Ezekiel 23 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Two Harlot Sisters

The Parable of the Two Sisters

Eze 23:1The word of the LORD came again to me, saying:

Eze 23:2“Son of man, there were two women,
The daughters of one mother.

Eze 23:3They committed harlotry in Egypt,
They committed harlotry in their youth;
Their breasts were there embraced,
Their virgin bosom was there pressed.

Eze 23:4

Eze 23:4Their names: Oholah[fn] the elder and Oholibah[fn] her sister;
They were Mine,
And they bore sons and daughters.
As for their names,
Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

The Older Sister, Samaria

Eze 23:5

Eze 23:5“Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine;
And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians,

Eze 23:6

Eze 23:6Who were clothed in purple,
Captains and rulers,
All of them desirable young men,
Horsemen riding on horses.

Eze 23:7

Eze 23:7Thus 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.

Eze 23:8

Eze 23:8She 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.

Eze 23:9

Eze 23:9“Therefore I have delivered her
Into the hand of her lovers,
Into the hand of the Assyrians,
For whom she lusted.

Eze 23:10

Eze 23:10They 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.

The Younger Sister, Jerusalem

Eze 23:11

Eze 23:11“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.

Eze 23:12

Eze 23:12“She lusted for the neighboring Assyrians,
Captains and rulers,
Clothed most gorgeously,
Horsemen riding on horses,
All of them desirable young men.

Eze 23:13

Eze 23:13Then I saw that she was defiled;
Both took the same way.

Eze 23:14

Eze 23:14But she increased her harlotry;
She looked at men portrayed on the wall,
Images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,

Eze 23:15

Eze 23:15Girded 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.

Eze 23:16

Eze 23:16As soon as her eyes saw them,
She lusted for them
And sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

Eze 23:17

Eze 23:17“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.

Eze 23:18

Eze 23:18She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness.
Then I alienated Myself from her,
As I had alienated Myself from her sister.

Eze 23:19

Eze 23:19“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.

Eze 23:20

Eze 23:20For she lusted for her paramours,
Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys,
And whose issue is like the issue of horses.

Eze 23:21

Eze 23:21Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth,
When the Egyptians pressed your bosom
Because of your youthful breasts.

Judgment on Jerusalem

Eze 23:22

Eze 23:22“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:

Eze 23:23

Eze 23:23The 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.

Eze 23:24

Eze 23:24And 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.

Eze 23:25

Eze 23:25I 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.

Eze 23:26

Eze 23:26They shall also strip you of your clothes
And take away your beautiful jewelry.

Eze 23:27

Eze 23:27‘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.’

Eze 23:28

Eze 23:28“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.

Eze 23:29

Eze 23:29‘They 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.

Eze 23:30

Eze 23:30‘I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols.

Eze 23:31

Eze 23:31‘You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’

Eze 23:32

Eze 23:32“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.

Eze 23:33

Eze 23:33You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
The cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.

Eze 23:34

Eze 23:34You shall drink and drain it,
You shall break its shards,
And tear at your own breasts;
For I have spoken,’
Says the Lord GOD.

Eze 23:35

Eze 23:35“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.’ ”

Both Sisters Judged

Eze 23:36

Eze 23:36The LORD also said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.

Eze 23:37

Eze 23:37“For 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.

Eze 23:38

Eze 23:38“Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths.

Eze 23:39

Eze 23:39“For 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.

Eze 23:40

Eze 23:40“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.

Eze 23:41

Eze 23:41“You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil.

Eze 23:42

Eze 23:42“The 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.

Eze 23:43

Eze 23:43“Then I said concerning her who had grown old in adulteries, ‘Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?’

Eze 23:44

Eze 23:44“Yet 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.

Eze 23:45

Eze 23:45“But 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.

Eze 23:46

Eze 23:46“For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder.

Eze 23:47

Eze 23:47‘The 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.

Eze 23:48

Eze 23:48‘Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness.

Eze 23:49

Eze 23:49‘They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(23:4)

Literally Her Own Tabernacle

(23:4)

Literally My Tabernacle Is in Her

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For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.

Ezekiel Chapter 23 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New Living Translation New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Ezekiel 23 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

NKJV Footnotes

Ezekiel Chapter 23 — Additional Translations:

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