23:5 lovers. Israel’s oath of exclusive allegiance to the Lord would be broken by foreign alliances as well as by idolatry (vv. 5–10; 16:26 note; cf. Hos. 8:9). Prostitution did not secure the admiration or affection of the Assyrian lovers—quite the contrary (vv. 9, 10). Ultimately Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom (2 Kin. 17:5, 6).