Because you have followed the path of your sister, I will put her cup into your hand.’
Parallel translations
- WEB You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore will I give her cup into your hand.’
- KJV Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.
- NKJV You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’
- NASB You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’
- NLT Because you have followed in your sister’s footsteps, I will force you to drink the same cup of terror she drank.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because Judah followed Samaria's sinful path, she will share Samaria's fate, drinking the same cup of judgment. It warns that imitating others' sin invites their punishment.
Overview
The 'cup' is a frequent biblical image for God's appointed portion of wrath. Since Judah 'walked in the way of her sister' Israel, she will receive 'her sister's cup' of divine judgment. The verse teaches the sobering truth that observing another's downfall is no protection if one repeats the same rebellion; only repentance changes the outcome.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 2 Kgs 21:13I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down.
- Jer 7:14–15therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.
- Jer 25:15This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.
- Dan 9:12You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.
- Ezek 16:47–51And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.
- Ezek 23:13And I saw that she too had defiled herself; both of them had taken the same path.
- Jer 3:8–11She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 23:31 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.