Ezekiel 23

All 49 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1The LORD spoke to me again and said,
2. 2"Son of man, there were 2 women, daughters of the same mother.
3. 3They committed prostitution in Egypt; they committed prostitution in their youth. There their breasts were pressed, and there they bruised the breasts of their virginity.
4. 4The older sister was named Oholah, and the younger was Oholibah. They both became mine, and they gave birth to sons and daughters. These are their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
5. 5Oholah prostituted herself even though she belonged to me. She lusted after her lovers — the Assyrians, her neighbors —
6. 6who dressed in blue uniforms: governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, cavalry officers mounted on horses.
7. 7She gave herself to all of them — the finest men Assyria had to offer. She doted on them and defiled herself with every one of their idols.
8. 8She never gave up the prostitution she'd started back in Egypt, where men had slept with her since her youth, taken her virginity, and poured out their lust on her.
9. 9So I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians she was so obsessed with.
10. 10They stripped her naked, took her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became famous among women because judgment was carried out against her.
11. 11Her sister Oholibah watched all of this happen, yet she became even more depraved in her lust and prostitution than Oholah had ever been.
12. 12She too lusted after the Assyrians — governors and commanders dressed in splendid uniforms, cavalry officers on horseback, all of them handsome young men.
13. 13I saw that she had defiled herself. Both sisters had gone down the same path.
14. 14But Oholibah increased her prostitution: for when she saw men depicted on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans painted in bright red,
15. 15wearing belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads. They all looked like princes, depicted in the style of Babylonians from the land of Chaldea, their homeland.
16. 16The moment she saw them, she doted on them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
17. 17So the Babylonians came to her bed and defiled her with their lust. But after she was polluted by them, she turned against them in disgust.
18. 18When she openly flaunted her prostitution and exposed herself for all to see, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister.
19. 19Yet she increased her acts of prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she had acted like a harlot in the land of Egypt.
20. 20She lusted after lovers whose bodies were like those of donkeys and whose sexual emissions were like those of stallions.
21. 21So you remembered the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your breasts in your young days.
22. 22Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: I am going to stir up your former lovers against you — the ones you turned away from in disgust — and I will bring them against you from every direction:
23. 23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the people of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them — handsome young men, every one of them governors, commanders, princes, and famous warriors, all mounted on horseback.
24. 24They will come against you with chariots, wagons, and wheels, along with a gathering of people. They will surround you with bucklers, shields, and helmets on every side. I will set judgment before them, and they will judge you according to their judgments.
25. 25I will unleash my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your nose and your ears. Your survivors will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and those who remain will be devoured by fire.
26. 26They will strip the clothes off your back and take away all your beautiful jewelry.
27. 27This is how I will put an end to your depravity — the prostitution you brought with you from Egypt. You will never again look to Egypt with longing or even think about it anymore.
28. 28For this is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to hand you over to the people you hate — the very ones you turned away from in disgust.
29. 29They will treat you with hatred and strip away everything you've worked for, leaving you completely naked and exposed. Your shameful prostitution will be laid bare for all to see — your depravity and your unfaithfulness.
30. 30These things will be done to you because you chased after other nations like a prostitute and made yourself filthy with their idols.
31. 31You followed the same path as your sister, so I will put her cup of punishment into your hand.
32. 32This is what the Lord GOD says: You will drink from your sister's cup — a cup that is deep and wide. You will become an object of mockery and ridicule, because that cup holds so much.
33. 33You will be overwhelmed with drunkenness and grief. It is a cup of horror and devastation — the same cup your sister Samaria drank from.
34. 34You will drain it to the last drop, then smash the cup to pieces and claw at your own breasts in anguish. I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.
35. 35Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must now bear the full weight of your depravity and prostitution.
36. 36The LORD also said to me, Son of man, will you judge Aholah and Aholibah? Yes, declare to them their abominations.
37. 37They have committed adultery, and their hands are stained with blood. They committed adultery with their idols, and they even sacrificed their own children — the sons they bore to me — burning them in the fire as food for those idols.
38. 38On top of all that, they defiled my sanctuary and violated my Sabbaths — all on the very same day.
39. 39On the same day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they walked right into my sanctuary and defiled it. That is what they did inside my own house.
40. 40They even sent messengers to invite men from far away. When those men arrived, the sisters bathed themselves, painted their eyes, and put on jewelry to look beautiful for them.
41. 41They sat on an elegant couch with a table spread before it, and on that table they placed my incense and my oil.
42. 42The sound of a carefree crowd was with her, and with the common men were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, who put bracelets on their hands and beautiful crowns on their heads.
43. 43Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, 'Now they will use her as a prostitute, and she will use them.'
44. 44And that's exactly what happened. Men went to them the way they go to a prostitute. That is how they went to Oholah and Oholibah, those depraved women.
45. 45But righteous people will judge them with the sentence reserved for adulteresses and murderers, because that is exactly what they are — adulteresses with blood on their hands.
46. 46This is what the Lord GOD says: I will bring a group against them and hand them over to be removed and plundered.
47. 47That mob will stone them and cut them down with swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses to the ground.
48. 48This is how I will put an end to depravity in the land, so that all women may be taught not to follow your lewdness.
49. 49Your depravity will be turned back on you, and you will bear the sins of your idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.