יחזקאל 16
| ויהי דבר יהוה אלי לאמר | 1 |
Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
| בן אדם הודע את ירושלם את תועבתיה | 2 |
“You human, cause the people of Jerusalem to think about their detestable behavior.
| ואמרת כה אמר אדני יהוה לירושלם מכרתיך ומלדתיך מארץ הכנעני אביך האמרי ואמך חתית | 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.
| ומולדותיך ביום הולדת אותך לא כרת שרך ובמים לא רחצת למשעי והמלח לא המלחת והחתל לא חתלת | 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].
| לא חסה עליך עין לעשות לך אחת מאלה--לחמלה עליך ותשלכי אל פני השדה בגעל נפשך ביום הלדת אתך | 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}.
| ואעבר עליך ואראך מתבוססת בדמיך ואמר לך בדמיך חיי ואמר לך בדמיך חיי | 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!”
| רבבה כצמח השדה נתתיך ותרבי ותגדלי ותבאי בעדי עדיים שדים נכנו ושערך צמח ואת ערם ועריה | 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].
| ואעבר עליך ואראך והנה עתך עת דדים ואפרש כנפי עליך ואכסה ערותך ואשבע לך ואבוא בברית אתך נאם אדני יהוה--ותהיי לי | 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.
| וארחצך במים ואשטף דמיך מעליך ואסכך בשמן | 9 |
[And then it was as though] [MET] I bathed you and washed the blood from you and put ointment on your body.
| ואלבישך רקמה ואנעלך תחש ואחבשך בשש ואכסך משי | 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.
| ואעדך עדי ואתנה צמידים על ידיך ורביד על גרונך | 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.
| ואתן נזם על אפך ועגילים על אזניך ועטרת תפארת בראשך | 12 |
I put a gold ring in your nose and fastened earrings to your ears and put a beautiful crown on your head.
| ותעדי זהב וכסף ומלבושך ששי (שש) ומשי ורקמה סלת ודבש ושמן אכלתי (אכלת) ותיפי במאד מאד ותצלחי למלוכה | 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.
| ויצא לך שם בגוים ביפיך כי כליל הוא בהדרי אשר שמתי עליך--נאם אדני יהוה | 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.
| ותבטחי ביפיך ותזני על שמך ותשפכי את תזנותיך על כל עובר לו יהי | 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.
| ותקחי מבגדיך ותעשי לך במות טלאות ותזני עליהם לא באות ולא יהיה | 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!
| ותקחי כלי תפארתך מזהבי ומכספי אשר נתתי לך ותעשי לך צלמי זכר ותזני בם | 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.
| ותקחי את בגדי רקמתך ותכסים ושמני וקטרתי נתתי (נתת) לפניהם | 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].
| ולחמי אשר נתתי לך סלת ושמן ודבש האכלתיך ונתתיהו לפניהם לריח ניחח ויהי נאם אדני יהוה | 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.
| ותקחי את בניך ואת בנותיך אשר ילדת לי ותזבחים להם לאכול--המעט מתזנותך (מתזנותיך) | 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.
| ותשחטי את בני ותתנים בהעביר אותם להם | 21 |
You slaughtered [those who were like] [MET] my children, and offered them to be sacrifices to the gods!
| ואת כל תועבתיך ותזנתיך לא זכרתי (זכרת) את ימי נעוריך--בהיותך עירם ועריה מתבוססת בדמך היית | 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.
| ויהי אחרי כל רעתך אוי אוי לך נאם אדני יהוה | 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,
| ותבני לך גב ותעשי לך רמה בכל רחוב | 24 |
you built a shrine to worship idols in every [city] square/plaza.
| אל כל ראש דרך בנית רמתך ותתעבי את יפיך ותפשקי את רגליך לכל עובר ותרבי את תזנותך (תזנותיך) | 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.
| ותזני אל בני מצרים שכניך גדלי בשר ותרבי את תזנתך להכעיסני | 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.
| והנה נטיתי ידי עליך ואגרע חקך ואתנך בנפש שנאותיך בנות פלשתים--הנכלמות מדרכך זמה | 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.
| ותזני אל בני אשור מבלתי שבעתך ותזנים וגם לא שבעת | 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.
| ותרבי את תזנותך אל ארץ כנען כשדימה וגם בזאת לא שבעת | 29 |
So you also had sex [with soldiers from] Babylonia, a country full of merchants/businessmen, but even that did not satisfy you.
| מה אמלה לבתך נאם אדני יהוה--בעשותך את כל אלה מעשה אשה זונה שלטת | 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].
| בבנותיך גבך בראש כל דרך ורמתך עשיתי (עשית) בכל רחוב ולא הייתי (היית) כזונה לקלס אתנן | 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.
| האשה המנאפת--תחת אישה תקח את זרים | 32 |
You are like [MET] a woman who commits adultery: You prefer to [have sex with] strangers rather than with your husband.
| לכל זנות יתנו נדה ואת נתת את נדניך לכל מאהביך ותשחדי אותם לבוא אליך מסביב בתזנותיך | 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.
| ויהי בך הפך מן הנשים בתזנותיך ואחריך לא זונה ובתתך אתנן ואתנן לא נתן לך--ותהי להפך | 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.
| לכן זונה שמעי דבר יהוה | 35 |
Therefore, [you people of] Jerusalem, who are like a prostitute [MET], listen to what I, Yahweh the Lord, am saying about you!
| כה אמר אדני יהוה יען השפך נחשתך ותגלה ערותך בתזנותיך על מאהביך ועל כל גלולי תועבותיך וכדמי בניך אשר נתת להם | 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.
| לכן הנני מקבץ את כל מאהביך אשר ערבת עליהם ואת כל אשר אהבת על כל אשר שנאת וקבצתי אתם עליך מסביב וגליתי ערותך אלהם וראו את כל ערותך | 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.
| ושפטתיך משפטי נאפות ושפכת דם ונתתיך דם חמה וקנאה | 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.
| ונתתי אתך בידם והרסו גבך ונתצו רמתיך והפשיטו אותך בגדיך ולקחו כלי תפארתך והניחוך עירם ועריה | 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].
| והעלו עליך קהל ורגמו אותך באבן ובתקוך בחרבותם | 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.
| ושרפו בתיך באש ועשו בך שפטים לעיני נשים רבות והשבתיך מזונה וגם אתנן לא תתני עוד | 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.
| והנחתי חמתי בך וסרה קנאתי ממך ושקטתי ולא אכעס עוד | 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].
| יען אשר לא זכרתי (זכרת) את ימי נעוריך ותרגזי לי בכל אלה וגם אני הא דרכך בראש נתתי נאם אדני יהוה ולא עשיתי (עשית) את הזמה על כל תועבתיך | 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.
| הנה כל המשל עליך ימשל לאמר כאמה בתה | 44 |
People who [like to] quote proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “[behave] like their mothers [behave].”
| בת אמך את געלת אישה ובניה ואחות אחותך את אשר געלו אנשיהן ובניהן--אמכן חתית ואביכן אמרי | 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.
| ואחותך הגדולה שמרון היא ובנותיה היושבת על שמאולך ואחותך הקטנה ממך היושבת מימינך--סדם ובנותיה | 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.
| ולא בדרכיהן הלכת וכתועבותיהן עשיתי (עשית) כמעט קט ותשחתי מהן בכל דרכיך | 47 |
You not only imitated all [DOU] their detestable behavior, but you quickly became more sinful than they were.
| חי אני נאם אדני יהוה אם עשתה סדם אחותך היא ובנותיה--כאשר עשית את ובנותיך | 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.
| הנה זה היה עון סדם אחותך גאון שבעת לחם ושלות השקט היה לה ולבנותיה ויד עני ואביון לא החזיקה | 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.
| ותגבהינה ותעשינה תועבה לפני ואסיר אתהן כאשר ראיתי | 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.
| ושמרון כחצי חטאתיך לא חטאה ותרבי את תועבותיך מהנה ותצדקי את אחותך (אחותיך) בכל תועבתיך אשר עשיתי (עשית) | 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.
| גם את שאי כלמתך אשר פללת לאחותך בחטאתיך אשר התעבת מהן תצדקנה ממך וגם את בושי ושאי כלמתך בצדקתך אחיותך | 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].
| ושבתי את שביתהן--את שבית (שבות) סדם ובנותיה ואת שבית (שבות) שמרון ובנותיה ושבית (ושבות) שביתיך בתוכהנה | 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.
| למען תשאי כלמתך ונכלמת מכל אשר עשית--בנחמך אתן | 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.
| ואחותיך סדם ובנותיה תשבן לקדמתן ושמרון ובנותיה תשבן לקדמתן ואת ובנותיך תשבינה לקדמתכן | 55 |
[The people of] Sodom and Samaria will prosper again, and you and the people in nearby cities will prosper also.
| ולוא היתה סדם אחותך לשמועה בפיך ביום גאוניך | 56 |
You (sneered at/despised) [the people of] Sodom when you were proud,
| בטרם תגלה רעתך כמו עת חרפת בנות ארם וכל סביבותיה בנות פלשתים השאטות אותך מסביב | 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.
| את זמתך ואת תועבותיך את נשאתים--נאם יהוה | 58 |
And you are being punished for all your immoral behavior and other detestable things that you do.
| כי כה אמר אדני יהוה ועשית (ועשיתי) אותך כאשר עשית--אשר בזית אלה להפר ברית | 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.
| וזכרתי אני את בריתי אותך בימי נעוריך והקימותי לך ברית עולם | 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.
| וזכרת את דרכיך ונכלמת בקחתך את אחותיך הגדלות ממך אל הקטנות ממך ונתתי אתהן לך לבנות ולא מבריתך | 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.
| והקימתי אני את בריתי אתך וידעת כי אני יהוה | 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].
| למען תזכרי ובשת ולא יהיה לך עוד פתחון פה מפני כלמתך--בכפרי לך לכל אשר עשית נאם אדני יהוה | 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.’”
