Ezekiel 16

1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

And the word of Yahweh came unto me, saying:

2 “You human, cause the people of Jerusalem to think about their detestable behavior.

Son of man Let Jerusalem know her abominations,

3 Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says to you people of Jerusalem: [It is as though you are a woman who] [MET] was born in the country where the Canaan people-group lived. [It is as though] [MET] your father belonged to the Amor people-group and your mother belonged to the Heth people-group.

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 [It is as though] [MET] on the day that you were born, your umbilical cord was not cut, and your body was not washed in water, and it was not rubbed with salt or wrapped in strips of cloth, [like Israeli babies always are].

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 pitied you or acted kindly toward you by doing those things for you. Instead, [it was as though] [MET] you were thrown into a field, because on the day that you were born, you were despised {everyone despised you}.

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 [it was as though] [MET] I passed by and saw you lying in your own blood and kicking. And while you lay there kicking in your own blood, I said to you, “I want you to remain alive!”

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 [It was as though] I caused you to grow up, like plants in the field grow; you grew up and became tall and became like [MET] a very beautiful jewel. [It was as though] [MET] your breasts (formed/became large), and your hair became long, although you were still naked [DOU].

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 When I saw you several years later, [it was as though] [MET] I saw that you were old enough to have sex [EUP]. So [it was as though] [MET] I spread the corner of my robe over [to symbolize that I would marry you], with the result that you were no longer naked. I solemnly promised [that I would marry you] and made a marriage agreement with you, and you became my wife. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say.

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 [And then it was as though] [MET] I bathed you and washed the blood from you and put ointment on your body.

And I bathed thee in water, and rinsed thy blood from off thee, And anointed thee with oil;

10 [It was as though] [MET] I put a fine linen robe on you and gave you other expensive clothes. I put an embroidered dress on you and put leather sandals on your feet.

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 [It was as though] [MET] I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck. Those things all had nice jewels fastened to them.

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

12 I put a gold ring in your nose and fastened earrings to your ears and put a beautiful crown on 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 [it was as though] you wore gold and silver ornaments. You had clothes made from fine (linen/white cloth) and other expensive embroidered material/cloth. You ate [bread made from] fine flour, honey, and olive oil. You became very beautiful, like [MET] a 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 You were very beautiful, with the result that people in other nations heard about you, because they knew that I, Yahweh the Lord, am the one who had caused you to become very beautiful.

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 [it was as though] [MET] you realized that because people knew that you were very beautiful, you could [earn a lot of money by] becoming a prostitute. [It was as though] you had sex with [EUP] every man who came along, and they all enjoyed your beauty.

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 [It was as though] you took some of your clothes to make beautifully decorated shrines, and that is where you had sex with those men. Those things should certainly never occur!

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 took the fine gold and silver jewelry that I gave you, and you made male idols for yourself, in order to have sex with them.

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 some of your embroidered clothes to put on those idols, and you burned oil and incense in front of them [to honor them].

And thou didst take thine embroidered raiment, and cover them, - And mine oil and mine incense, didst thou set before them;

19 And the [bread that was made from] fine flour and the olive oil and honey that I gave to you to eat, you offered to be a fragrant sacrifice to those idols. I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that is what happened.

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 And you even took your sons and daughters who were [as though they were] [MET] my children, and sacrificed them to be food for the idols. That was much worse [RHQ] than your becoming a prostitute.

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 [those who were like] [MET] my children, and offered them to be sacrifices to the gods!

Yea thou didst slay my children, — And didst deliver them up. that they should be caused to pass through the fire unto them.

22 All during the time when you were acting like a prostitute and doing other detestable things, you did not think about the time when [it was as though] you were very young, naked [DOU], lying in your own blood and kicking.

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 So I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that terrible things will happen to you. In addition to all the other wicked things that you did,

And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, Woe! Woe! to thee, Exclaimeth My Lord Yahweh;

24 you built a shrine to worship idols in every [city] square/plaza.

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

25 At the beginning of every street you built a shrine, and showed people your beautiful body, offering it to have sex with every man who walked by, becoming a better known prostitute every day.

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 [It was as though] [MET] you had sex with men from Egypt who were eager to have sex with you, men who lived near to Israel. You caused me to become very angry because you became more eager to have sex with more and more of them.

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 So I punished [IDM] you and caused your enemies to capture some of your country. I enabled your greedy enemies from Philistia to defeat you; and even they were shocked because of your disgraceful behavior.

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 [It was as though] you had sex with soldiers from Assyria, too, because you always wanted more sex. And after that, you still were 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 also had sex [with soldiers from] Babylonia, a country full of merchants/businessmen, but even that did not satisfy you.

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 I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that when you did all those things, acting like [MET] a bold prostitute, you were showing that you were ready to do anything that you wanted to [IDM].

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 When you built shrines to worship idols on every street corner and in every city square/plaza, you were not like a prostitute: Prostitutes charge money, but you refused to take money for what you did.

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 are like [MET] a woman who commits adultery: You prefer to [have sex with] strangers rather than with your husband.

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

33 Prostitutes are paid, but [it is as though] you give gifts to all your lovers; you bribe them to come to you from everywhere to have sex with you.

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 although you act like [MET] a prostitute, you are not like other prostitutes: No one needs to request you to have sex [EUP] with them. You are the opposite of other prostitutes; instead of them giving any money to you, you give men money to have sex with you.

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, [you people of] Jerusalem, who are like a prostitute [MET], listen to what I, Yahweh the Lord, am saying about you!

Therefore O harlot, hear thou the word of Yahweh;

36 I say that [what you have done is as though] [MET] you took off your clothes and acted like a prostitute and had sex with men who are not your husband. [What I mean is that you have been worshiping] detestable idols, and you have murdered [MTY] your own children to be sacrifices 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 So [what I am going to do is as though] I will gather those who you think have loved you and those whom you hated. I will gather them around you [to attack you], and [what I will do is as though] I will strip your clothes off you, and they will see you when you are 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 I will punish you like women who commit adultery and who murder people [MTY] are punished. I will get revenge on you and get rid of you because I am extremely angry with you.

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 I will allow [your enemies who you thought] loved you [IRO] to defeat you, and they will tear down your shrines. [It will be as though] they will strip off your fancy clothes and take away your fine jewelry and cause you to be completely naked [DOU].

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 to attack you, and that mob will throw stones at 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 They will burn down your houses and punish you while many women are watching. I will cause your acting like a prostitute and paying your lovers to have sex with you to end.

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 Then I will no longer be angry [DOU] with you. I will stop being jealous [because of your worshiping gods other than me only].

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 You have forgotten [the wonderful things that I did for you] in previous years [MET]. You have caused me to become extremely angry because of all the [evil things] that you have done. In addition to all the other detestable things that you did, you committed many sexual sins. So I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that I will punish you [IDM] for doing those things.

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 People who [like to] quote proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “[behave] like their mothers [behave].”

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

45 You are like your mother; [it was as though] she detested her husband and her children. You are like your sisters, who also despised their husbands and their children. [It was as though] [MET] your father belonged to the Amor people-group and your mother belonged to the Heth people-group.

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 And [it was as though] [MET] your older sister was Samaria, and she and her daughters lived to the north of you, and [it was as though] your younger sister was Sodom, and she and her daughters lived to the south of you.

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 You not only imitated all [DOU] their detestable behavior, but you quickly became more sinful 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 I, Yahweh the Lord, solemnly declare that as surely as I am alive, [the people who lived in] [MTY] Sodom and other nearby cities never did the detestable things that you [people in Jerusalem and other places in Judah] 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 These are the sins [the people who lived in] Sodom, who were like your sister [MET]: The people who lived there and in nearby cities were arrogant. In spite of having more food to eat than they needed, they refused to help the poor and needy [DOU] people among them.

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 The people of Sodom and nearby cities [MET] were proud and did detestable things in my presence, so I got rid of them when I saw what they had been doing.

So then they became haughty, and committed abomination before me, - And I took them away. when I saw [it],

51 Also, [the people of] Samaria did not commit half as many sins as you have committed. You have done more disgusting things than they have done. You cause the people of Samaria to appear to be good, compared to you.

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 Your sins are worse than their sins, so they seem to be less wicked than you are. So I will punish you more than I punished them. As a result, you will be ashamed and disgraced [DOU].

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 However, [some day] I will [the people of] Sodom and Samaria and the cities near to them [MET] to prosper again. And I will cause you to prosper again, too.

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 You will be very ashamed [DOU] of the wicked things that you have done, and that will cause the people of those cities to be encouraged.

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

55 [The people of] Sodom and Samaria will prosper again, and you and the people in nearby cities will prosper also.

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 You (sneered at/despised) [the people of] Sodom when you were proud,

And Sodom thy sister was never heard in thy mouth, —In the day of thy pride:

57 before it was revealed that you were very wicked. And now [the people of] Edom and [the people of] Philistia all insult you and 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 And you are being punished for all your immoral behavior and other detestable things that you do.

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

59 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: I will continue to punish you like you deserve to be punished, because by rejecting the agreement that I made with you, you have despised that solemn agreement that you promised to obey.

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 not forget the agreement that I made with you long ago [MET], and I will make an agreement with you that will endure forever.

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 think about what you have done, and you will be ashamed about those things when you welcome [the people of] Sodom and Samaria, cities which are like [MET] older and younger sisters to you people of Jerusalem. I will [put them under your control by] causing them to become like [MET] your daughters, but they will not have the same agreement that I will make 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 I will establish my agreement with you, and you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].

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

63 Then when I have forgiven you for all your sins, you will think about all the sins that you committed and you will be ashamed, and you will never again [boast about them], because you will be humiliated.’”

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.