Ezekiel 16

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

And the word of Yahweh came unto me, saying:

2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominations

Son of man Let Jerusalem 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.

Therefore shalt thou say— Thus saith My Lord. Yahweh To Jerusalem, Thine origin and thy birth, were of the land of the Canaanite, — Thy father was the 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 for thy birth, in the day thou wast born, Thy navel-cord was not cut, And, in water, wast thou not bathed to cleanse thee, — And, as for being salted, thou was not salted, And, as for being bandaged, thou wast not bandaged.

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, threw a shield over thee, by doing for thee one of these things taking pity on thee, - But thou wast cast out on the face of the field Because thy person, was abhorred, in 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 I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, thrusting about thee in thy blood, And said to thee— Despite thy blood, live! Yea I said to thee— Despite 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.

Into myriads—like the bud of the field, made I thee, And thou didst increase and become well grown, and didst attain to most excellent adornments, — Thy breasts were well-formed And thy hair was grown, But thou thyself wast utterly naked.

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 looked upon thee and lo! thy time was the time for endearments, So I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy shame, And took an oath to thee And entered into covenant with thee. Declareth My Lord. Yahweh. And thou didst become mine.

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

And I bathed thee in water, and rinsed thy blood from off thee, And 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 clothed thee with an embroidered dress, And sandalled thee in red leather, And wrapped thee about with fine linen, And put over thee a mantle of silk.

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

Then decked I thee with ornaments, And put bracelets upon thy hands, And a neckchain upon thy throat;

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

And put a nose-jewel upon thy nose, And earrings in thine ears, And a crown of adorning, 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 embroidered work, Fine flour and honey and oil, didst thou eat, — And so thou becamest exceedingly beautiful, And didst attain unto royalty.

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.

Then went forth thy fame among the nations. for thy beauty, - For perfect, it was—in my splendour which I had put upon thee, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh.

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.

Then didst thou trust in thy beauty, And become unchaste, because of thy fame, - And didst pour out thine unchastity upon every passer-by, his it was!

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!

Yea thou didst take of thy raiment and madest thee high places of hangings, And didst commit unchastity thereon, - Which ought not to have befallen And not to have come to pass.

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.

But thou didst take thine adorning jewels Of my gold and of my silver which I had given thee, And didst make thee images of the male, — And didst act unchastely with them;

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

And thou didst take thine embroidered raiment, and cover them, - And mine oil and mine incense, didst thou set 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 food which I had given thee, Fine flour and oil and honey wherewith I fed thee, And didst set it before them for a satisfying odour Yea so it was, — Saith My Lord Yahweh.

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 didst take thy sons and thy daughters, Whom thou hadst borne unto me, And didst sacrifice them unto them to be devoured, - Is this of thine unchastity. a light thing?

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

Yea thou didst slay my children, — And didst deliver them up. that they should be caused to pass through the fire unto 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 thine unchaste ways, thou rememberedst not the days of thy youth, When thou wast utterly naked. When thou wast thrusting about thee 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, Exclaimeth My Lord Yahweh;

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

That thou didst build thee a brothel, — and didst make thee a height in every broadway:

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 the head of every road, didst thou build thy height, And bring thy beauty into disgust, And open thy feet to every passer-by, So didst thou make thine unchaste ways to abound.

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

Then didst thou extend thine unchaste acts unto the sons of Egypt—thy neighbour great of flesh, - And caused thine unchaste ways to abound provoking 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.

Lo! therefore, I have stretched out my hand against thee, And diminished thine allotted portion, — And have delivered thee up unto the desire of them who 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 didst also extend thine unchastity unto the sons of Assyria, because thou wast insatiable. Yet though thou didst behave unchastely with them, yet even so couldst thou not be satisfied,

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

Thou didst therefore cause thine unchaste ways to abound unto the land of Canaan as towards Chaldea. Yet even herewith, wast thou not satisfied.

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

How weak was thy heart! Exclaimeth My Lord Yahweh, — That thou couldst have done all these things, The doing of a lewd woman without shame:

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.

That thou couldst have built thy brothel at the head of every road, And thy height, couldst have made in every broadway, - Yet becamest not as a harlot to lay claim to a harlot’s hire.

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

A wife who committeth adultery, instead of her husband accepteth strangers.

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 harlots, they give a present, — But, thou, didst give thy presents to all thy lovers, And didst bribe them to come in unto thee from every side, in thine unchastity!

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 so there came about in thee, the reverse of women, in thine unchastity, In that they did not follow thee for purposes of lewdness, — And in that thou gavest a present while, no present, was given to thee So didst thou become, the reverse.

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

Therefore O harlot, hear thou the word of Yahweh;

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 My Lord Yahweh, — Because thy money, was poured out, and thy shame, was uncovered, in thine unchastity, unto thy lovers, —and unto all thine abominable manufactured gods, even as the blood of thy children, whom thou didst deliver up unto 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 me! gathering together all thy lovers unto whom thou didst make thyself pleasant, Even all whom thou lovedst, With all whom thou hatedst, — Yea I will gather them together unto thee from every side And will uncover thy shame unto them, And they shall see all thy shame.

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.

So will I judge thee. with the judgments meted out to adulteresses and shedders of blood, - And will repay thee with the blood of indignation 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 will deliver thee into their hand. And they shall pull down thy brothel And break in pieces thy heights, And strip thee of thy raiment, And take away thine adorning jewels, - And leave thee utterly naked.

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

Then will they bring up against thee a gathered host, And they will stone thee with stones, - And cut thee to pieces 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 burn up thy houses with fire, And execute upon thee judgments before the eyes of many women, —So will I cause thee to cease from acting unchastely, Moreover also a present, shalt thou not give 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.

So will I let mine indignation find rest in thee, And my jealousy shall depart from thee, —And I will be quiet, and not be provoked any 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 enraged me with all these things Therefore also behold! I thy way, upon thine own head, will place Declareth My Lord Yahweh, And thou shalt not commit a crime above all thine abominations

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

Lo! every one who useth proverbs, against thee, shall use a proverb saying, — Like the mother, so 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.

The daughter of thy mother, thou art! One abhorring her own husband and her own children, — Yea the sister of thy sisters, thou art Who abhorred their own husbands and their own 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, was Samaria, she and her daughters, dwelling on thy left hand, — And thy sister younger than thou dwelling on thy right hand was 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.

Yet not in their ways, didst thou walk, nor according to their abominations, didst thou do, — As though that were quite too little, thou didst corrupt thyself beyond them 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, Declareth My Lord Yahweh, Very! Sodom thy sister had not done, neither she nor her daughters, —as thou and thy daughters have done.

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.

Lo! this became the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, — Pride, fulness of bread, and careless security came to her and to her daughters, And the hand of the oppressed and the needy, she strengthened not.

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

So then they became haughty, and committed abomination before me, - And 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.

Nor did, Samaria, commit, one-half thy sins, — But thou didst multiply thine abominations more than they, And didst cause thy sisters to appear righteous, by all the abominations which thou didst commit.

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.

Thou also bear thine own reproach, which thou didst adjudge to thy sisters, by thy sins in which thou wast more abominable than they, thou didst make them appear more righteous than thou, — Thou also, therefore turn thou pale and bear thine own reproach, for making thy sisters appear righteous!

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.

When therefore I bring back their captivity, The captivity of Sodom and her daughters, And the captivity of Samaria and her daughters Then will I bring back thy captivities in their midst:

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

That thou mayest bear thine own reproach, And take to thyself reproach because of all that thou didst in 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.

When thy sisters Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former estate, And Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate Then 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 Sodom thy sister was never heard 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 wickedness was discovered, As now, [thou art] the reproach of the daughters of Syria and all round about her the daughters of the Philistines, —who are despising thee on every side.

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

As for thy crime and thine abominations, thou thyself, dost bear them, — Declareth Yahweh.

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 My Lord, Yahweh, Therefore will I deal with thee just as thou hast dealt, - In that thou didst despise an oath by breaking a 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.

Therefore will I remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, — And will establish for thee a covenant age-abiding.

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.

Thou shalt therefore remember thy ways and take to thyself reproach, by receiving thy sisters. The older than thou, And the younger than thou, - And I will give them unto thee for daughters Though not by thine own covenant.

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

But I myself, will establish my covenant with thee— And thou shalt know that I, am Yahweh:

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.”

To the end thou mayest remember and turn pale, and there be to thee no more, an opening of mouth, because of thy reproach, - In that I have accepted a propitiatory covering for thee as to all that thou hast done, Declareth My Lord. Yahweh.