27 Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you (A)and diminished your allotted portion (B)and delivered you to the greed of your enemies, (C)the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. 28 (D)You played the whore also (E)with the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied. 29 You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land (F)of Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.

30 “How sick is your heart,[a] declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, 31 building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, (G)because you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, (H)but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. 34 So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and (I)you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.

35 “Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: 36 Thus says the Lord God, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, (J)and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, 37 therefore, behold, (K)I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and (L)all those you hated. (M)I will gather them against you from every side (N)and will uncover your nakedness to them, that (O)they may see all your nakedness. 38 (P)And I will judge you (Q)as women who commit adultery and (R)shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. 39 And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your (S)vaulted chamber and break down (T)your lofty places. (U)They shall strip you of your clothes and take (V)your beautiful jewels and leave you (W)naked and bare. 40 (X)They shall bring up a crowd against you, (Y)and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 (Z)And they shall (AA)burn your houses and (AB)execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. (AC)I will make you stop playing the whore, and (AD)you shall also give payment no more. 42 (AE)So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry. 43 Because you have not remembered (AF)the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, (AG)I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not (AH)committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

44 “Behold, everyone (AI)who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ 45 You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of (AJ)your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. (AK)Your mother was a Hittite and (AL)your father an Amorite. 46 And (AM)your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and (AN)your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. 47 (AO)Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time (AP)you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 (AQ)As I live, declares the Lord God, your sister (AR)Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. 49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, (AS)excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 16:30 Revocalization yields How I am filled with anger against you

27 So I stretched out my hand(A) against you and reduced your territory; I gave you over(B) to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines,(C) who were shocked by your lewd conduct. 28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians(D) too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied.(E) 29 Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia,[a](F) a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied.(G)

30 “‘I am filled with fury against you,[b] declares the Sovereign Lord, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute!(H) 31 When you built your mounds at every street corner and made your lofty shrines(I) in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

32 “‘You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! 33 All prostitutes receive gifts,(J) but you give gifts(K) to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.(L) 34 So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.

35 “‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord! 36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your naked body in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood,(M) 37 therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip(N) you in front of them, and they will see you stark naked.(O) 38 I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood;(P) I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger.(Q) 39 Then I will deliver you into the hands(R) of your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you stark naked.(S) 40 They will bring a mob against you, who will stone(T) you and hack you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn down(U) your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women.(V) I will put a stop(W) to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. 42 Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.(X)

43 “‘Because you did not remember(Y) the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down(Z) on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices?(AA)

44 “‘Everyone who quotes proverbs(AB) will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” 45 You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised(AC) her husband(AD) and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.(AE) 46 Your older sister(AF) was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom.(AG) 47 You not only followed their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they.(AH) 48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign(AI) Lord, your sister Sodom(AJ) and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.(AK)

49 “‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom:(AL) She and her daughters were arrogant,(AM) overfed and unconcerned;(AN) they did not help the poor and needy.(AO)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 16:29 Or Chaldea
  2. Ezekiel 16:30 Or How feverish is your heart,