Ezekiel 16

1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominations

Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.

3 and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

And thou shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God to Jerusalem: Thy root, and thy nativity is of the land of Chanaan, thy father was an Amorrhite, and thy mother a Cethite.

4 On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.

And when thou wast born, in the day of thy nativity thy navel wits not cut, neither wast thou washed with water for thy health, nor salted with salt, nor swaddled with clouts.

5 No one cared enough for you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. Instead, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were despised on the day of your birth.

No eye had pity on thee to do any of these things for thee, out of compassion to thee: but thou wast cast out upon the face of the earth in the abjection of thy soul, in the day that thou wast born.

6 Then I passed by and saw you wallowing in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ There I said to you, ‘Live!’

And passing by thee, I saw that thou wast trodden under foot in thy own blood. and I said to thee when thou wast in thy blood: Live: I have said to thee: Live in thy blood.

7 I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

I caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field: and thou didst increase and grow great, and advancedst, and camest to woman’s ornament: thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair grew: and thou wast naked, and full of confusion.

8 Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD.

And I passed by thee, and saw thee: and behold thy time was the time of lovers: and I spread my garment over thee, and covered thy ignominy. And I swore to thee, and I entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God: and thou becamest mine.

9 Then I bathed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and anointed you with oil.

And I washed thee with water, and cleansed away thy blood from thee: and I anointed thee with oil.

10 I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.

And I clothed thee with embroidery, and shed thee with violet coloured shoes: and I girded thee about with fine linen, and clothed thee with fine garments.

11 I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck.

I decked thee also with ornaments, and put bracelets on thy hands, and a chain about thy neck.

12 I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.

And I put a jewel upon thy forehead and earrings in thy ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.

13 So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen.

And thou wast adorned with gold, and silver, and wast clothed with fine linen, and embroidered work, and many colours: thou didst eat fine hour, and honey, and oil, and wast made exceeding beautiful: and wast advanced to be a queen.

14 Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect in the splendor I bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.

And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty: for thou wast perfect through my beauty, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.

15 But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking.

But trusting in thy beauty, thou playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and thou hast prostituted thyself to every passenger, to be his.

16 You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!

And taking of thy garments thou hast made thee high places sewed together on each side: and hast played the harlot upon them, as hath not been done before, nor shall be hereafter.

17 You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself.

And thou tookest thy beautiful vessels, of my gold, and my silver, which I gave thee, and thou madest thee images of men, and hast committed fornication with them.

18 You took your embroidered garments to cover them, and you set My oil and incense before them.

And thou tookest thy garments of divers colours, and coveredst them: and settest my oil and my sweet incense before them.

19 And you set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I had given you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I had fed you. That is what happened, declares the Lord GOD.

And my bread which I gave thee, the fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast set before them for a sweet odour; and it was done, saith the Lord God.

20 You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?

And thou hast taken thy sons, and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me: and best sacrificed the same to them to be devoured. Is thy fornication small?

21 You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols.

Thou hast sacrificed and given my children to them, consecrating them by fire.

22 And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.

And after all thy abominations, and fornications, thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked, and full of confusion, trodden under foot in thy own blood.

23 Woe! Woe to you, declares the Lord GOD. And in addition to all your other wickedness,

And it came to pass after all thy wickedness (woe, woe to thee, saith the Lord God)

24 you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square.

That thou didst also build thee a common stew, and madest thee a brothel house in every street.

25 At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by.

At every head of the way thou hast set up a sign of thy prostitution: and hast made thy beauty to be abominable: and hast prostituted thyself to every one that passed by, and hast multiplied thy fornications.

26 You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.

And thou hast committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, men of large bodies, and hast multiplied thy fornications to provoke me.

27 Therefore I stretched out My hand against you and reduced your portion. I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd conduct.

Behold, I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and will take away thy justification: and I will deliver thee up to the will of the daughters of the Philistines that hate thee, that are ashamed of thy wicked way.

28 Then you prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, because you were not yet satisfied. Even after that, you were still not satisfied.

Thou hast also committed fornication with the Assyrians, because thou wast not yet satisfied: and after thou hadst played the harlot with them, even so thou wast not contented.

29 So you extended your promiscuity to Chaldea, the land of merchants—but even with this you were not satisfied!

Thou hast also multiplied thy fornications in the land of Chanaan with the Chaldeans: and neither so wast then satisfied.

30 How weak-willed is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, while you do all these things, the acts of a shameless prostitute!

Wherein shall I cleanse thy heart, saith the Lord God: seeing thou dost all these the works of a shameless prostitute?

31 But when you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

Because thou hast built thy brothel house at the head of every way, and thou hast made thy high place in every street: and wast not as a harlot that by disdain enhanceth her price,

32 You adulterous wife! You receive strangers instead of your own husband!

But as an adulteress, that bringeth in strangers over her husband.

33 Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.

Gifts are given to all harlots: but thou hast given hire to all thy lovers, and thou hast given them gifts to come to thee from every side, to commit fornication with thee.

34 So your prostitution is the opposite of that of other women: No one solicited your favors, and you paid a fee instead of receiving one; so you are the very opposite!

And it hath happened in thee contrary to the custom of women in thy fornications, and after thee there shall be no such fornication: for in that thou gavest rewards, and didst not take rewards, the contrary hath been done in thee.

35 Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!

Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord.

36 This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them,

Thus saith the Lord God: Because thy money hath been poured out, and thy shame discovered through thy fornications with thy lovers, and with the idols of thy abominations, by the blood of thy children whom thou gavest them:

37 therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked.

Behold, I will gather together all thy lovers with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all whom thou hast loved, with all whom thou hast hated: and I will gather them together against thee on every side, and will discover thy shame in their sight, and they shall see all thy nakedness.

38 And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.

And I will judge thee as adulteresses, and they that shed blood are judged: and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.

39 Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.

And I will deliver thee into their hands, and they shall destroy thy brothel house, and throw down thy stews: and they shall strip thee of thy garments, and shall take away the vessels of thy beauty: and leave thee naked, and full of disgrace.

40 They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.

And they shall bring upon thee a multitude, and they shall stone thee with stones, and shall slay thee with their swords.

41 Then they will burn down your houses and execute judgment against you in the sight of many women. I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will never again pay your lovers.

And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and shall execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and thou shalt cease from fornication, and shalt give no hire any more.

42 So I will lay to rest My wrath against you, and My jealousy will turn away from you. Then I will be calm and no longer angry.

And my indignation shall rest in thee: and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will cease and be angry no more.

43 Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but enraged Me with all these things, I will surely bring your deeds down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness on top of all your other abominations?

Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast provoked me in all these things: wherefore I also have turned thy ways upon thy head, saith the Lord God, and I have not done according to thy wicked deeds in all thy abominations.

44 Behold, all who speak in proverbs will quote this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’

Behold every one that useth a common proverb, shall use this against thee, saying: As the mother was, so also is her daughter.

45 You are the daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and children. You are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that cast off her husband, and her children: and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who cast off their husbands, and their children: your mother was a Cethite, and your father an Amorrhite.

46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to your north; and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to your south.

And thy elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister that dwelleth at thy right hand is Sodom, and her daughters.

47 And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.

But neither hast thou walked in their ways, nor hast thou done a little less than they according to their wickednesses: thou hast done almost more wicked things than they in all thy ways.

48 As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did as you and your daughters have done.

As I live, saith the Lord God, thy sister Sodom herself, and her daughters, have not done as thou hast done, and thy daughters.

49 Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.

Behold this was the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance, and the idleness of her, and of her daughters: and they did not put forth their hand to the needy, and to the poor.

50 Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen.

And they were lifted up, and committed abominations before me: and I took them away as thou hast seen.

51 Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have multiplied your abominations beyond theirs, and all the abominations you have committed have made your sisters appear righteous.

And Samaria committed not half thy sins: but thou hast surpassed them with thy crimes, and hast justified thy sisters by all thy abominations which thou hast done.

52 So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must bear your shame and disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.

Therefore do thou also bear thy confusion, thou that hast surpassed thy sisters with thy sins, doing more wickedly than they: for they are justified above thee, therefore be thou also confounded, and bear thy shame, thou that hast justified thy sisters.

53 But I will restore Sodom and her daughters from captivity, as well as Samaria and her daughters. And I will restore you along with them.

And I will bring back and restore them by bringing back Sodom, with her daughters, and by bringing back Samaria, and her daughters: and I will bring those that return of thee in the midst of them.

54 So you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did to comfort them.

That thou mayest bear thy shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, comforting them.

55 And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state. You and your daughters will also return to your former state.

And thy sister Sodom and her daughters shall return to their ancient state: and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their ancient state: and thou and thy daughters shall return to your ancient state.

56 Did you not treat your sister Sodom as an object of scorn in the day of your pride,

And Sodom thy sister was not heard of in thy mouth, in the day of thy pride,

57 before your wickedness was uncovered? Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all those around her, and by the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you.

Before thy malice was laid open: as it is at this time, making thee a reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all the daughters of Palestine round about thee, that encompass thee on all sides.

58 You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD.

Thou hast borne thy wickedness, and thy disgrace, saith the Lord God.

59 For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.

For thus saith the Lord God: I will deal with thee, as thou hast despised the oath, in breaking the covenant:

60 But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

And I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth: and I will establish with thee an everlasting covenant.

61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.

And thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed: when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thy elder and thy younger: and I will give them to thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

62 So I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD,

And I will establish my covenant with thee: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord,

63 so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”

That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and mayest no more open thy mouth because of thy confusion, when I shall be pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.