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Jerusalem—an Unfaithful Wife

16 Then another message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins. Give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 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. 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.

“But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ 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. 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.

“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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Footnotes

  1. 16:29 Or Chaldea.
  2. 16:36 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
  3. 16:50 As in a few Hebrew manuscripts and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads as I have seen.
  4. 16:57 As in many Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac version; Masoretic Text reads Aram.

16 Then again a message came to me from the Lord.

“Son of dust,” he said, “speak to Jerusalem about her loathsome sins. Tell her, ‘The Lord God says: You are no better than the people of Canaan—your father must have been an Amorite and your mother a Hittite![a] When you were born, no one cared for you. When I first saw you, your umbilical cord was uncut, and you had been neither washed nor rubbed with salt nor clothed. No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On that day when you were born, you were dumped out into a field and left to die, unwanted.

6-7 “‘But I came by and saw you there, covered with your own blood, and I said, “Live! Thrive like a plant in the field!” And you did! You grew up and became tall, slender and supple, a jewel among jewels. And when you reached the age of maidenhood, your breasts were full-formed and your pubic hair had grown; yet you were naked.

“‘Later, when I passed by and saw you again, you were old enough for marriage; and I wrapped my cloak around you to legally declare my marriage vow. I signed a covenant with you, and you became mine. 9-10 Then, when the marriage had taken place, I gave you beautiful clothes of linens and silk, embroidered, and sandals made of dolphin hide. 11 I gave you lovely ornaments, bracelets, and beautiful necklaces, 12 a ring for your nose and two more for your ears, and a lovely tiara for your head. 13 And so you were made beautiful with gold and silver, and your clothes were silk and linen and beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! 14 Your reputation was great among the nations for your beauty; it was perfect because of all the gifts I gave you,’” says the Lord God.

15 “‘But you thought you could get along without me—you trusted in your beauty instead; and you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was his for the asking. 16 You used the lovely things I gave you for making idol shrines and to decorate your bed of prostitution. Unbelievable! There has never been anything like it before! 17 You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I gave to you and made statues of men and worshiped them, which is adultery against me. 18 You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you—to cover your idols! And used my oil and incense to worship them! 19 You set before them as a lovely sacrifice—imagine it—the fine flour and oil and honey I gave you! 20 And you took my sons and daughters you had borne to me and sacrificed them to your gods; and they are gone. Wasn’t it enough that you should be a prostitute? 21 Must you also slay my children by sacrificing them to idols?

22 “‘And in all these years of adultery and sin you have not thought of those days long ago when you were naked and covered with blood.

23 “‘And then, in addition to all your other wickedness—woe, woe upon you, says the Lord God— 24 you built a spacious brothel for your lovers and idol altars on every street, 25 and there you offered your beauty to every man who came by, in an endless stream of prostitution. 26 And you added lustful Egypt to your prostitutions by your alliance with her. My anger is great.

27 “‘Therefore I have crushed you with my fist; I have reduced your boundaries and delivered you into the hands of those who hate you—the Philistines—and even they are ashamed of you.

28 “‘You have committed adultery with the Assyrians too by making them your allies and worshiping their gods;[b] it seems that you can never find enough new gods. After your adultery there, you still weren’t satisfied, 29 so you worshiped the gods of that great merchant land of Babylon—and you still weren’t satisfied. 30 What a filthy heart you have, says the Lord God, to do such things as these; you are a brazen prostitute, 31 building your idol altars, your brothels, on every street. You have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even charged for your love! 32 Yes, you are an adulterous wife who lives with other men instead of her own husband. 33-34 Prostitutes charge for their services—men pay with many gifts. But not you, you give them gifts, bribing them to come to you! So you are different from other prostitutes. But you had to pay them, for no one wanted you.

35 “‘O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: 36 This is what the Lord God says! Because I see your filthy sins, your adultery with your lovers—your worshiping of idols—and the slaying of your children as sacrifices to your gods, 37 this is what I am going to do: I will gather together all your allies—these lovers of yours you have sinned with, both those you loved and those you hated—and I will make you naked before them that they may see you. 38 I will punish you as a murderess is punished and as a woman breaking wedlock living with other men. 39 I will give you to your lovers—these many nations—to destroy, and they will knock down your brothels and idol altars. They will strip you, take your beautiful jewels, and leave you naked and ashamed. 40-41 They will burn your homes, punishing you before the eyes of many women. And I will see to it that you stop your adulteries with other gods and end your payments to your allies for their love.

42 “‘Then at last my fury against you will die away; my jealousy against you will end, and I will be quiet and not be angry with you anymore. 43 But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by all these evil things you do, I will fully repay you for all of your sins,’” says the Lord. “‘For you are thankless in addition to all your other faults.

44 “‘“Like mother, like daughter”—that is what everyone will say of you. 45 For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and you do too. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly, your mother must have been a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

46 “‘Your older sister is Samaria, living with her daughters north of you; your younger sister is Sodom and her daughters, in the south. 47 You have not merely sinned as they do—no, that was nothing to you; in a very short time you far surpassed them.

48 “‘As I live, the Lord God says, Sodom and her daughters have never been as wicked as you and your daughters. 49 Your sister Sodom’s sins were pride, laziness, and too much food, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. 50 She insolently worshiped many idols as I watched. Therefore I crushed her.

51 “‘Even Samaria has not committed half your sins. You have worshiped idols far more than your sisters have; they seem almost righteous in comparison with you! 52 Don’t be surprised then by the lighter punishment they get. For your sins are so awful that in comparison with you, your sisters seem innocent! 53 (But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria again, and those of Judah too.) 54 Your terrible punishment will be a consolation to them, for it will be greater than theirs.

55 “‘Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored again, and Judah, too, will prosper in that day. 56 In your proud days you held Sodom in unspeakable contempt. 57 But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned—by Edom and all her neighbors and by all the Philistines. 58 This is part of your punishment for all your sins,’” says the Lord.

59-60 For the Lord God says: “I will repay you for your broken promises. You lightly broke your solemn vows to me, yet I will keep the pledge I made to you when you were young. I will establish an everlasting covenant with you forever, 61 and you will remember with shame all the evil you have done; and you will be overcome by my favor when I take your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, and make them your daughters, for you to rule over. You will know you don’t deserve this gracious act, for you did not keep my covenant. 62 I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know I am the Lord. 63 Despite all you have done, I will be kind to you again; you will cover your mouth in silence and in shame when I forgive you all that you have done,” says the Lord God.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 16:3 your father must have been an Amorite and your mother a Hittite! The Amorites and Hittites were nations who turned their backs to all knowledge of God.
  2. Ezekiel 16:28 by making them your allies and worshiping their gods, implied.