Ezekiel 16
1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, make known unto Jerusalem her abominations,
“Son of man, inform Jerusalem about her abominations,
3 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.
and declare, 'The Lord Yahweh says this to Jerusalem: Your beginning and your birth took place in the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.
4 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.
On the day of your birth, your mother did not cut your navel, nor did she purify you in water or rub you down with salt, or wrap cloth around you.
5 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.
No eye had compassion for you to do any of these things for you, to be compassionate toward you. On the day that you were born, with loathing for your life, you were thrown out into the open field.
6 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.
But I passed by you, and I saw you writhing in your own blood; so I said to you in your blood, “Live!” I said to you in your blood, “Live!”
7 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.
I made you grow like a plant in a field. You multiplied and became great, and you became the jewel of jewels. Your breasts became firm, and your hair grew thick, though you had been naked and bare.
8 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.
I passed by you again, and I saw you. See! the time of love came for you, so I spread my robe over you and covered your nakedness. Then I swore to you and brought you into a covenant—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—and you became mine.
9 Then did I bathe thee with water, yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee; and I anointed thee with oil.
So I washed you with water and rinsed your blood off you, and I anointed you with oil.
10 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.
I dressed you in embroidered clothes and placed leather sandals on your feet. I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk.
11 And I decked thee with ornaments, and I placed bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain around thy neck.
Next I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain around your neck.
12 And I placed a ring on thy nose, and earrings in thy ears, and a crown of splendor on thy head.
I put a nose ring in your nostrils and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.
13 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.
So you were adorned with gold and silver, and you were dressed in fine linen, silk, and embroidered clothes; you ate fine flour, honey, and oil, and you were very beautiful, and you became a queen.
14 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.
Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect in the majesty that I had given to you—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.
15 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.
But you trusted in your own beauty, and you acted like a prostitute because of your fame; you poured out your acts of prostitution on everyone who passed by, so that your beauty became his.
16 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.
Then you took your clothes and with them you made high places for yourself decorated in various colors, and there you acted like a prostitute. This should not have happened. Nor should such a thing exist.
17 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;
You took the fine jewels of the gold and silver that I gave you, and you made for yourself male figures, and you did with them as a prostitute would do.
18 And thou didst take thy broidered garments, and cover them: and my oil and my incense didst thou place before them.
You took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set my oils and perfumes before them.
19 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.
My bread I gave you—made with fine flour, oil, and honey—you set before them for a fragrant aroma, for this is what happened—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.
20 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?
Then you took your sons and daughters whom you bore for me, and you sacrificed them to the images to be devoured as food. Are your acts of prostitution a small matter?
21 That thou didst slay my children, and give them up to cause them to pass through the fire for them?
You slaughtered my children to the idols and made them pass through the fire.
22 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.
In all your abominations and your acts of prostitution you have not thought about the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare as you thrashed about in your blood.
23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, —[woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord Eternal; ]—
Woe! Woe to you!—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—therefore, in addition to all this wickedness,
24 That thou didst build unto thyself eminences, and make thyself elevations in every street.
you built yourself a vaulted chamber in every public place.
25 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.
You built your high place at the head of every road and made your beauty a disgrace, and you spread your legs to anyone who passed by, and you multiplied your acts of prostitution.
26 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.
You have acted like a prostitute with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and you committed many more acts of prostitution, provoking me to anger.
27 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.
See! I will strike you with my hand and cut off your food. I will hand your life over to your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your obscene behavior.
28 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.
You have acted like a prostitute with the Assyrians because you could not be satisfied. You acted like a prostitute and still were not satisfied.
29 And thou didst multiply thy lewdness with the traders' land as far as Chaldea; and even with this wast thou not satisfied.
You performed many more acts of prostitution in the land of the merchants of Chaldea, and even this did not satisfy you.
30 How very corrupt is thy heart, saith the Lord Eternal, seeing thou didst all these things, deeds of an abandoned lewd woman;
How sick is your heart—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—that you would do all these things, deeds of a shameless prostitute?
31 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.
You have built your high places at the head of every street and made your vaulted chamber in every public place. Yet you were not like a prostitute because you refused to take payment.
32 O thou adulterous wife! who, while bound to her husband, receiveth strangers!
You adulterous woman, you accept strangers instead of your husband.
33 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.
People give payment to every prostitute, but you give your wages to all your lovers and bribe them to come to you from all around for your acts of prostitution.
34 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.
So there is a difference between you and those other women, since no one goes to you to ask you to sleep with them. Instead, you pay them. No one pays you.
35 Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord!
Therefore, you prostitute, listen to the word of Yahweh.
36 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:
The Lord Yahweh says this: Because you have poured out your lust and uncovered your nakedness through your acts of prostitution with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children's blood,
37 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.
therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers that you have met, all those whom you loved and all those whom you hated, and I will gather them against you on every side. I will uncover your nakedness to them so they see all your nakedness.
38 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.
For I will punish you for adultery and the shedding of blood, and I will bring on you the bloodshed of my anger and passion.
39 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.
I will give you into their hands so they will throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your high places and they will strip you of your clothes and take all of your jewelry. They will leave you naked and bare.
40 And they shall bring up against thee an assembly, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords;
Then they will bring up a crowd against you and stone you with stones, and they will cut you apart with their swords.
41 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.
They will burn your houses and will perform many acts of punishment on you in the sight of many women, for I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers.
42 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.
Then I will calm my fury against you; my anger will leave you, for I will be satisfied, and will no longer be angry.
43 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.
Because you did not call to mind the days of your youth and have made me shake with anger because of all these things, therefore, behold! I myself will bring down on your own head the punishment for what you have done—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration. Have you not added prostitution to all your other detestable practices?
44 Behold, every one that speaketh in proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As the mother is, so is her daughter.
Behold! Everyone who speaks proverbs concerning you will say, “As the mother is, so also is her daughter.”
45 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.
You are the daughter of your mother, who detested her husband and her children, and you are the sister of your sisters who detested their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite.
46 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.
Your older sister was Samaria and her daughters were the ones living in the north, while your younger sister was the one living south of you, that is, Sodom and her daughters.
47 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.
You not only walked in their ways and copied their behavior and practices, but in all your ways you have been worse than they were.
48 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.
As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—your sister Sodom and her daughters, have not done as much evil as you and your daughters have done.
49 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.
Behold! This was the sin of your sister Sodom that she was arrogant in her leisure, careless and unconcerned about anything. She did not strengthen the hands of the poor and needy people.
50 And they became haughty, and committed abominations before me: therefore did I remove them when I saw their course.
She was arrogant and committed disgusting actions before me, so I took them away just as you have seen.
51 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.
Neither did Samaria commit even half of your sins; instead, you have done many more disgusting things than they did, and you have shown that your sisters were better than you because of all the disgusting things that you do!
52 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.
Especially you, show your own shame; in this way you have shown that your sisters were better than you, because of the sins you committed in all those disgusting ways. Your sisters now seem better than you. Especially you, show your own shame, for in this way you have shown that your sisters were better than you.
53 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:
For I will restore their fortunes—the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters; but your fortunes will be among them.
54 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.
On account of these things you will show your shame; you will be humiliated because of everything that you have done, and in this way you will be a comfort to them.
55 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.
So your sister Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former condition, and Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former estate. Then you and your daughters will be restored to your former condition.
56 And was not thy sister Sodom a report in thy mouth in the days of thy pride,
Sodom your sister was not even mentioned by your mouth in the days when you were proud,
57 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?
before your wickedness was revealed. But now you are an object of scorn to the daughters of Edom and to all the daughters of the Philistines around her. People all about despise you.
58 Thy incest and thy abominations, —thou thyself hadst to bear them, saith the Lord.
You will show your shame and your disgusting actions!—this is Yahweh's declaration!
59 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.
The Lord Yahweh says this: I will deal with you as you deserve, you who have despised your oath by breaking the covenant.
60 Nevertheless will I indeed remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
But I myself will call to mind my covenant with you made in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
61 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.
Then you will call to mind your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older sisters and your younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.
62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord:
I myself will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.
63 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.
Because of these things, you will call everything to mind and be ashamed, so you will no longer open your mouth to speak because of your shame, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.'”
