Ezekiel 16
1 Another message from the Lord came to me, saying,
Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, challenge Jerusalem over her disgusting practices.
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3 Tell Jerusalem that this is what the Lord God says to her: You really are a Canaanite, both by your birth and parentage. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD to Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity [is] of the land of Canaan; thy father [was] an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.
4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, and you weren't washed to clean you up, you weren't rubbed with salt, and you weren't wrapped in cloths.
And [as for] thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple [thee]; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
5 No one looked on you with love to do anything like this for you; no one showed any kind of care for you. No, you were thrown away in a field, abandoned and despised from the day you were born.
No eye pitied thee, to do any of these to thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
6 But I passed by and saw you kicking, covered in your own blood. As you were lying there in your blood I told you, ‘I want you to live!’ I said to you right there, ‘I want you to live!’
And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thy own blood, I said to thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live; yes, I said to thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live.
7 I help you to grow like a plant in the field. You grew up into a beautiful young woman. Your breasts developed and your body hair grew, and you were completely naked.
I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and become great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: [thy] breasts are fashioned, and thy hair is grown, whereas thou [wast] naked and bare.
8 When I passed by again, I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for lovemaking. So I spread my robe over you and covered up your naked body. I committed myself to you and made a solemn agreement with you, and made you mine, declares the Lord God.
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time [was] the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yes, I swore to thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
9 Then I washed you with water, cleaned off your blood, and anointed you with oil.
Then I washed thee with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
10 I put a beautifully embroidered dress on you and gave you fine leather sandals. I clothed you in fine linen and covered you with silk.
I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
11 I gave you jewelry—I put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck.
I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
12 I put a ring in your nose and earrings on your ears, and placed a beautiful crown on your head.
And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and ear-rings in thy ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.
13 You wore gold and silver jewelry, and your clothes were made of the finest linen, expensive fabric, and embroidered cloth. You ate bread made with the best flour, and honey and olive oil. You grew even more beautiful and became a queen.
Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment [was of] fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
14 You were famous around the world because of your beauty, for I used my majestic power to make you so wonderful, declares the Lord God.
And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it [was] perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
15 You were so proud of your beauty that you were unfaithful to me. You thought that because you were so famous you could prostitute yourself and sleep with anyone who passed by. They took your beautiful body for themselves.
But thou didst trust in thy own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
16 You made yourself colorful pagan shrines out of the clothes I'd given you, and there you acted as a prostitute. Things like this have never happened before, and they should never happen in the future!
And of thy garments thou didst take, and deck thy high places with divers colors, and play the harlot upon them: [the like things] shall not come, neither shall it be [so].
17 You also used the beautiful gold and silver jewelry I gave you to make male idols and you prostituted yourself with them.
Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and hast made to thyself images of men, and hast committed lewdness with them.
18 You used your embroidered clothes to dress them, and you placed before them my olive oil and incense.
And hast taken thy broidered garments, and covered them: and thou hast set my oil and my incense before them.
19 You presented the food I had given you as an offering for them to accept —bread made from the best flour, olive oil, and honey that I had provided for you to eat. That's exactly what you did, declares the Lord God.
My provisions also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, [with which] I fed thee, thou hast even set before them for a sweet savor: and [thus] it was, saith the Lord GOD.
20 You sacrificed your sons and daughters—the children you had for me—offering them as food for idols to eat. Wasn't your prostitution evil enough?
Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me, and these hast thou sacrificed to them to be devoured. [Is this] of thy lewdness a small matter,
21 You slaughtered my children, sacrificing them to idols.
That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through [the fire] for them?
22 While you were busy with all your disgusting practices and your prostitution, you forgot about the time when you were young, completely naked and lying there kicking in your own blood.
And in all thy abominations and thy deeds of lewdness thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, [and] wast polluted in thy blood.
23 Disaster is coming! Disaster is coming on you, declares the Lord God. As well as all the other evil things you did,
And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe to thee! saith the Lord GOD; )
24 you built yourself a pagan shrine, a high place of idol worship on every public square in the city.
[That] thou hast also built to thee an eminent place, and hast made thee a high place in every street.
25 You made yourselves high places of idol worship at the top of every street; you degraded yourself, offering your beautiful body to anyone who passed by, opening your legs for them, becoming more and more promiscuous.
Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast prostituted thyself to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy lewd deeds.
26 You gave yourself as a prostitute to your Egyptian neighbors with their large sexual organs, making me angry as you became even more promiscuous.
Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast multiplied thy lewd deeds, to provoke me to anger.
27 So I acted to reduce my blessings to you. I let your enemies the Philistines do what they wanted to you. Even they were embarrassed at your immorality.
Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thy ordinary [food], and delivered thee to the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of thy lewd way.
28 Because you weren't satisfied you prostituted yourself with the Assyrians. But even then you weren't satisfied.
Thou hast played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable; yes, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldst not be satisfied.
29 So you took your promiscuous behavior to Babylonia, the country of merchants, but even then you weren't satisfied!
Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan to Chaldea; and yet with this thou wast not satisfied.
30 You're really sick-minded to do all this, acting like a prostitute with no shame, declares the Lord God.
How weak is thy heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these [things], the work of an imperious lewd woman;
31 Actually you weren't even a normal prostitute when you built yourselves pagan shrines at the top of every street and high places of idol worship on every public square—because you refused to be paid for your services!
In that thou buildest thy eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thy high place in every street; and hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire;
32 You're a wife that loves adultery! You sleep with strangers instead of your husband!
[But as] a wife that committeth adultery, [who] taketh strangers instead of her husband!
33 Normally all prostitutes are paid, but you were the one giving gifts to all your lovers. You even bribed them to come from all around and have sex with you.
They give gifts to all lewd women: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come to thee on every side for thy lewdness.
34 So you're the opposite of other prostitutes. No one comes to you asking for sex, and you pay the prostitute's fee instead of receiving it. You're the exact opposite!
And the contrary is in thee from [other] women in thy unlawful commerce, whereas none followeth thee to commit lewdness: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given to thee, therefore thou art contrary.
35 So, you prostitute, listen to the message from the Lord!
Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:
36 This is what the Lord God says: Because you were so crazy with desire you stripped yourself naked and committed adultery with your lovers and with all your disgusting idols, and because you killed your children as sacrifices to those idols,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness exposed through thy carnal connection with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give to them;
37 I'm going to bring together all the lovers you went to bed with, whether you loved them or hated them, and I will have them gather from everywhere around and I will strip you as they watch so they will see you totally naked.
Behold therefore, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all [them] that thou hast loved, with all [them] that thou hast hated; I will even gather them on every side against thee, and will uncover thy nakedness to them, that they may see all thy nakedness.
38 I will impose on you the punishment for women who commit adultery and those who murder; you will be punished in passionate anger.
And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.
39 Then I will hand you over to your lovers, and they will demolish your pagan shrines and destroy your high places of idol worship. They will strip you of your clothes, remove your beautiful jewelry, and leave you stark naked.
And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.
40 They will come with a mob to attack you. They will stone you and chop you into 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 They will burn down your houses and punish you while many women watch. I will stop your prostitution, and you won't ever pay your lovers again.
And they shall burn thy 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 also shalt give no hire any more.
42 Then I will finish being jealous and furious with you. I will calm down and won't be angry any more.
So will I make my fury towards thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
43 Since you didn't remember how I looked after you when you were young, but made me angry with all the things that you did, I will make sure you experience the results of what you've done, declares the Lord God. For this immorality was in addition to all the other disgusting things you did, wasn't it?
Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast provoked me in all these [things]; behold therefore, I also will recompense thy way upon [thy] head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thy abominations.
44 Everyone who likes to use proverbs will quote this one about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’
Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use [this] proverb against thee, saying, As [is] the mother, [so is] her daughter.
45 You are the daughter of your mother who detested her husband and children. You are just like her! You are the sister of your sisters, just like them who detested their husbands and children. In fact your mother was a Hittite and your father was an Amorite.
Thou [art] thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou [art] the sister of thy sisters, who lothed their husbands and their children: your mother [was] a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived north of you with her daughters. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived south of you with her daughters.
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 You didn't just follow their ways and do the same disgusting things they did, you very quickly became even worse than them.
Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but as [if that were] a very little [thing], thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.
48 As I live, declares the Lord God, your sister Sodom and her daughters didn't ever do what you and your daughters have done.
[As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
49 The sins of your sister Sodom were these: She and her daughters were proud, greedy, and lazy. They didn't help the poor and those in need.
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50 They became arrogant and did disgusting things in my presence. So I got rid of them when I saw this.
And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw [good].
51 Samaria didn't sin half as badly as you did. You have done far more disgusting things than they did. In fact, all the revolting things you've done make your sisters look good!
Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thy abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thy abominations which thou hast done.
52 Now you're going to have to put up with your shame, since by your disgraceful sins you made them seem far better. Compared to you they look good! Now you too have to put up with your shame and disgrace because you've made your sisters look as if they were good.
Thou also, who hast judged thy sisters, bear thy own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yes, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.
53 Even so I'm going to bring Sodom and her daughters back from exile, and Samaria and her daughters too. I will bring you back together with them.
When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then [will I bring again] the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:
54 In this way you will have to put up with your disgrace and be ashamed of all the bad things you did that made them feel better about themselves.
That thou mayest bear thy own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort to them.
55 Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will be restored to what they were before. You and your daughters will also be restored to what you were before.
When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former state.
56 Didn't you mock your sister Sodom when you were feeling proud,
For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,
57 before you were shown to be so wicked yourselves? Of course now you are mocked by the Edomites and the surrounding nations, as well as by the Philistines. Everyone around you looks down on you.
Before thy wickedness was disclosed, as at the time of [thy] reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all [that are] around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who despise thee on every side.
58 You will have to experience the consequences of your immorality and your disgusting practices, declares the Lord.
Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thy abominations, saith the LORD.
59 This is what the Lord God says: I'm going to punish you according to your sins, because you treated the promise you made with contempt by breaking the agreement.
For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, who hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
60 But I won't forget the agreement I made with you when you were young, and I will make an everlasting agreement with you.
Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish to thee an everlasting covenant.
61 Then you will remember the way you are meant to live and be ashamed when you meet your older and younger sisters when they return to you. I will give them to you as daughters, even though this was not part of our original agreement.
Then 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 This is how I will endorse my agreement 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 you will remember and be ashamed, and won't ever defend your disgraceful behavior when I forgive you for everything you've done, declares the Lord God.”
That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.
