¹The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, ²“Son of man, there were once two women, daughters of the same mother. ³They became prostitutes in Egypt when they were young. There men fondled and caressed their breasts.

⁴“The older girl was named Oholah, and the younger girl was named Oholibah. I married them, and they gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah represents Samaria, and Oholibah represents Jerusalem. ⁵Oholah acted like a prostitute, although she was my wife. She lusted after her Assyrian lovers who lived nearby. ⁶They were governors and commanders clothed in purple. They were all handsome young men who rode on horses. ⁷She became a prostitute for all the important men in Assyria. She dishonored herself with the idols of all those with whom she fell in love. ⁸She continued the prostitution that she started in Egypt. When she was young, men went to bed with her, caressed her breasts, and treated her like a prostitute.

⁹“That is why I handed her over to her lovers, to the Assyrians whom she lusted after. ¹⁰They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters, and killed her with a sword. Women gossiped about how she was punished.

¹¹“Even though her younger sister Oholibah saw this, Oholibah lusted after men more than her sister did. Oholibah’s prostitution became worse than her sister’s prostitution. ¹²She lusted after the Assyrians who were nearby. They were governors and commanders in full dress. They were mounted horsemen, all of them desirable young men. ¹³I saw that she was dishonoring herself. Both sisters acted the same way. ¹⁴Yet, she carried her prostitution even further. She saw pictures of men carved on walls. They were figures of Babylonian men, painted in bright red. ¹⁵The men had belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads. All of them looked like Babylonian officers who were born in Babylon. ¹⁶She fell in love with them at first sight and sent messengers to them in Babylonia. ¹⁷So these men came from Babylon, went to bed with her, and dishonored her with their lust. After they had dishonored her, she turned away from them in disgust.

¹⁸“She carried out her prostitution openly, and she lay around naked. I turned away from her in disgust as I had turned away from her sister. ¹⁹She remembered how she had been a prostitute in Egypt when she was young. So she took part in even more prostitution. ²⁰She lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose semen was like that of horses. ²¹So she longed to do the sinful things she did when she was young in Egypt, when young men caressed and fondled her breasts.

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