Dual Panel1The LORD spoke to me and said,
2“Son of man, listen to this story about Samaria and Jerusalem. There were two sisters, daughters of the same mother.
3They became prostitutes in Egypt while they were still young girls. That’s where they first let men touch and handle their young breasts.
4The older daughter was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became my wives, and we had children. I am using the name Oholah to mean Samaria and the name Oholibah to mean Jerusalem.
5“Then Oholah became unfaithful to me—she began to live like a prostitute. She began to want her lovers. She saw the Assyrian soldiers
6in their blue uniforms. They were all handsome young men riding horses. They were leaders and officers,
7and Oholah gave herself to them. They were handpicked soldiers in the Assyrian army, and she wanted them all! She polluted herself with their filthy idols.
8She continued the prostitution she began in Egypt. There men made love to her when she was a young girl. They touched her young breasts and used her as a prostitute.
9So I let her lovers have her. She wanted Assyria, so I gave her to them!
10They raped her. They took her children and killed her. They punished her, and women still talk about her.
11“Her younger sister Oholibah saw all these things happen. But Oholibah sinned more than her sister did! She was more unfaithful than Oholah.
12She wanted the Assyrian leaders and officers. She wanted those soldiers in blue uniforms riding their horses. They were all handsome young men.
13I saw that both women were going to ruin their lives with the same mistakes.
14“Oholibah continued to be unfaithful to me. In Babylon she saw pictures of men carved on the walls. These were pictures of Chaldean men wearing their red uniforms.
15They wore belts around their waists and long turbans on their heads. All those men looked like chariot officers. They all looked like native-born Babylonian men,
16and Oholibah wanted them.
17So the Babylonian men came to her bed to have sex with her. They used her and made her so filthy that she became disgusted with them.
18“Oholibah let everyone see that she was unfaithful. She let so many men enjoy her naked body that I became disgusted with her—just as I had become disgusted with her sister.
19But Oholibah thought about her time as a prostitute in Egypt when she was young, and she turned to even more prostitution.
20She remembered the lovers who excited her there, who were like animals in their sexual desires and abilities.
21“Oholibah, you dreamed of those times when you were young, when your lovers touched and handled your young breasts.
22So, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You became disgusted with your lovers, but I will bring them here, and they will surround you.
23I will bring all the men from Babylon, especially the Chaldeans. I will bring the men from Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the men from Assyria. I will bring all the leaders and officers, all those handsome young men, chariot officers, and handpicked soldiers riding their horses.
24That crowd of men will come to you in large groups, riding on their horses and in their chariots. They will have their spears, shields, and helmets. They will gather around you, and I will tell them what you have done to me. Then they will punish you their own way.
25I will show you how jealous I am. They will become angry and hurt you. They will cut off your nose and ears. They will kill you with a sword. Then they will take your children and burn whatever is left of you.
26They will take your nice clothes and jewelry.
27This is how I will stop your shameful acts and your love affair with Egypt. You will stop wishing you could go back there. You will never remember Egypt again!’”
28This is what the Lord GOD says: “I am giving you to those you hate, to those you thought were sickening.
29And they will show how much they hate you! They will take everything you worked for, and they will leave you bare and naked! Everyone will see that you are nothing but a prostitute. Your own shameful sins
30are the reason I am punishing you. You acted like a prostitute with other nations, polluting yourself by worshiping their idols.
31You followed the example of your sister Oholah. So I will punish you the same way. I will give you the same cup I gave her to drink.”
32This is what the Lord GOD says: “You will drink from your sister’s cup, a big cup, tall and wide. It holds so much that after you drink it all, everyone will laugh and make fun of you.
33You will be drunk and miserable, because that cup is full of fear and ruin. It is the same cup your sister Samaria drank.
34You will drink until the cup is empty. Then you will break it to pieces and use them to tear at your breasts. This will happen because I, the Lord GOD, have said so.
35“So this is what the Lord GOD said: ‘Jerusalem, you forgot me. You threw me away and left me behind. So now you must suffer for leaving me and living like a prostitute. You must suffer for your wicked dreams.’”
Judgment Against Oholah and Oholibah
36The LORD said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then tell them about the terrible things they have done.
37They committed the sin of adultery. They are guilty of murder. They acted like prostitutes—they left me to be with their filthy idols. They had my children, but they forced them to pass through fire. They did this to give food to their filthy idols.
38They also treated my special days of rest and my holy place as though they were not important.
39They killed their children for their idols, and then they went into my holy place and made it filthy too! They did this inside my Temple!
40“They have sent for men from faraway places. You sent a messenger to these men, and they came to see you. You bathed for them, painted your eyes, and put on your jewelry.
41You sat on a fine bed with a table set before it. You put my incense and my oil on this table.
42“The noise in Jerusalem sounded like a crowd of people having a party. Many people came to the party. People were already drinking as they came in from the desert. They gave bracelets and beautiful crowns to the women.
43Then I spoke to one of the women who was worn out from her sexual sins. I asked her, ‘Will they continue to do sexual sins with her, and she with them?’
44But they kept going to her as they would go to a prostitute. Yes, they went again and again to Oholah and Oholibah, those wicked women.
45“But good men will judge them guilty of adultery and murder, because Oholah and Oholibah committed adultery and their hands are covered with blood!”
46This is what the Lord GOD said: “Gather the people together to punish and terrorize Oholah and Oholibah.
47They will throw stones at these women and kill them. They will cut the women to pieces with their swords. They will kill their children and burn their houses.
48In this way I will remove that shame from this country, and all the other women will be warned not to do the shameful things you have done.
49They will punish you for the wicked things you did. You will be punished for worshiping your filthy idols. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.”