Read & explore together
Oholibah to Be Plagued
Ezekiel 23:22–35 is a hard prophetic warning. In this passage, the Lord Yahweh speaks to Oholibah about judgement, using strong images of betrayal, exposure and a bitter cup to show the seriousness of her unfaithfulness.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
This passage is prophecy and teaching. The speaker is the Lord Yahweh, and he addresses Oholibah directly. The passage explains who will come against her, what that judgement will be like, why it is happening, and how it matches the way of her sister. The language is forceful and symbolic within the prophecy.
Ezekiel 23:22–35Main takeaway
This prophecy teaches that the Lord Yahweh judges Oholibah for unfaithfulness, idolatry and forgetting him.
Explore the message
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Enemies raised up on every sideThe message begins with a reversal. The Lord Yahweh says he will raise up Oholibah’s lovers against her, including Babylonians, Chaldeans and Assyrians.
Explanation
The message begins with a reversal. The Lord Yahweh says he will raise up Oholibah’s lovers against her, including Babylonians, Chaldeans and Assyrians. Those once desired are now instruments of judgement. The list of peoples and leaders makes the threat sound large, organised and unavoidable.
02Judgement described in severe termsThe attackers come with weapons, chariots and a company of peoples. The Lord says he will commit judgement to them, and the results are described with painful images of fury, loss, death, fire, stripped clothing and taken jewels.
Explanation
The attackers come with weapons, chariots and a company of peoples. The Lord says he will commit judgement to them, and the results are described with painful images of fury, loss, death, fire, stripped clothing and taken jewels. The prophecy presents public shame and destruction as part of this judgement.
03Why this judgement comesThe passage explains the reason plainly. The Lord says he will make her lewdness cease, and that these things happen because she played the prostitute after the nations and was polluted with their idols.
Explanation
The passage explains the reason plainly. The Lord says he will make her lewdness cease, and that these things happen because she played the prostitute after the nations and was polluted with their idols. The final charge is personal and direct: she forgot the Lord and cast him behind her back.
04The cup of her sisterOholibah has walked in her sister’s way, so she receives her sister’s cup. This cup is described as deep and large, full of ridicule, drunkenness, sorrow, astonishment and desolation.
Explanation
Oholibah has walked in her sister’s way, so she receives her sister’s cup. This cup is described as deep and large, full of ridicule, drunkenness, sorrow, astonishment and desolation. The image shows judgement as something bitter that must be fully taken because the Lord Yahweh has spoken.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What reversal happens in the opening verses of this passage?
Notice who is raised up against Oholibah and how the ones once called lovers become her attackers.
02According to the passage, why are these judgements coming on Oholibah?
Look for the direct explanations that mention the nations, idols, and forgetting the Lord.
03What does the image of the sister’s cup communicate in this prophecy?
List the words attached to the cup and consider what kind of experience they describe.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Ezekiel 23:22–35
22“Therefore, Oholibah, the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side:
23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; all of them desirable young men, governors and rulers, princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.
24They will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you with buckler, shield, and helmet all around. I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their judgments.
25I will set my jealousy against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will take away your nose and your ears. Your remnant will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and the rest of you will be devoured by the fire.
26They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels.
27Thus I will make your lewdness to cease from you, and remove your prostitution from the land of Egypt, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.’
28“For the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated.
29They will deal with you in hatred, and will take away all your labor, and will leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your prostitution will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution.
30These things will be done to you because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols.
31You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.’
32“The Lord Yahweh says: ‘You will drink of your sister’s cup, which is deep and large. You will be ridiculed and held in derision. It contains much.
33You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.
34You will even drink it and drain it out. You will gnaw the broken pieces of it, and will tear your breasts; for I have spoken it,’ says the Lord Yahweh.
35“Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.’ ”