New King James Version

New Living Translation

1The word of the LORD came again to me, saying:

1This message came to me from the LORD:

2“Son of man, there were two women, The daughters of one mother.

2“Son of man, once there were two sisters who were daughters of the same mother.

3They committed harlotry in Egypt, They committed harlotry in their youth; Their breasts were there embraced, Their virgin bosom was there pressed.

3They became prostitutes in Egypt. Even as young girls, they allowed men to fondle their breasts.

4Their 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.

4The 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“Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine; And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians,

5“Then Oholah lusted after other lovers instead of me, and she gave her love to the Assyrian officers.

6Who were clothed in purple, Captains and rulers, All of them desirable young men, Horsemen riding on horses.

6They were all attractive young men, captains and commanders dressed in handsome blue, charioteers driving their horses.

7Thus 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.

7And so she prostituted herself with the most desirable men of Assyria, worshiping their idols and defiling herself.

8She 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.

8For 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“Therefore I have delivered her Into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of the Assyrians, For whom she lusted.

9“And so I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers, whom she desired so much.

10They 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.

10They 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“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.

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 lusted for the neighboring Assyrians, Captains and rulers, Clothed most gorgeously, Horsemen riding on horses, All of them desirable young men.

12She fawned over all the Assyrian officers—those captains and commanders in handsome uniforms, those charioteers driving their horses—all of them attractive young men.

13Then I saw that she was defiled; Both took the same way.

13I saw the way she was going, defiling herself just like her older sister.

14But she increased her harlotry; She looked at men portrayed on the wall, Images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,

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.

15Girded 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.

15Handsome belts encircled their waists, and flowing turbans crowned their heads. They were dressed like chariot officers from the land of Babylonia.

16As soon as her eyes saw them, She lusted for them And sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

16When 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“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.

17So they came and committed adultery with her, defiling her in the bed of love. After being defiled, however, she rejected them in disgust.

18She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness. Then I alienated Myself from her, As I had alienated Myself from her sister.

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 multiplied her harlotry In calling to remembrance the days of her youth, When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

19Yet she turned to even greater prostitution, remembering her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt.

20For she lusted for her paramours, Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys, And whose issue is like the issue of horses.

20She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like those of a horse.

21Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth, When the Egyptians pressed your bosom Because of your youthful breasts.

21And so, Oholibah, you relived your former days as a young girl in Egypt, when you first allowed your breasts to be fondled. The LORD’s Judgment of Oholibah

22“Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you, From whom you have alienated yourself, And I will bring them against you from every side:

22“Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will send your lovers against you from every direction—those very nations from which you turned away in disgust.

23The Babylonians, All the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, All the Assyrians with them, All of them desirable young men, Governors and rulers, Captains and men of renown, All of them riding on horses.

23For the Babylonians will come with all the Chaldeans from Pekod and Shoa and Koa. And all the Assyrians will come with them—handsome young captains, commanders, chariot officers, and other high-ranking officers, all riding their horses.

24And they shall come against you With chariots, wagons, and war-horses, With a horde of people. They shall array against you Buckler, shield, and helmet all around. ‘I will delegate judgment to them, And they shall judge you according to their judgments.

24They will all come against you from the north with chariots, wagons, and a great army prepared for attack. They will take up positions on every side, surrounding you with men armed with shields and helmets. And I will hand you over to them for punishment so they can do with you as they please.

25I will set My jealousy against you, And they shall deal furiously with you; They shall remove your nose and your ears, And your remnant shall fall by the sword; They shall take your sons and your daughters, And your remnant shall be devoured by fire.

25I will turn my jealous anger against you, and they will deal harshly with you. They will cut off your nose and ears, and any survivors will then be slaughtered by the sword. Your children will be taken away as captives, and everything that is left will be burned.

26They shall also strip you of your clothes And take away your beautiful jewelry.

26They will strip you of your beautiful clothes and jewels.

27‘Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry Brought from the land of Egypt, So that you will not lift your eyes to them, Nor remember Egypt anymore.’

27In this way, I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you brought from Egypt. You will never again cast longing eyes on those things or fondly remember your time in Egypt.

28“For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hand of those you hate, into the hand of those from whom you alienated yourself.

28“For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will surely hand you over to your enemies, to those you loathe, those you rejected.

29They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry.

29They will treat you with hatred and rob you of all you own, leaving you stark naked. The shame of your prostitution will be exposed to all the world.

30I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols.

30You brought all this on yourself by prostituting yourself to other nations, defiling yourself with all their idols.

31You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’

31Because you have followed in your sister’s footsteps, I will force you to drink the same cup of terror she drank.

32“Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup, The deep and wide one; You shall be laughed to scorn And held in derision; It contains much.

32“Yes, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “You will drink from your sister’s cup of terror, a cup that is large and deep. It is filled to the brim with scorn and derision.

33You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.

33Drunkenness and anguish will fill you, for your cup is filled to the brim with distress and desolation, the same cup your sister Samaria drank.

34You shall drink and drain it, You shall break its shards, And tear at your own breasts; For I have spoken,’ Says the Lord GOD.

34You will drain that cup of terror to the very bottom. Then you will smash it to pieces and beat your breast in anguish. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!

35“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, Therefore you shall bear the penalty Of your lewdness and your harlotry.’ ”

35“And because you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: You must bear the consequences of all your lewdness and prostitution.” The LORD’s Judgment on Both Sisters

36The LORD also said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.

36The LORD said to me, “Son of man, you must accuse Oholah and Oholibah of all their detestable sins.

37For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them.

37They have committed both adultery and murder—adultery by worshiping idols and murder by burning as sacrifices the children they bore to me.

38Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths.

38Furthermore, they have defiled my Temple and violated my Sabbath day!

39For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house.

39On the very day that they sacrificed their children to their idols, they boldly came into my Temple to worship! They came in and defiled my house.

40“Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and there they came. And you washed yourself for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.

40“You sisters sent messengers to distant lands to get men. Then when they arrived, you bathed yourselves, painted your eyelids, and put on your finest jewels for them.

41You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil.

41You sat with them on a beautifully embroidered couch and put my incense and my special oil on a table that was spread before you.

42The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.

42From your room came the sound of many men carousing. They were lustful men and drunkards from the wilderness, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your heads.

43Then I said concerning her who had grown old in adulteries, ‘Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?’

43Then I said, ‘If they really want to have sex with old worn-out prostitutes like these, let them!’

44Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women.

44And that is what they did. They had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, these shameless prostitutes.

45But righteous men will judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.

45But righteous people will judge these sister cities for what they really are—adulterers and murderers.

46“For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder.

46“Now this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Bring an army against them and hand them over to be terrorized and plundered.

47The assembly shall stone them with stones and execute them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire.

47For their enemies will stone them and kill them with swords. They will butcher their sons and daughters and burn their homes.

48Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness.

48In this way, I will put an end to lewdness and idolatry in the land, and my judgment will be a warning to all women not to follow your wicked example.

49They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”

49You will be fully repaid for all your prostitution—your worship of idols. Yes, you will suffer the full penalty. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.”

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.