Ezekiel 23:2-20

Other Translations of Ezekiel 23:2-20

King James Version

² Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: ³ And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. ⁴ And the names of them were Aholah Aholah: that is, His tent, or, tabernacle the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. ⁵ And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours, ⁶ Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. ⁷ Thus she committed committed...: Heb. bestowed her whoredoms upon them her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself. ⁸ Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her. ⁹ Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. ¹⁰ These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous famous: Heb. a name among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.

¹¹ And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms. ¹² She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. ¹³ Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way, ¹⁴ And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion, ¹⁵ Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity: ¹⁶ And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. ¹⁷ And the Babylonians Babylonians: Heb. children of Babel came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them. ¹⁸ So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister. ¹⁹ Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

English Standard Version

² "Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. ³ They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosomsHebrew nipples; also verses 8, 21 handled. ⁴ Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem ⁵ "Oholah played the whore while she was mine, and she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors ⁶ clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen 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 that 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 I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. ¹⁰ These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became a byword among women, when judgment had been executed on her.

¹¹ "Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sisterHebrew 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, all 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 portrayed on the wall, the images of the 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 sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷ And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, she 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, remembering 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.

The Message

² "Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother. ³ They became whores in Egypt, whores from a young age. Their breasts were fondled, their young bosoms caressed. ⁴ The older sister was named Oholah, the younger was Oholibah. They were my daughters, and they gave birth to sons and daughters. "Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem ⁵ "Oholah started whoring while she was still mine. She lusted after Assyrians as lovers: military men ⁶ smartly uniformed in blue, ambassadors and governors, good-looking young men mounted on fine horses. ⁷ Her lust was unrestrained. She was a whore to the Assyrian elite. She compounded her filth with the idols of those to whom she gave herself in lust. ⁸ She never slowed down. The whoring she began while young in Egypt she continued, sleeping with men who played with her breasts and spent their lust on her. ⁹ "So I left her to her Assyrian lovers, for whom she was so obsessed with lust. ¹⁰ They ripped off her clothes, took away her children, and then, the final indignity, killed her. Among women her name became Shame - history's judgment on her.

¹¹ "Her sister Oholibah saw all this, but she became even worse than her sister in lust and whoring, if you can believe it. ¹² She also went crazy with lust for Assyrians: ambassadors and governors, military men smartly dressed and mounted on fine horses - the Assyrian elite. ¹³ And I saw that she also had become incredibly filthy. Both women followed the same path. ¹⁴ But Oholibah surpassed her sister. When she saw figures of Babylonians carved in relief on the walls and painted red ¹⁵ fancy belts around their waists, elaborate turbans on their heads, all of them looking important - famous Babylonians! - ¹⁶ she went wild with lust and sent invitations to them in Babylon. ¹⁷ The Babylonians came on the run, fornicated with her, made her dirty inside and out. When they had thoroughly debased her, she lost interest in them. ¹⁸ Then she went public with her fornication. She exhibited her sex to the world. ¹⁹ But that didn't slow her down. She went at her whoring harder than ever. She remembered when she was young, just starting out as a whore in Egypt ²⁰ That whetted her appetite for more virile, vulgar, and violent lovers - stallions obsessive in their lust.

New King James Version

² "Son of man, there were two women, The daughters of one mother. ³ They committed harlotry in Egypt, They committed harlotry in their youth; Their breasts were there embraced, Their virgin bosom was there pressed. ⁴ Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister; They were Mine, And they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah ⁵ "Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine; And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians, ⁶ Who were clothed in purple, Captains and rulers, All of them desirable young men, Horsemen riding on horses. ⁷ Thus she committed her harlotry with them, All of them choice men of Assyria; And with all for whom she lusted, With all their idols, she defiled herself. ⁸ She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt, For in her youth they had lain with her, Pressed her virgin bosom, And poured out their immorality upon her. ⁹ "Therefore I have delivered her Into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of the Assyrians, For whom she lusted. ¹⁰ They uncovered her nakedness, Took away her sons and daughters, And slew her with the sword; She became a byword among women, For they had executed judgment on her.

¹¹ "Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister's harlotry. ¹² "She lusted for the neighboring Assyrians, Captains and rulers, Clothed most gorgeously, Horsemen riding on horses, All of them desirable young men. ¹³ Then I saw that she was defiled; Both took the same way. ¹⁴ But she increased her harlotry; She looked at men portrayed on the wall, Images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion ¹⁵ Girded with belts around their waists, Flowing turbans on their heads, All of them looking like captains, In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, The land of their nativity. ¹⁶ As soon as her eyes saw them, She lusted for them And sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷ "Then the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love, And they defiled her with their immorality; So she was defiled by them, and alienated herself from them. ¹⁸ She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness. Then I alienated Myself from her, As I had alienated Myself from her sister. ¹⁹ "Yet she multiplied her harlotry In calling to remembrance the days of her youth, When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt ²⁰ For she lusted for her paramours, Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys, And whose issue is like the issue of horses.

New Living Translation

² "Son of man, once there were two sisters who were daughters of the same mother. ³ They became prostitutes in Egypt. Even as young girls, they allowed men to fondle their breasts. ⁴ The older girl was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. I married them, and they bore me sons and daughters. I am speaking of Samaria and Jerusalem, for Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem. ⁵ "Then Oholah lusted after other lovers instead of me, and she gave her love to the Assyrian officers. ⁶ They were all attractive young men, captains and commanders dressed in handsome blue, charioteers driving their horses. ⁷ And so she prostituted herself with the most desirable men of Assyria, worshiping their idols and defiling herself. ⁸ For when she left Egypt, she did not leave her spirit of prostitution behind. She was still as lewd as in her youth, when the Egyptians slept with her, fondled her breasts, and used her as a prostitute. ⁹ "And so I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers, whom she desired so much. ¹⁰ They stripped her, took away her children as their slaves, and then killed her. After she received her punishment, her reputation was known to every woman in the land.

¹¹ "Yet even though Oholibah saw what had happened to Oholah, her sister, she followed right in her footsteps. And she was even more depraved, abandoning herself to her lust and prostitution. ¹² She fawned over all the Assyrian officers-those captains and commanders in handsome uniforms, those charioteers driving their horses-all of them attractive young men. ¹³ I saw the way she was going, defiling herself just like her older sister. ¹⁴ "Then she carried her prostitution even further. She fell in love with pictures that were painted on a wall-pictures of Babylonian military officers, outfitted in striking red uniforms. ¹⁵ Handsome belts encircled their waists, and flowing turbans crowned their heads. They were dressed like chariot officers from the land of Babylonia. ¹⁶ When she saw these paintings, she longed to give herself to them, so she sent messengers to Babylonia to invite them to come to her. ¹⁷ So they came and committed adultery with her, defiling her in the bed of love. After being defiled, however, she rejected them in disgust. ¹⁸ "In the same way, I became disgusted with Oholibah and rejected her, just as I had rejected her sister, because she flaunted herself before them and gave herself to satisfy their lusts. ¹⁹ Yet she turned to even greater prostitution, remembering her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt. ²⁰ She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey's and emissions like those of a horse.