Ezekiel 14:12-16:41
New American Standard Bible
The City Will Not Be Spared
12 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 13 “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by (A)being unfaithful, and I stretch out My hand against it, [a]destroy its (B)supply of bread, send famine against it, and eliminate from it both human and animal life, 14 even (C)though these three men, (D)Noah, (E)Daniel, and (F)Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only save (G)themselves,” declares the Lord God. 15 “If I were to cause (H)vicious animals to pass through the land and they [b]depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the animals, 16 though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters. (I)They alone would be saved, but the country would be desolate. 17 Or if I were to (J)bring a sword on that country and say, ‘A sword is to pass through the country,’ and I (K)eliminated human and animal life from it, 18 even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved. 19 Or if I were to send a (L)plague against that country and pour out My wrath on it in blood to eliminate man and animal from it, 20 even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their son or their daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.”
21 For this is what the Lord God says: “How much more when (M)I send My four [c]severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, vicious animals, and plague to eliminate human and animal life from it! 22 Yet, behold, [d]survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come out to you, and you will (N)see their conduct and actions; then you will be (O)comforted for the disaster which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. 23 Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done (P)without reason whatever I did [e]to it,” declares the Lord God.
Jerusalem like a Useless Vine
15 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, [f]how is the wood of the (Q)vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3 Can wood be taken from it to make [g]anything, or can even a peg be taken from it on which to hang any utensil? 4 If it has been put into the (R)fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred, is it then good for [h]anything? 5 Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into [i]anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into [j]anything! 6 Therefore, this is what the Lord [k]God says: ‘As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 7 and I (S)set My face against them. Though they have (T)come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. 8 So I will make the land desolate, because they have (U)acted unfaithfully,’” declares the Lord God.
God’s Grace to Unfaithful Jerusalem
16 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, (V)make known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, ‘This is what the Lord [l]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, (W)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 [m](X)open field, [n]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 (Y)made you [o]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, [p]you were at the time for love; so I (Z)spread My [q]garment over you and covered your nakedness. I also (AA)swore an oath to you and (AB)entered into a covenant with you so that you (AC)became Mine,” declares the Lord God. 9 “Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you, and (AD)anointed you with oil. 10 I also clothed you with (AE)colorfully woven cloth and put sandals of [r]fine leather on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 I adorned you with jewelry, put (AF)bracelets on your wrists, and a (AG)necklace around your neck. 12 I also put a (AH)ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a (AI)beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with (AJ)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 (AK)royalty. 14 Then your (AL)fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was (AM)perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord God.
15 “But you (AN)trusted in your beauty and (AO)became unfaithful because of your fame, and you poured out your [s]obscene practices on every passer-by to whom it might be tempting. 16 You took some of your clothes, made for yourself [t]high places of various colors, and committed prostitution on them, which should not come about nor happen. 17 You also took your beautiful [u](AP)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 (AQ)My bread which I gave you, fine flour, oil, and honey with which I fed you, [v]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 (AR)Me and (AS)sacrificed them to [w]idols to be devoured. Were your obscene practices a trivial matter? 21 You slaughtered (AT)My children and offered them to [x]idols by (AU)making them pass through the fire. 22 And besides all your abominations and obscene practices, you did not remember the days of (AV)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 (AW)shrine and made yourself a (AX)high place in every public square. 25 You built yourself a high place at the beginning of (AY)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 [y]lustful neighbors, and multiplied your obscene practice to (AZ)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 (BA)daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your outrageous conduct. 28 Moreover, you committed prostitution with the (BB)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 (BC)feverish is your heart,” declares the Lord God, “while you do all these things, the action of a [z](BD)bold prostitute! 31 When you built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every public square, in (BE)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 (BF)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 (BG)idols, and because of the blood of your sons that you gave to [aa]idols, 37 therefore, behold, I am going to (BH)gather all your lovers whom you pleased, all those whom you loved as well as all those whom you (BI)hated. So I will gather them against you from every direction and (BJ)expose your nakedness to them so that they may see all your nakedness. 38 So I will (BK)judge you as women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of (BL)wrath and jealousy. 39 I will also hand you over to [ab]your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, (BM)strip you of your clothing, take away your [ac]jewels, and will leave you naked and bare. 40 They will [ad]incite a (BN)crowd against you, and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 And they will (BO)burn your houses with fire and execute judgments against you in the sight of many women. Then I will (BP)put an end to your prostitution, and you will also no longer pay [ae]your lovers.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 14:13 Lit break its staff
- Ezekiel 14:15 Lit bereaved it of children
- Ezekiel 14:21 Lit evil
- Ezekiel 14:22 Lit a survivor
- Ezekiel 14:23 Lit in
- Ezekiel 15:2 Or of all the wood of the branches...what becomes of the wood of the vine
- Ezekiel 15:3 Lit a work
- Ezekiel 15:4 Lit a work
- Ezekiel 15:5 Lit a work
- Ezekiel 15:5 Lit a work
- Ezekiel 15:6 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
- 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 14:12-16:41
New Living Translation
The Certainty of the Lord’s Judgment
12 Then this message came to me from the Lord: 13 “Son of man, suppose the people of a country were to sin against me, and I lifted my fist to crush them, cutting off their food supply and sending a famine to destroy both people and animals. 14 Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, their righteousness would save no one but themselves, says the Sovereign Lord.
15 “Or suppose I were to send wild animals to invade the country, kill the people, and make the land too desolate and dangerous to pass through. 16 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, even if those three men were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be made desolate.
17 “Or suppose I were to bring war against the land, and I sent enemy armies to destroy both people and animals. 18 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, even if those three men were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.
19 “Or suppose I were to pour out my fury by sending an epidemic into the land, and the disease killed people and animals alike. 20 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved by their righteousness.
21 “Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How terrible it will be when all four of these dreadful punishments fall upon Jerusalem—war, famine, wild animals, and disease—destroying all her people and animals. 22 Yet there will be survivors, and they will come here to join you as exiles in Babylon. You will see with your own eyes how wicked they are, and then you will feel better about what I have done to Jerusalem. 23 When you meet them and see their behavior, you will understand that these things are not being done to Israel without cause. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
Jerusalem—a Useless Vine
15 Then this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine’s wood as useful as the wood of a tree? 3 Can its wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans? 4 No, it can only be used for fuel, and even as fuel, it burns too quickly. 5 Vines are useless both before and after being put into the fire!
6 “And this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Jerusalem are like grapevines growing among the trees of the forest. Since they are useless, I have thrown them on the fire to be burned. 7 And I will see to it that if they escape from one fire, they will fall into another. When I turn against them, you will know that I am the Lord. 8 And I will make the land desolate because my people have been unfaithful to me. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
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.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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.
