Ezekiel 16

1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominations

3 and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

4 On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.

5 No one cared enough for you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. Instead, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were despised on the day of your birth.

6 Then I passed by and saw you wallowing in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ There I said to you, ‘Live!’

7 I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

8 Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD.

9 Then I bathed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and anointed you with oil.

10 I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.

11 I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck.

12 I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.

13 So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen.

14 Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect in the splendor I bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.

15 But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking.

16 You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!

17 You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself.

18 You took your embroidered garments to cover them, and you set My oil and incense before them.

19 And you set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I had given you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I had fed you. That is what happened, declares the Lord GOD.

20 You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?

21 You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols.

22 And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.

23 Woe! Woe to you, declares the Lord GOD. And in addition to all your other wickedness,

24 you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square.

25 At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by.

26 You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.

27 Therefore I stretched out My hand against you and reduced your portion. I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd conduct.

28 Then you prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, because you were not yet satisfied. Even after that, you were still not satisfied.

29 So you extended your promiscuity to Chaldea, the land of merchants—but even with this you were not satisfied!

30 How weak-willed is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, while you do all these things, the acts of a shameless prostitute!

31 But when you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

32 You adulterous wife! You receive strangers instead of your own husband!

33 Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.

34 So your prostitution is the opposite of that of other women: No one solicited your favors, and you paid a fee instead of receiving one; so you are the very opposite!

35 Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!

36 This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them,

37 therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked.

38 And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.

39 Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.

40 They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.

41 Then they will burn down your houses and execute judgment against you in the sight of many women. I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will never again pay your lovers.

42 So I will lay to rest My wrath against you, and My jealousy will turn away from you. Then I will be calm and no longer angry.

43 Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but enraged Me with all these things, I will surely bring your deeds down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness on top of all your other abominations?

44 Behold, all who speak in proverbs will quote this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’

45 You are the daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and children. You are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to your north; and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to your south.

47 And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.

48 As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did as you and your daughters have done.

49 Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.

50 Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen.

51 Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have multiplied your abominations beyond theirs, and all the abominations you have committed have made your sisters appear righteous.

52 So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must bear your shame and disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.

53 But I will restore Sodom and her daughters from captivity, as well as Samaria and her daughters. And I will restore you along with them.

54 So you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did to comfort them.

55 And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state. You and your daughters will also return to your former state.

56 Did you not treat your sister Sodom as an object of scorn in the day of your pride,

57 before your wickedness was uncovered? Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all those around her, and by the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you.

58 You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD.

59 For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.

60 But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.

62 So I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD,

63 so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”

1 ¶ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity [is] of the land of Canaan; thy father [was] an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.

4 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 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto 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 ¶ And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live.

7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: [thy] breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou [wast] naked and bare.

8 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: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.

12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.

13 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 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 ¶ But thou didst trust in thine 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 And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: [the like things] shall not come, neither shall it be [so].

17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

18 And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.

19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, [wherewith] I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and [thus] it was, saith the Lord GOD.

20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. [Is this] of thy whoredoms a small matter,

21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through [the fire] for them?

22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, [and] wast polluted in thy blood.

23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;)

24 [That] thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.

25 Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.

27 Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary [food], and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way.

28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.

30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these [things], the work of an imperious whorish woman;

31 In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;

32 [But as] a wife that committeth adultery, [which] taketh strangers instead of her husband!

33 They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.

34 And the contrary is in thee from [other] women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.

35 ¶ Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

36 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;

37 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 round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

38 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 And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine 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 shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

41 And they shall burn thine 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 So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these [things]; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon [thine] head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.

44 ¶ Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use [this] proverb against thee, saying, As [is] the mother, [so is] her daughter.

45 Thou [art] thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou [art] the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother [was] an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

46 And thine 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 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, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness 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 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw [good].

51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.

52 Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

53 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 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.

55 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 For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,

57 Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of [thy] reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all [that are] round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about.

58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD.

59 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

60 ¶ Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.

61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD:

63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.

1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

2 Son of man, shew the city of Jerusalem her abominations, and say:

3 Thus saith the LORD GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy seed and thy birth are of the land of the Canaanites; thy father of the Amorites, and thy mother of the Hittites.

4 Thy birth was thus: Thy navel, when thou wast born, was not cut: neither wast thou bathed with water to make thee clean, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling clothes.

5 For no man had compassion on thee, neither did he show thee pieces; but thou wast cast into the field. So was thy soul despised when thou wast born.

6 And I passed over before thee, and saw thee lying in thy blood, and said unto thee, As thou layest in thy blood, Thou shalt live. Yea, I said unto thee, as thou layest in thy blood, Thou shalt live.

7 And I brought thee up, and caused thee to grow as a plant of the field; and thou wast grown, and become great and fair. Thy breasts were grown, and thou hadst grown long hair; but thou wast yet naked and ashamed.

8 And I passed over before thee, and looked upon thee; and, behold, it was time to woo thee. And I spread my sheath over thee, and covered thy shame. And I pledged thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, that thou shouldest be mine.

9 And I bathed thee in water, and washed thee in thy blood, and anointed thee with balm.

10 And I clothed thee with embroidered garments, and put on thee shoes of seed; and I gave thee fine linen garments, and silken veils.

11 And adorned thee with jewels, and put jewels upon thine ear, and chains upon thy neck.

11 Then shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt take unto thee thy great sisters and thy little sisters, whom I will give thee for daughters, but not of thy covenant,

12 And gave thee a hairband upon thy forehead, and earrings upon thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.

13 Summa, thou wast adorned with fine gold and silver, and clothed with fine linen, and silk, and embroidery. Thou didst also eat vain bread, and honey, and oil, and wast exceeding fair, and received the kingdom.

14 And thy fame went up among the nations because of thy beauty, which was made perfect by the ornament that I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.

15 But thou trustedst in thy beauty, and because thou wast so renowned, thou didst fornicate, so as to make thyself common to every one that passed by, and didst his will.

16 And thou hast taken of thy garments, and hast made thee multicolored altars, and hast committed thy whoredom thereon, as never was, nor ever shall be.

17 Thou hast also taken thy goodly vessels, which I gave thee of my gold and of my silver, and hast made thee manly likenesses of them, and hast committed whoredom with them.

18 And thou tookst thy embroidered garments, and coveredst them therewith; and thou puttest my oil and my incense before them.

19 My meat which I gave thee to eat, the bread, and the oil, and the honey, thou puttest before them for a sweet savour. Yea, it came to pass, saith the Lord GOD,

20 Because thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, which thou begotst me, and hast offered them for food. Thinkest thou then that thy fornication is a small thing?

21 That thou shouldest slay my children, and let them burn the same?

22 Nor hast thou in all thine abominations and thy fornications remembered the days of thy youth, how naked and bare thou wast, and layest in thy blood.

22 Be thou also now ashamed, that thou hast made thy sister righteous by thy sins, in which thou hast done greater abominations than she, and hast made her more righteous than thou art. Be thou therefore ashamed also, and bear thy shame, because thou hast made thy sister righteous.

22 But I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD,

23 Over all this thy wickedness (alas, woe, woe unto thee!) saith the LORD GOD,

24 thou buildest thee churches of the mountains, and makest thee altars of the mountains in every street.

25 And in the front of every street thou hast built thy mountain altars, and hast made thy beauty a vile abomination. Thou hast attacked with thy legs all that passed by, and hast committed great whoredom.

26 First, thou didst commit whoredom with the children of Egypt thy neighbours, which had great flesh, and didst great whoredom to provoke me.

26 But I will remember my covenant which I made with thee in the days of thy youth, and will establish with thee an everlasting covenant.

27 And I stretched out mine hand against thee, and turned thee in such a way as thine, and delivered thee into the will of thine enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of thy wickedness.

28 Afterward thou didst commit fornication with the children of Assyria, and couldst not be satisfied: for thou hadst committed fornication with them, and couldst not be satisfied,

29 Thou didst make more fornication in the land of Canaan, even unto Chaldea; neither couldst thou be satisfied therewith.

30 How shall I circumcise thine heart, saith the LORD GOD, because thou doest these works of a great archwhore?

31 That thou mightest build thy mountain churches in the front of every street, and make thine altars in every lane? For this thou wast not as another harlot, which must be bought with money,

32 Nor like the adulteress, which suffereth others instead of her husband.

33 For to all other whores they give money: but thou givest money to all thy whoredoms, and givest them to come unto thee everywhere, and to commit whoredom with thee.

33 That thou mayest remember, and be ashamed, and not open thy mouth any more for shame, when I shall forgive thee all that thou hast done, saith the LORD GOD.

34 And in thee there is a contradiction in the sight of other women with thy whoredoms, because they go not after thee, but thou givest money, and they give thee no money. So thou doest the adultery.

35 Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD.

36 Thus saith the LORD GOD; Because thou hast given money so bountifully, and hast uncovered thy shame by thy fornication against thy lovers, and against all the idols of thine abominations, and hast shed the blood of thy children, which thou sacrificest unto them,

37 Therefore, behold, I will gather unto thine enemies all thy lovers, with whom thou hast committed lasciviousness, and all whom thou hast thought to be thy friends; and I will gather them both against thee round about, and I will make thy shame known unto them, that they may see thy shame.

38 And I will bring upon thee the judgment of adulteresses and bloodshedters, and will overthrow thy blood with fury and jealousy.

39 And I will deliver thee into their hand, and they shall break down thy mountain churches, and shall pull down thy mountain altars, and shall strip thee of thy garments, and take thy fair apparel, and leave thee naked and bare.

40 And they shall bring upon thee multitudes of men, which shall stone thee, and cut thee in pieces with their swords.

41 And I will burn thy houses with fire, and do thee justice in the sight of many women. So will I make an end of thy whoredom, and thou shalt no more give money, neither shalt thou acknowledge it.

42 And I will cool my courage in thee, and satisfy my zeal in thee, that I may rest, and be angry no more.

43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast provoked me with all these things, therefore will I lay all thy doings upon thy head, saith the LORD GOD; though I have not done according to the vice of thine abominations.

44 Behold, all they that practice such proverbs shall say of thee this proverb, The daughter is like the mother.

45 Thou art thy mother's daughter, which putteth away her husband and her children; and thou art a sister of thy sisters, which put away their husbands and their children. Your mother is one of the Hittites, and your father an Amorite.

46 Samaria is thy great sister, and her daughters, which dwelleth on thy left hand; and Sodom is thy little sister, and her daughters, which dwelleth on thy right hand;

47 Yet thou hast not lived after their manner, nor done after their abominations. It is not far from this, that thou hast done worse than they in all thy ways.

48 As I live, saith the LORD, Sodom thy sister and her daughters have not done as thou and thy daughters have done.

49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, that she and her daughters were proud and full of all things, and of good peace: but they helped not the poor and needy,

50 But were proud, and did abominable things in my sight: therefore when I began to look into them, I put them away.

51 So Samaria also hath not done the half of thy sins, but thou hast done so much more of thine abominations upon her, that thou hast made thy sister like unto all thine abominations which thou hast done.

53 And I will turn away their prison, the prison of this Sodom, and of their daughters, and the prison of this Samaria, and of their daughters, and the prisoners of thy present prison with them,

54 That thou shouldest bear thy shame and scorn for all that thou hast done, and yet be comforted.

55 And thy sister, this Sodom, and her daughters, shall be converted as they were before; and Samaria and her daughters shall be converted as they were before: thou also and thy daughters shall be converted as ye were before.

56 And thou shalt no more praise the same Sodom thy sister, as in the days of thy pride,

57 When thy wickedness was not yet discovered, when the daughters of Syria and the daughters of the Philistines had defiled thee round about, and despised thee round about,

58 Because ye have borne your vices and your abominations, saith the Lord GOD.

59 For thus saith the LORD GOD; I will do unto thee as thou hast done, to forsake the oath, and to break the covenant.