Ezekiel 16
1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominations
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know 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 say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to Jerusalem: Thine origin and thy nativity were of the land of Canaan. Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.
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 as to thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water so as to be cleansed. Thou wast not sprinkled with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling-clothes.
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 pitied thee, to do to thee any of these things, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out into the open field, so as to loathe thyself, on the day 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 when I passed by thee, and saw thee in danger of being trodden under foot in thy blood, I said to thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live! yea, I said to thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live!
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 increase like the plant of the field, and thou didst grow, and become tall, and didst attain to distinguished charms. Thy breasts swelled, and thy hair grew, whereas thou wast naked and bare.
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 when I passed by thee, and saw thee, behold, it was thy time, the time of love. And I spread my skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness; and I swore to thee, and entered into covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine.
9 Then I bathed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and anointed you with oil.
Then I washed thee with water, yea, I thoroughly washed 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.
I clothed thee also with broidered work, and gave thee shoes of seal's skin, and wrapped thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk.
11 I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck.
And I decked thee with ornaments, and put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain upon 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 in thy nostril, and ear-rings in thine 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.
Thus wast thou adorned with gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work. Fine flour and honey and oil didst thou eat; and thou wast exceedingly beautiful, and didst prosper so as to become 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 it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord Jehovah.
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 thou didst trust in thy beauty, and didst play the harlot because of thy renown, and didst lavish thy fornications on every one that passed by; his was it.
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 of thy garments thou didst take, and didst make thee high places, spread with divers colors, and didst play the harlot thereon, the like things to which shall not come to pass, neither shall they be.
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.
Thou didst take also thy fair jewels of my gold and my silver, which I gave thee, and didst make to thyself images of men, and didst commit fornication with them;
18 You took your embroidered garments to cover them, and you set My oil and incense before them.
and thou didst take thy broidered garments and cover them; and thou didst set mine oil and mine 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.
My food also, which I gave thee, fine flour and oil and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou didst set it before them with a sweet savor; even thus it was, saith the Lord Jehovah.
20 You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?
Moreover thou didst take thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou didst bear to me, and these didst thou sacrifice to them to be devoured. Was it not enough for thee to commit fornication,
21 You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols.
that thou didst slay my children, and deliver them up to cause them to pass through the fire to them?
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 in all thine abominations and thy fornications, thou didst not remember the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and in danger of being trampled under foot in thy 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 Jehovah, )
24 you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square.
that thou didst build for thee an arched place, and make thee a high place 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 didst thou build thy high place, and didst make thy beauty to be abhorred, and didst open thy feet to every one that passed by, and didst multiply thy fornications.
26 You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.
Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians, thy neighbors, having great members, and hast multiplied thy fornications to provoke me to anger.
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.
Therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against thee, and have diminished thine allowance, and delivered thee to the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of thy lewd 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 insatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldst not be satisfied.
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 fornication with the land of Canaan, even to Chaldaea; and yet wast thou not satisfied therewith.
30 How weak-willed is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, while you do all these things, the acts of a shameless prostitute!
How faint was thy heart, saith the Lord Jehovah, that thou didst all those things which an imperious whorish wife doeth,
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.
in that thou didst build thine arched place at the head of every way, and make thy high place in every street! Thou wast not like a harlot, who scoffeth at her hire,
32 You adulterous wife! You receive strangers instead of your own husband!
but as an adulterous wife, that taketh strangers instead of 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.
To all women that commit fornication men give a reward; but thou gavest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hiredst them 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!
Thou wast the reverse of other women in thy fornications. None followed after thee to commit fornication, but thou gavest the reward, and no reward was given thee, —therefore thou wast the reverse.
35 Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!
Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah!
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 Jehovah: Because thy treasure was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered for fornication before thy lovers, and all thine abominable idols, and because of the blood of thy children, which thou didst give to 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.
therefore, behold, I will gather all thy lovers, to whom thou wast pleasing, all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated, I will gather them against thee round about, and will uncover thy nakedness to them, that they may 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 women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged, and I will cause thy blood to flow 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 give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine arched place, and break down thy high places. They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and leave thee naked and bare.
40 They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.
They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through 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 thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women; and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou shalt give hire no 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.
So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee; and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
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 raged against me in all these things, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thy head, saith the Lord Jehovah, so that thou shalt not commit this wickedness in addition to all thy abominations.
44 Behold, all who speak in proverbs will quote this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’
Behold, all they that use proverbs shall utter this proverb concerning thee: “As the mother, so the 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 the daughter of thy mother, that loathed her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, that loathed their husbands and their children; your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
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 thine elder sister is Samaria, with her daughters, that dwelleth at thy left hand; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom, with her daughters.
47 And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.
Yet thou hast not walked in their ways, nor done according to their abominations: that was disdained by you, as a very little thing; thou hast been more corrupt 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 Jehovah, Sodom, thy sister, hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou 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: in pride, superabundance, and careless ease did she live, she and her daughters, and the hand of the poor and needy she did not strengthen;
50 Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen.
and they were haughty, and committed abomination before me; therefore I took them away when I saw it.
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.
Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine 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.
Now, therefore, bear thou thy shame, to which thou hast condemned thy sisters, since by thy sins which thou hast committed, more abominable than they, they are more righteous than thou. Yea, be thou confounded and bear thy shame, in that thou 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.
Yet I will bring them back from their captivity, even Sodom and her daughters from their captivity, and Samaria and her daughters from their captivity; thee also will I bring back from thy captivity in the midst of them;
54 So you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did to comfort them.
that thou mayst bear thy shame, and mayst be confounded on account of all which thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort to 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 sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, and thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.
56 Did you not treat your sister Sodom as an object of scorn in the day of your pride,
And yet Sodom, thy sister, was not mentioned by 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 wickedness was discovered, as in the time of thy reproach from the daughters of Syria, and from all that were round about her, and from the daughters of the Philistines, who despised thee round about.
58 You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD.
Thy wickedness and thine abominations must thou now bear, saith the Lord Jehovah.
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 Jehovah: I will do to thee as thou hast done, who hast despised the oath and hast broken 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.
But 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.
Then shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger, and I shall give them to thee for daughters, but not by thy observance of thy covenant.
62 So I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD,
But I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah;
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 mayst remember and be confounded, and not open thy mouth any more for shame, when I forgive thee all which thou hast done, saith the Lord Jehovah.
