Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 363
23:1-21
E ze k iel
351
This message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, once there were
two sisters who were daughters of the same mother. They became pros
titutes in Egypt. Even as young girls, they allowed men to fondle their
breasts. 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 Oholib ah is Jerusalem.
“Then Oholah lusted after other lovers instead of me, and she gave her
love to the Assyrian officers. They were all attractive young men, captains
and commanders dressed in handsome blue, charioteers driving their
horses. And so she prostituted herself with the most desirable men of As
syria, worshiping their idols and defiling herself. 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.
“And so I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers, whom she desired so
much. 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.
“Yet even though Oholibah saw what had happened to Oholah, her sis
ter, she followed right in her footsteps. And she was even more depraved,
abandoning herself to her lust and prostitution. She fawned over all the As
syrian officers—those captains and commanders in handsome uniforms,
those charioteers driving their horses—all of them attractive young men.
I saw the way she was going, defiling herself just like her older sister.
“Then she carried her prostitution even further. She fell in love with
pictures that were painted on a wall—pictures of Babylonian military of
ficers, outfitted in striking red uniforms. Handsome belts encircled their
waists, and flowing turbans crowned their heads. They were dressed like
chariot officers from the land of Babylonia. 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. So they came and committed adultery with
her, defiling her in the bed of love. After being defiled, however, she re
jected them in disgust.
“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. Yet she turned to even greater pros
titution, remembering her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt. She
lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like
those of a horse. And so, Oholibah, you relived your former days as a
young girl in Egypt, when you first allowed your breasts to be fondled.
