Ezekiel 16
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, make clear to Jerusalem her disgusting ways,
Son of man, make known unto Jerusalem her abominations,
3 And say, This is what the Lord has said to Jerusalem: Your start and your birth was from the land of the Canaanite; an Amorite was your father and your mother was a Hittite.
And thou shalt say, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal unto Jerusalem, Thy origin and thy birth are out of the land of Canaan: thy father was an Emorite, and thy mother a Hittite.
4 As for your birth, on the day of your birth your cord was not cut and you were not washed in water to make you clean; you were not salted or folded in linen bands.
And as for thy birth, on the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, nor wast thou washed in water to he cleansed; and thou wast not rubbed with salt, nor wrapt in swaddling clothes.
5 No eye had pity on you to do any of these things to you or to be kind to you; but you were put out into the open country, because your life was hated at the time of your birth.
No eye looked with pity on thee, to do any of these things unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out on the open field, with a loathing of thy body, on the day that thou wast born.
6 And when I went past you and saw you stretched out in your blood, I said to you, Though you are stretched out in your blood, have life;
But I passed then by thee, and I saw thee stained with thy own blood, and I said unto thee, In thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee, In thy blood, live.
7 And be increased in number like the buds of the field; and you were increased and became great, and you came to the time of love: your breasts were formed and your hair was long; but you were uncovered and without clothing.
Myriads, like the vegetation of the field, did I make of thee, and thou didst increase and become great, and thou attainedst the highest attractions: with thy breasts developed, and thy hair full grown; but thou wast still naked and bare.
8 Now when I went past you, looking at you, I saw that your time was the time of love; and I put my skirts over you, covering your unclothed body: and I gave you my oath and made an agreement with you, says the Lord, and you became mine.
But I passed then by thee, and saw thee, and, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread the skirt of my garment over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I swore unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord Eternal, and thou becamest mine.
9 Then I had you washed with water, washing away all your blood and rubbing you with oil.
Then did I bathe thee with water, yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee; and I anointed thee with oil.
10 And I had you clothed with needlework, and put leather shoes on your feet, folding fair linen about you and covering you with silk.
I clothed thee also with broidered work, and made thee shoes of badger's skin, and I placed on thy head a turban of fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
11 And I made you fair with ornaments and put jewels on your hands and a chain on your neck.
And I decked thee with ornaments, and I placed bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain around thy neck.
12 And I put a ring in your nose and ear-rings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.
And I placed a ring on thy nose, and earrings in thy ears, and a crown of splendor on thy head.
13 So you were made beautiful with gold and silver; and your clothing was of the best linen and silk and needlework; your food was the best meal and honey and oil: and you were very beautiful.
Thus wast thou ornamented with gold and silver; and thy garments were of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; fine flour, and honey, and oil didst thou eat: and thou wast exceedingly beautiful, and thou didst succeed to acquire dominion.
14 You were so beautiful that the story of you went out into all nations; you were completely beautiful because of my glory which I had put on you, says the Lord.
And thy fame went forth among the nations because of thy beauty; for it was perfect through my glorious ornament, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord Eternal.
15 But you put your faith in the fact that you were beautiful, acting like a loose woman because you were widely talked of, and offering your cheap love to everyone who went by, whoever it might be.
But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and play the harlot because of thy fame, and lavish thy lewd caresses on every one that passed by—on him they were bestowed.
16 And you took your robes and made high places for yourself ornamented with every colour, acting like a loose woman on them, without shame or fear.
And thou didst take from thy garments, and deck thee high-places with divers colors, and play the harlot thereupon: never should the like come to pass, and never should it be so.
17 And you took the fair jewels, my silver and gold which I had given to you, and made for yourself male images, acting like a loose woman with them;
And thou didst take thy elegant ornaments of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and make for thyself male images, and play the harlot with them;
18 And you took your robes of needlework for their clothing, and put my oil and my perfume before them.
And thou didst take thy broidered garments, and cover them: and my oil and my incense didst thou place before them.
19 And my bread which I gave you, the best meal and oil and honey which I gave you for your food, you put it before them for a sweet smell, says the Lord.
And my bread which I had given thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, which I had let thee eat, even this didst thou set before them for a sweet savour: yes, so was it, saith the Lord Eternal.
20 And you took your sons and your daughters whom I had by you, offering even these to them to be their food. Was your loose behaviour so small a thing,
And thou didst take thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hadst born unto me, and didst slaughter these unto them to be devoured; [but] were thy acts of lewdness not yet enough?
21 That you put my children to death and gave them up to go through the fire to them?
That thou didst slay my children, and give them up to cause them to pass through the fire for them?
22 And in all your disgusting and false behaviour you had no memory of your early days, when you were uncovered and without clothing, stretched out in your blood.
And in all thy abominations and thy acts of lewdness thou didst not remember the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, when thou wast stained with thy blood.
23 And it came about, after all your evil-doing, says the Lord,
And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, —[woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord Eternal; ]—
24 That you made for yourself an arched room in every open place.
That thou didst build unto thyself eminences, and make thyself elevations in every street.
25 You put up your high places at the top of every street, and made the grace of your form a disgusting thing, opening your feet to everyone who went by, increasing your loose ways.
On the corner of every road didst thou build thy elevations, and make thy beauty abominable, and spread out thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiply thy acts of lewdness.
26 And you went with the Egyptians, your neighbours, great of flesh; increasing your loose ways, moving me to wrath.
And thou didst play the harlot with the Egyptians, thy neighbors, with large limbs, and multiply thy acts of lewdness, to provoke me to anger.
27 Now, then, my hand is stretched out against you, cutting down your fixed amount, and I have given you up to the desire of your haters, the daughters of the Philistines who are shamed by your loose ways.
And, behold, I stretched out my hand over thee, and diminished thy stated portion; and I gave thee up unto the will of those that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, who were made to blush for thy incestuous course.
28 And you went with the Assyrians, because of your desire which was without measure; you were acting like a loose woman with them, and still you had not enough.
Then didst thou play the harlot with the sons of Asshur, because thou wast unsatiable: yea, thou didst play the harlot with them, and wast even then not satisfied.
29 And you went on in your loose ways, even as far as the land of Chaldaea, and still you had not enough.
And thou didst multiply thy lewdness with the traders' land as far as Chaldea; and even with this wast thou not satisfied.
30 How feeble is your heart, says the Lord, seeing that you do all these things, the work of a loose and overruling woman;
How very corrupt is thy heart, saith the Lord Eternal, seeing thou didst all these things, deeds of an abandoned lewd woman;
31 For you have made your arched room at the top of every street, and your high place in every open place; though you were not like a loose woman in getting together your payment.
Seeing that thou didst build thy eminences at the corner of every road, and make thy elevations in every street; and wast not like a harlot, as thou scornedst the wages.
32 The untrue wife who takes strange lovers in place of her husband!
O thou adulterous wife! who, while bound to her husband, receiveth strangers!
33 They give payment to all loose women: but you give rewards to your lovers, offering them payment so that they may come to you on every side for your cheap love.
Unto all harlots they give presents; but thou hast given thy presents to all thy lovers, and hast bribed them, that they might come unto thee from every side in thy acts of lewdness.
34 And in your loose behaviour you are different from other women, for no one goes after you to make love to you: and because you give payment and no payment is given to you, in this you are different from them.
And the reverse was the case with thee from [other] women in thy acts of lewdness, that men did not follow thee to seek thy lewd caresses; and because thou gavest the wages, and no wages were given thee: so was it the reverse with thee.
35 For this cause, O loose woman, give ear to the voice of the Lord:
Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord!
36 This is what the Lord has said: Because your unclean behaviour was let loose and your body uncovered in your loose ways with your lovers and with your disgusting images, and for the blood of your children which you gave to them;
Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Whereas thy wealth was squandered, and thy nakedness was uncovered through thy lewd acts with thy lovers, and with all thy abominable idols, and for the blood of thy children, whom thou didst give unto them:
37 For this cause I will get together all your lovers with whom you have taken your pleasure, and all those to whom you have given your love, with all those who were hated by you; I will even make them come together against you on every side, and I will have you uncovered before them so that they may see your shame.
Therefore, behold, I will gather all thy lovers, whom thou hast given pleasure, and all whom thou hast loved, together with all whom thou hast hated, —yea, I will gather them all round about thee, and will uncover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.
38 And you will be judged by me as women are judged who have been untrue to their husbands and have taken life; and I will let loose against you passion and bitter feeling.
And I will judge thee, as adulteresses and women that shed blood are judged; and I will bring upon thee the blood of fury and jealousy.
39 I will give you into their hands, and your arched room will be overturned and your high places broken down; they will take your clothing off you and take away your fair jewels: and when they have done, you will be uncovered and shamed.
And I will also give thee up into their hand, and they shall pull down thy eminences, and shall break down thy elevations; and they shall strip thee of thy clothes, and they shall take thy elegant ornaments, and leave thee naked and bare.
40 And they will get together a meeting against you, stoning you with stones and wounding you with their swords.
And they shall bring up against thee an assembly, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords;
41 And they will have you burned with fire, sending punishments on you before the eyes of great numbers of women; and I will put an end to your loose ways, and you will no longer give payment.
And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and execute punishments on thee before the eyes of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from being a harlot, and also the wages [of sin] shalt thou not give any more.
42 And the heat of my wrath against you will have an end, and my bitter feeling will be turned away from you, and I will be quiet and will be angry no longer.
And then will I assuage my fury on thee, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
43 Because you have not kept in mind the days when you were young, but have been troubling me with all these things; for this reason I will make the punishment of your ways come on your head, says the Lord, because you have done this evil thing in addition to all your disgusting acts.
Because that thou didst not remember the days of thy youth, but didst irritate me with all these things: behold, therefore I also will bring thy course upon thy head, saith the Lord Eternal, and thou shalt no more commit incest with all thy [other] abominations.
44 See, in every common saying about you it will be said, As the mother is, so is her daughter.
Behold, every one that speaketh in proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As the mother is, so is her daughter.
45 You are the daughter of your mother whose soul is turned in disgust from her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters who were turned in disgust from their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.
Thou art thy mother's daughter, loathing her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who have loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Emorite.
46 Your older sister is Samaria, living at your left hand, she and her daughters: and your younger sister, living at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
And thy elder sister is Samaria, she 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 Still you have not gone in their ways or done the disgusting things which they have done; but, as if that was only a little thing, you have gone deeper in evil than they in all your ways.
Yet not even in their ways didst thou walk, nor act according to their abominations: as though this were quite too little, and thou wast more corrupt than they in all thy ways.
48 By my life, says the Lord, Sodom your sister never did, she or her daughters, what you and your daughters have done.
As I live, saith the Lord Eternal, Sodom thy sister, she with her daughters, hath not done as thou hast done, thou with thy daughters.
49 Truly, this was the sin of your sister Sodom: pride, a full measure of food, and the comforts of wealth in peace, were seen in her and her daughters, and she gave no help to the poor or to those in need.
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: Pride, abundance of food, and prosperous security were hers and her daughters'; but the hand of the poor and needy did she not strengthen.
50 They were full of pride and did what was disgusting to me: and so I took them away as you have seen.
And they became haughty, and committed abominations before me: therefore did I remove them when I saw their course.
51 And Samaria has not done half your sins; but you have made the number of your disgusting acts greater than theirs, making your sisters seem more upright than you by all the disgusting things which you have done.
And Samaria hath not committed even the half of thy sins; but thou didst multiply thy abominations more than they; and thou hast justified thy sisters through all thy abominations which thou hast done.
52 And you yourself will be put to shame, in that you have given the decision for your sisters; through your sins, which are more disgusting than theirs, they are more upright than you: truly, you will be shamed and made low, for you have made your sisters seem upright.
Bear then thou also thy own confusion, which thou didst adjudge unto each of thy sisters; through thy sins, which thou hast committed more abominably than they, are they made more righteous than thou: therefore thou also—be ashamed, and bear thy confusion, since thou hast justified thy sisters.
53 And I will let their fate be changed, the fate of Sodom and her daughters, and the fate of Samaria and her daughters, and your fate with theirs.
And I will bring back again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of the captives in the midst of them:
54 So that you will be shamed and made low because of all you have done, when I have mercy on you.
In order that thou mayest bear thy confusion, and mayest be confounded because of all that thou hast done, when thou art a comfort unto them.
55 And your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, will go back to their first condition, and Samaria and her daughters will go back to their first condition, and you and your daughters will go back to your first condition.
And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and thou and thy daughters shall return to your former state.
56 Was not your sister Sodom an oath in your mouth in the day of your pride,
And was not thy sister Sodom a report in thy mouth in the days of thy pride,
57 Before your shame was uncovered? Now you have become like her a word of shame to the daughters of Edom and all who are round about you, the daughters of the Philistines who put shame on you round about.
Before yet thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all those round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, who taunted thee on all sides?
58 The reward of your evil designs and your disgusting ways has come on you, says the Lord.
Thy incest and thy abominations, —thou thyself hadst to bear them, saith the Lord.
59 For this is what the Lord has said: I will do to you as you have done, you who, putting the oath on one side, have let the agreement be broken.
For thus hath said the Lord Eternal, I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, thou who hast despised the oath by breaking the covenant.
60 But still I will keep in mind the agreement made with you in the days when you were young, and I will make with you an eternal agreement.
Nevertheless will I indeed remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
61 Then at the memory of your ways you will be overcome with shame, when I take your sisters, the older and the younger, and give them to you for daughters, but not by your agreement.
And thou shalt then remember thy ways, and be confounded, when thou receivest thy sisters, both those that are older than thou and younger than thou: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, though not because thou wast faithful to the covenant.
62 And I will make my agreement with you; and you will be certain 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, at the memory of these things, you may be at a loss, never opening your mouth because of your shame; when you have my forgiveness for all you have done, says the Lord.
In order that thou mayest remember, and feel ashamed, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy confusion, when I forgive thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Eternal.
