Add parallel Print Page Options

God’s Unfaithful Bride

16 The Lord’s message came to me: “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominable practices and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord 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. As for your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water;[a] you were certainly not rubbed down with salt, nor wrapped with blankets.[b] No eye took pity on you to do even one of these things for you to spare you;[c] you were thrown out into the open field[d] because you were detested on the day you were born.

“‘I passed by you and saw you kicking around helplessly in your blood. I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!” I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!”[e] I made you plentiful like sprouts in a field; you grew tall and came of age so that you could wear jewelry. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, but you were still naked and bare.

“‘Then I passed by you and watched you, noticing[f] that you had reached the age for love.[g] I spread my cloak[h] over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you and entered into a marriage covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

“‘Then I bathed you in water, washed the blood off you, and anointed you with fragrant oil. 10 I dressed you in embroidered clothing and put fine leather sandals on your feet. I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 I adorned you with jewelry. I put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. 12 I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate the finest flour, honey, and olive oil. You became extremely beautiful and attained the position of royalty. 14 Your fame[i] spread among the nations because of your beauty; your beauty was perfect because of the splendor that I bestowed on you, declares the Sovereign Lord.[j]

15 “‘But you trusted in your beauty and capitalized on your fame by becoming a prostitute. You offered your sexual favors to every man who passed by so that your beauty[k] became his. 16 You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places; you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his.[l] 17 You also took your beautiful jewelry, made of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution[m] with them. 18 You took your embroidered clothing and used it to cover them; you offered my olive oil and my incense to them. 19 As for my food that I gave you—the fine flour, olive oil, and honey I fed you—you placed it before them as a soothing aroma. That is exactly what happened, declares the Sovereign Lord.

20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them[n] as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution was not enough, 21 you slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols.[o] 22 And with all your abominable practices and prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your blood.

23 “‘After all your evil—“Woe! Woe to you!” declares the Sovereign Lord 24 you built yourself a chamber[p] and put up a pavilion[q] in every public square. 25 At the head of every street you erected your pavilion, and you disgraced[r] your beauty when you spread[s] your legs to every passerby and multiplied your promiscuity. 26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors,[t] multiplying your promiscuity and provoking me to anger. 27 So see here, I have stretched out my hand against you and cut off your rations. I have delivered you into the power of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your obscene conduct. 28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians because your desires were insatiable; you prostituted yourself with them and yet you were still not satisfied. 29 Then you multiplied your promiscuity to the land of merchants, Babylonia,[u] but you were not satisfied there either.

30 “‘How sick is your heart, declares the Sovereign Lord, when you perform all these acts, the deeds of a bold prostitute. 31 When you built your chamber at the head of every street and put up your pavilion in every public square, you were not like a prostitute, because you scoffed at payment.[v]

32 “‘Adulterous wife, who prefers strangers instead of her own husband! 33 All prostitutes receive payment,[w] but instead you give gifts to every one of your lovers. You bribe them to come to you from all around for your sexual favors! 34 You were different from other prostitutes[x] because no one solicited you. When you gave payment and no payment was given to you, you became the opposite!

35 “‘Therefore, you prostitute, listen to the Lord’s message! 36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because your lust[y] was poured out and your nakedness was uncovered in your prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children you have given to them, 37 therefore, take note: I am about to gather all your lovers whom you enjoyed, both all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness.[z] 38 I will punish you as an adulteress and murderer deserves.[aa] I will avenge your bloody deeds with furious rage.[ab] 39 I will give you into their hands, and they will destroy your chambers and tear down your pavilions. They will strip you of your clothing and take your beautiful jewelry and leave you naked and bare. 40 They will summon a mob who will stone you and hack you in pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn down your houses and execute judgments on you in front of many women. Thus I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer give gifts to your clients.[ac] 42 I will exhaust my rage on you, and then my fury will turn from you. I will calm down and no longer be angry.

43 “‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth and have enraged me with all these deeds, I hereby repay you for what you have done,[ad] declares the Sovereign Lord. Have you not engaged in prostitution on top of all your other abominable practices?

44 “‘Observe—everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” 45 You are the daughter of your mother, who detested her husband and her sons, and you are the sister of your sisters, who detested their husbands and their sons. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived north[ae] of you with her daughters, and your younger sister, who lived south[af] of you, was Sodom[ag] with her daughters. 47 Have you not copied their behavior[ah] and practiced their abominable deeds? In a short time[ai] you became even more depraved in all your conduct than they were! 48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never behaved as wickedly as you and your daughters have behaved.

49 “‘See here—this was the iniquity[aj] of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help[ak] the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and practiced abominable deeds before me. Therefore, when I saw it I removed them. 51 Samaria has not committed half the sins you have; you have done more abominable deeds than they did.[al] You have made your sisters appear righteous with all the abominable things you have done. 52 So now, bear your disgrace, because you have given your sisters reason to justify their behavior.[am] Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed and bear the disgrace of making your sisters appear righteous.

53 “‘I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters (along with your fortunes among them), 54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in consoling them. 55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status, Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status, and you and your daughters will be restored to your former status. 56 In your days of majesty,[an] was not Sodom your sister a byword in your mouth, 57 before your evil was exposed? Now you have become an object of scorn to the daughters of Aram[ao] and all those around her and to the daughters of the Philistines—those all around you who despise you. 58 You must bear your punishment for your obscene conduct and your abominable practices, declares the Lord.

59 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you according to what you have done when you despised your oath by breaking your covenant. 60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish a lasting[ap] covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember your conduct, and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you. 62 I will establish my covenant with you, and then you will know that I am the Lord. 63 Then you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent[aq] because of your disgrace when I make atonement for all you have done,[ar] declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 16:4 tn Heb “in water you were not washed for cleansing” or “with water you were not washed smooth” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:473, n. 57, for a discussion of possible meanings of this hapax legomenon).
  2. Ezekiel 16:4 sn Arab midwives still cut the umbilical cords of infants and then proceed to apply salt and oil to their bodies.
  3. Ezekiel 16:5 sn These verbs, “pity” and “spare,” echo the judgment oracles in 5:11; 7:4, 9; 8:18; 9:5, 10.
  4. Ezekiel 16:5 sn A similar concept is found in Deut 32:10.
  5. Ezekiel 16:6 tc The translation reflects the Hebrew text, which repeats the statement, perhaps for emphasis. However, a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Old Greek, and the Syriac do not include the repetition. The statement could have been accidentally repeated, or the second occurrence could have been accidentally omitted. Based on the available evidence it is difficult to know which is more likely.
  6. Ezekiel 16:8 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a participle.
  7. Ezekiel 16:8 tn See similar use of this term in Ezek 23:17; Prov 7:16; Song of Songs 4:10; 7:13.
  8. Ezekiel 16:8 tn Heb “wing” or “skirt.” The gesture symbolized acquiring a woman in early Arabia (similarly, see Deut 22:30; Ruth 3:9).
  9. Ezekiel 16:14 tn Heb “name.”
  10. Ezekiel 16:14 sn The description of the nation Israel in vv. 10-14 recalls the splendor of the nation’s golden age under King Solomon.
  11. Ezekiel 16:15 tn Heb “it” (so KJV, ASV); the referent (the beauty in which the prostitute trusted; see the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  12. Ezekiel 16:16 tc The text as written in the MT is incomprehensible (“not coming [plural] and he will not”). Driver has suggested a copying error of similar-sounding words, specifically לֹא (loʾ) for לוֹ (lo). The feminine participle בָאוֹת (vaʾot) has also been read as the feminine perfect בָאת (vaʾt). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:228, n. 15.b, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:486, n. 137.
  13. Ezekiel 16:17 tn Or perhaps “and worshiped them,” if the word “prostitution” is understood in a figurative rather than a literal sense (cf. CEV, NLT).
  14. Ezekiel 16:20 sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.
  15. Ezekiel 16:21 tn Heb “and you gave them, by passing them through to them.” Some believe this alludes to the pagan practice of making children pass through the fire.
  16. Ezekiel 16:24 tn The Hebrew גֶּב (gev) may represent more than one word, each rare in the Old Testament. It may refer to a “mound” or to “rafters.” The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate interpret this as a brothel.
  17. Ezekiel 16:24 tn Or “lofty place” (NRSV). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:229, and B. Lang, Frau Weisheit, 137.
  18. Ezekiel 16:25 tn Heb “treated as if abominable,” i.e., repudiated.
  19. Ezekiel 16:25 tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew root is found in Prov 13:3 in reference to the talkative person who habitually “opens wide” his lips.
  20. Ezekiel 16:26 tn Heb “your neighbors, large of flesh.” The word “flesh” is used here of the genitals. It may simply refer to the size of their genitals in general, or that they are lustful.
  21. Ezekiel 16:29 tn Heb “Chaldea.” The name of the tribal group ruling Babylon (“Chaldeans”) and the territory from which they originated (“Chaldea”) are used as metonymy for the whole empire of Babylon.
  22. Ezekiel 16:31 tn The Hebrew term, which also occurs in vv. 34 and 41 of this chapter, always refers to the payment of a prostitute (Deut 23:19; Isa 23:17; Hos 9:1; Mic 1:7).
  23. Ezekiel 16:33 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
  24. Ezekiel 16:34 tn Heb “With you it was opposite of women in your prostitution.”
  25. Ezekiel 16:36 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
  26. Ezekiel 16:37 sn Harlots suffered degradation when their nakedness was exposed (Jer 13:22, 26; Hos 2:12; Nah 3:5).
  27. Ezekiel 16:38 tn Heb “and I will judge you (with) the judgments of adulteresses and of those who shed blood.”
  28. Ezekiel 16:38 tn Heb “and I will give you the blood of rage and zeal.”
  29. Ezekiel 16:41 tn The words “to your clients” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.
  30. Ezekiel 16:43 tn Heb “your way on (your) head I have placed.”
  31. Ezekiel 16:46 tn Heb “left.”
  32. Ezekiel 16:46 tn Heb “right.”
  33. Ezekiel 16:46 sn Sodom was the epitome of evil (Deut 29:23; 32:32; Isa 1:9-10; 3:9; Jer 23:14; Lam 4:6; Matt 10:15; 11:23-24; Jude 7).
  34. Ezekiel 16:47 tn Heb “walked in their ways.”
  35. Ezekiel 16:47 tn The Hebrew expression has a temporal meaning as illustrated by the use of the phrase in 2 Chr 12:7.
  36. Ezekiel 16:49 tn Or “guilt.”
  37. Ezekiel 16:49 tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”
  38. Ezekiel 16:51 tn Or “you have multiplied your abominable deeds beyond them.”
  39. Ezekiel 16:52 tn Heb “because you have interceded for your sisters with your sins.”
  40. Ezekiel 16:56 tn Or “pride.”
  41. Ezekiel 16:57 tc So MT, LXX, and Vulgate; many Hebrew mss and the Syriac read “Edom.”
  42. Ezekiel 16:60 tn Or “eternal.”
  43. Ezekiel 16:63 tn Heb “and your mouth will not be open any longer.”
  44. Ezekiel 16:63 tn Heb “when I make atonement for you for all that you have done.”

16 Again the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations; and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto Jerusalem: [a]Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was thy father, and thy mother was a Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to cleanse thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. No eye pitied thee, to do any of these things unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, for that thy person was abhorred, in the day that thou wast born.

And when I passed by thee, and saw thee weltering in thy blood, I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live. I [b]caused thee to multiply as that which groweth in the field, and thou didst increase and wax great, and thou attainedst to [c]excellent ornament; thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair was grown; yet thou wast naked and bare. 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 Jehovah, and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. 10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with [d]sealskin, and I [e]girded thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk. 11 And I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. 12 And I put a ring upon thy nose, and ear-rings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy 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 unto royal estate. 14 And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord Jehovah.

15 But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by; his it was. 16 And thou didst take of thy garments, and madest for thee high places decked with divers colors, and playedst the harlot upon them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. 17 Thou didst also take thy [f]fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee [g]images of men, and didst play the harlot with them; 18 and thou tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them, and didst set mine oil and mine incense before them. 19 My bread also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou didst even set it before them for a sweet savor; and thus it was, saith the Lord Jehovah. 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. Were thy whoredoms a small matter, 21 that thou hast slain my children, and delivered them up, in [h]causing them to pass through the fire unto 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 weltering in thy blood.

23 And it is come to pass after all thy wickedness (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord Jehovah), 24 that thou hast built unto thee a vaulted place, and hast made thee a lofty place in every street. 25 Thou hast built thy lofty place at the head of every way, and hast made thy beauty an abomination, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredom. 26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians, thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast multiplied thy whoredom, to provoke me to anger. 27 Behold therefore, I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine [i]ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, that are ashamed of thy lewd way. 28 Thou hast played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet thou wast not satisfied. 29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy whoredom unto the land of [j]traffic, unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.

30 How weak is thy heart, saith the Lord Jehovah, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an impudent harlot; 31 in that thou buildest thy vaulted place at the head of every way, and makest thy lofty place in every street, and hast not been as a harlot, [k]in that thou scornest hire. 32 A wife that committeth adultery! that taketh strangers instead of her husband! 33 They give gifts to all harlots; but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and bribest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredoms. 34 And thou art different from other women in thy whoredoms, in that none followeth thee to play the harlot; and whereas thou givest hire, and no hire is given unto thee, therefore thou art different.

35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah: 36 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thy [l]filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness uncovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers; and because of all the idols of thy abominations, and for the blood of thy children, that thou didst give unto them; 37 therefore behold, 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 against thee on every side, and will uncover 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 bring upon thee the blood of wrath and jealousy. 39 I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy vaulted place, and break down thy lofty places; and they shall strip thee of thy clothes, and take thy fair jewels; and they shall 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 thy 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 shalt also give no hire any more. 42 So will I cause my wrath 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 raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring thy way upon thy head, saith the Lord Jehovah: and [m]thou shalt not commit this lewdness with 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 the daughter of thy mother, that loatheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite. 46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, that dwelleth at thy left hand, she and her daughters; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. 47 Yet hast thou not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast more corrupt than they in all thy ways. 48 As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, 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 prosperous ease 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 [n]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 by all thine abominations which thou hast done. 52 Thou also, bear thou thine own shame, in that thou hast given judgment for thy [o]sisters; through thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou also confounded, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

53 And I will [p]turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them; 54 that thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be ashamed because of all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. 55 And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and 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 uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, that do despite unto thee round about. 58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith Jehovah. 59 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also deal with thee as thou hast done, who 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 shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder sisters 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 Jehovah; 63 that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I have forgiven thee all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 16:3 Or, Thine origin
  2. Ezekiel 16:7 Hebrew made thee a myriad.
  3. Ezekiel 16:7 Hebrew ornament of ornaments.
  4. Ezekiel 16:10 Or, porpoise-skin
  5. Ezekiel 16:10 Or, bound thee with attire of fine linen
  6. Ezekiel 16:17 Or, beautiful vessels
  7. Ezekiel 16:17 Or, male images
  8. Ezekiel 16:21 Or, setting them apart. Hebrew making them pass over.
  9. Ezekiel 16:27 Or, allowance
  10. Ezekiel 16:29 Or, Canaan
  11. Ezekiel 16:31 Or, that scoffeth at her hire
  12. Ezekiel 16:36 Hebrew brass.
  13. Ezekiel 16:43 Or, hast thou not committed etc.?
  14. Ezekiel 16:50 Or, when I saw it
  15. Ezekiel 16:52 Or, sister
  16. Ezekiel 16:53 Or, return to