Ezekiel 16
New American Standard Bible
God’s Grace to Unfaithful Jerusalem
16 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, (A)make known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, ‘This is what the Lord [a]God says to Jerusalem: “Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 As for your birth, (B)on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. 5 No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the [b](C)open field, [c]for you were abhorred on the day you were born.
6 “When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 I (D)made you [d]very numerous, like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine jewelry; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.
8 “Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, [e]you were at the time for love; so I (E)spread My [f]garment over you and covered your nakedness. I also (F)swore an oath to you and (G)entered into a covenant with you so that you (H)became Mine,” declares the Lord God. 9 “Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you, and (I)anointed you with oil. 10 I also clothed you with (J)colorfully woven cloth and put sandals of [g]fine leather on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 I adorned you with jewelry, put (K)bracelets on your wrists, and a (L)necklace around your neck. 12 I also put a (M)ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a (N)beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with (O)gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk, and colorfully woven cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to (P)royalty. 14 Then your (Q)fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was (R)perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord God.
15 “But you (S)trusted in your beauty and (T)became unfaithful because of your fame, and you poured out your [h]obscene practices on every passer-by to whom it might be tempting. 16 You took some of your clothes, made for yourself [i]high places of various colors, and committed prostitution on them, which should not come about nor happen. 17 You also took your beautiful [j](U)jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images so that you might commit prostitution with them. 18 Then you took your colorfully woven cloth and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them. 19 Also (V)My bread which I gave you, fine flour, oil, and honey with which I fed you, [k]you would offer before them for a soothing aroma; so it happened,” declares the Lord God. 20 “Furthermore, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to (W)Me and (X)sacrificed them to [l]idols to be devoured. Were your obscene practices a trivial matter? 21 You slaughtered (Y)My children and offered them to [m]idols by (Z)making them pass through the fire. 22 And besides all your abominations and obscene practices, you did not remember the days of (AA)your youth, when you were naked and bare and squirming in your blood.
23 “Then it came about after all your wickedness (‘Woe, woe to you!’ declares the Lord God), 24 that you built yourself a (AB)shrine and made yourself a (AC)high place in every public square. 25 You built yourself a high place at the beginning of (AD)every street and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passer-by and multiplied your obscene practice. 26 You also committed prostitution with the Egyptians, your [n]lustful neighbors, and multiplied your obscene practice to (AE)provoke Me to anger. 27 So behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and cut back your rations. And I turned you over to the desire of those who hate you, the (AF)daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your outrageous conduct. 28 Moreover, you committed prostitution with the (AG)Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you committed prostitution with them and still were not satisfied. 29 You also multiplied your obscene practice with the land of merchants, Chaldea; yet even with this you were not satisfied.”’”
30 “How (AH)feverish is your heart,” declares the Lord God, “while you do all these things, the action of a [o](AI)bold prostitute! 31 When you built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every public square, in (AJ)spurning a prostitute’s fee, you were not like a prostitute. 32 You adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you (AK)give your gifts to all your lovers and lavish favors on them so that they will come to you from every direction for your obscene practices. 34 So it is the opposite for you from those women in your obscene practices, in that you are not approached for prostitution, and in the fact that you pay a prostitute’s fee, and no fee is paid to you; so you are the opposite.”
35 Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord. 36 This is what the Lord God says: “Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your obscene practices with your lovers and with all your detestable (AL)idols, and because of the blood of your sons that you gave to [p]idols, 37 therefore, behold, I am going to (AM)gather all your lovers whom you pleased, all those whom you loved as well as all those whom you (AN)hated. So I will gather them against you from every direction and (AO)expose your nakedness to them so that they may see all your nakedness. 38 So I will (AP)judge you as women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of (AQ)wrath and jealousy. 39 I will also hand you over to [q]your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, (AR)strip you of your clothing, take away your [r]jewels, and will leave you naked and bare. 40 They will [s]incite a (AS)crowd against you, and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 And they will (AT)burn your houses with fire and execute judgments against you in the sight of many women. Then I will (AU)put an end to your prostitution, and you will also no longer pay [t]your lovers. 42 So I (AV)will satisfy My fury against you and My jealousy will leave you, and I will be pacified and (AW)no longer be angry. 43 Since you have (AX)not remembered the days of your youth but [u]have (AY)caused Me unrest by all these things, behold, I in turn will (AZ)bring your conduct down on your own head,” declares the Lord God, “so that you will not commit this outrageous sin in addition to all your other abominations.
44 “Behold, everyone who quotes (BA)proverbs will quote this proverb about you, saying, ‘Like [v]mother, like daughter.’ 45 You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You are also the (BB)sister of your sisters, who (BC)loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46 Now your (BD)older sister is Samaria, who lives [w]north of you with her [x]daughters; and your younger sister, who lives [y]south of you, is (BE)Sodom with her [z]daughters. 47 Yet you have not merely walked in their ways and [aa]committed their abominations; but, as if that were (BF)too little, you also acted (BG)more corruptly in all your conduct than they. 48 As I live,” declares the Lord God, “Sodom, your sister and her daughters have (BH)not done as you and your daughters have done! 49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had (BI)arrogance, (BJ)plenty of food, and (BK)carefree ease, but she did not [ab]help the (BL)poor and needy. 50 So they were haughty and committed (BM)abominations before Me. Therefore I (BN)removed them [ac]when I saw it. 51 Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half of your sins, for you have multiplied your abominations more than they. So you have made your sisters appear (BO)innocent by all your abominations which you have committed. 52 Also, bear your disgrace in that you have [ad]made judgment favorable for your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted (BP)more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. Yes, be also ashamed and bear your disgrace, in that you made your sisters appear innocent.
53 “Nevertheless, I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and [ae]along with them your own fortunes, 54 so that you will bear your disgrace and feel (BQ)ashamed for all that you have done when you become (BR)a consolation to them. 55 Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, [af]will return to their former state, and you with your daughters will also return to your former state. 56 As the name of your sister Sodom was not heard from your lips in your day of pride, 57 before your (BS)wickedness was uncovered, [ag]so now you have become the (BT)disgrace of the daughters of [ah]Edom and of all who are around her, of the daughters of the Philistines—those surrounding you who despise you. 58 You have (BU)suffered the penalty of your outrageous sin and abominations,” the Lord declares. 59 For this is what the Lord God says: “I will also do with you as you have done, you who have (BV)despised the oath by breaking the covenant.
The Covenant Remembered
60 “Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an (BW)everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will (BX)remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both your older and your younger; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant. 62 So I will (BY)establish My covenant with you, and you shall (BZ)know that I am the Lord, 63 so that you may (CA)remember and be ashamed, and (CB)not open your mouth again because of your disgrace, when I have [ai](CC)forgiven you for all that you have done,” the Lord God declares.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 16:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
- Ezekiel 16:5 Lit face of the field
- Ezekiel 16:5 Lit in the loathing of your soul
- Ezekiel 16:7 Lit a myriad
- Ezekiel 16:8 Lit your time was
- Ezekiel 16:8 Lit hem (of a garment)
- Ezekiel 16:10 Meaning of the Heb uncertain
- Ezekiel 16:15 I.e., idolatrous practices with nations
- Ezekiel 16:16 I.e., pagan altars
- Ezekiel 16:17 Lit articles of beauty
- Ezekiel 16:19 Lit and you...offer it
- Ezekiel 16:20 Lit them
- Ezekiel 16:21 Lit them
- Ezekiel 16:26 Lit great of flesh
- Ezekiel 16:30 Lit mighty
- Ezekiel 16:36 Lit them
- Ezekiel 16:39 Lit their hands, and they
- Ezekiel 16:39 Lit articles of beauty
- Ezekiel 16:40 Lit bring up an assembly
- Ezekiel 16:41 Lit a prostitute’s fee
- Ezekiel 16:43 As in ancient versions; MT tremble at
- Ezekiel 16:44 Lit her mother, her daughter
- Ezekiel 16:46 Lit on your left
- Ezekiel 16:46 I.e., surrounding villages; so through v 55
- Ezekiel 16:46 Lit from your right
- Ezekiel 16:46 I.e., surrounding villages; so through v 55
- Ezekiel 16:47 Lit acted in their
- Ezekiel 16:49 Lit grasp the hand of
- Ezekiel 16:50 Some mss and ancient versions as you have seen
- Ezekiel 16:52 Lit mediated for
- Ezekiel 16:53 Lit in their midst
- Ezekiel 16:55 Heb includes will return...state after Sodom also
- Ezekiel 16:57 Lit as at the time of
- Ezekiel 16:57 As in many mss and one ancient version; MT Aram
- Ezekiel 16:63 Or made atonement for
Ezekiel 16
New Living Translation
Jerusalem—an Unfaithful Wife
16 Then another message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins. 3 Give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth. 5 No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die.
6 “But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ 7 And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked. 8 And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.
9 “Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. 10 I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. 11 I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, 12 a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. 13 And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and costly fabric and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! 14 Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign Lord.
15 “But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking. 16 You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen? 17 You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me! 18 You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them. 19 Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign Lord.
20 “Then you took your sons and daughters—the children you had borne to me—and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough? 21 Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols? 22 In all your years of adultery and detestable sin, you have not once remembered the days long ago when you lay naked in a field, kicking about in your own blood.
23 “What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness, 24 you built a pagan shrine and put altars to idols in every town square. 25 On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution. 26 Then you added lustful Egypt to your lovers, provoking my anger with your increasing promiscuity. 27 That is why I struck you with my fist and reduced your boundaries. I handed you over to your enemies, the Philistines, and even they were shocked by your lewd conduct. 28 You have prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, too. It seems you can never find enough new lovers! And after your prostitution there, you still were not satisfied. 29 You added to your lovers by embracing Babylonia,[a] the land of merchants, but you still weren’t satisfied.
30 “What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign Lord, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute. 31 You build your pagan shrines on every street corner and your altars to idols in every square. In fact, you have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even demanded payment. 32 Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband. 33 Prostitutes charge for their services—but not you! You give gifts to your lovers, bribing them to come and have sex with you. 34 So you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay your lovers instead of their paying you!
Judgment on Jerusalem’s Prostitution
35 “Therefore, you prostitute, listen to this message from the Lord! 36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you have poured out your lust and exposed yourself in prostitution to all your lovers, and because you have worshiped detestable idols,[b] and because you have slaughtered your children as sacrifices to your gods, 37 this is what I am going to do. I will gather together all your allies—the lovers with whom you have sinned, both those you loved and those you hated—and I will strip you naked in front of them so they can stare at you. 38 I will punish you for your murder and adultery. I will cover you with blood in my jealous fury. 39 Then I will give you to these many nations who are your lovers, and they will destroy you. They will knock down your pagan shrines and the altars to your idols. They will strip you and take your beautiful jewels, leaving you stark naked. 40 They will band together in a mob to stone you and cut you up with swords. 41 They will burn your homes and punish you in front of many women. I will stop your prostitution and end your payments to your many lovers.
42 “Then at last my fury against you will be spent, and my jealous anger will subside. I will be calm and will not be angry with you anymore. 43 But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by doing all these evil things, I will fully repay you for all of your sins, says the Sovereign Lord. For you have added lewd acts to all your detestable sins. 44 Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ 45 For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and so do you. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.
46 “Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south. 47 But you have not merely sinned as they did. You quickly surpassed them in corruption. 48 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. 49 Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. 50 She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen.[c]
51 “Even Samaria did not commit half your sins. You have done far more detestable things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you. 52 Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous.
53 “But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too. 54 Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison. 55 Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored. 56 In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt. 57 But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned—by Edom[d] and all her neighbors and by Philistia. 58 This is your punishment for all your lewdness and detestable sins, says the Lord.
59 “Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant. 60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. 62 And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
