
The LORD said to me: 60"Son of man, 61will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations
37
For 62they have committed adultery, 63and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even 64offered upe to them for food the children whom they had borne to me.
38
Moreover, this they have done to me: 65they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and 66profaned my Sabbaths
39
For when 67they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day 68they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, 69this is what they did in my house.
40
They even sent for men to come from afar, 70to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, 71painted your eyes, 72and adorned yourself with ornaments.
41
You sat on 73a stately couch, with a table spread before it 74on which you had placed my incense and 75my oil.
42
The 76sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkardsf were brought from the wilderness; and they put 77bracelets on the hands of the women, and 78beautiful 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!g
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 79shall 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: 80"Bring up a vast host against them, and make them 81an object of terror and 82a plunder.
47
83And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. 84They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and 85burn up their houses.
48
86Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)