Beginning

16 Again the Devar Hashem came unto me, saying,

² Ben adam, cause Yerushalayim to know her to’avot (abominations),

³ And say, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem unto Yerushalayim: Thy origin and thy birth are from Eretz HaKena’ani; avicha was HaEmori (the Amorite) and your em Chittit (a Hittite).

⁴ And as for thy moledot (birth), in the day thou wast born thy navel cord was not cut, neither wast thou washed in mayim to cleanse thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

⁵ None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out into the open sadeh, when thou thyself were loathed, in your yom huledet (day of birth).

⁶ And when I passed by thee, and saw thee flailing about in thine own dahm, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy dahm, Chayi! (live!) Indeed, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy dahm, Chayi!

⁷ I have caused thee to multiply as the tzemach of the sadeh, and thou hast increased and matured, and thou art come to excellent beauty; thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast erom (naked) and bare.

⁸ Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, hinei, thy time was the time of dodim (love); and I spread My kanaf (wing, corner of garment) over thee, and covered thy ervah (nakedness); indeed, I swore an oath unto thee, and entered into a brit with thee, saith Adonoi Hashem, and thou becamest Mine.

⁹ Then washed I thee with mayim; indeed, I thoroughly washed away thy dahm from thee, and I anointed thee with shemen.

¹⁰ I clothed thee also with embroidered cloth, and shod thee with tachash leather, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

¹¹ I decked thee also with jewelry, and I put tzemidim (bracelets) upon thy hands, and a necklace chain on thy neck.

¹² And I put a nezem (ring) in thy nose, and earrings in thine oznayim, and an ateret tiferet upon thine rosh.

¹³ Thus wast thou decked with zahav and kesef; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth; thou didst eat fine flour, and devash, and shemen; and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst become fit for royalty.

¹⁴ And thy shem (name, renown) went forth among the Goyim on account of thy beauty; for it was perfect, through My hadar (splendor) which I had set upon thee, saith Adonoi Hashem.

¹⁵ But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the zonah because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy harlotry on every one that passed by; his it became.

¹⁶ And of thy begadim thou didst take, and adorned thy bamot te’lu’ot (gaudy high places, cult prostitution brilliantly colored harlot "beds"), and playedst the zonah thereupon; such things should not come, neither should they be.

¹⁷ Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of My zahav and of My kesef, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself tzelamim (images) of zakhar (male, i.e., phallic symbols), and didst play the zonah with them,

¹⁸ And tookest thy embroidered garments, and coveredst them [the idols]; and thou hast set Mine shemen and Mine ketoret before them [the idols].

¹⁹ My lechem also which I gave thee, solet (fine flour), and shemen, and devash, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them [the idols] for a re’ach hannichoach; and it was thus, saith Adonoi Hashem.

²⁰ Moreover thou hast taken thy banim and thy banot, whom thou hast borne unto Me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them [the idols] to be devoured. Was this thy zonah harlotry not enough,

²¹ That thou hast slaughtered My banim, and offered them to cause them to pass through the eish for them [the idols]?

²² And in all thine to’avot and thy zonah harlotry thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast erom (naked) and bare, and wast flailing about in thy dahm.

²³ And it came to pass after all thy ra’ah (wickedness)‖Oy, oy unto thee! saith Adonoi Hashem.

²⁴ That thou hast also built unto thee a gev (eminent place, cult prostitution shrine), and hast made thee a ramah (platform) in every rechov (public square).

²⁵ Thou hast built thy ramah at rosh derech (crossroad), and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast spread open thy raglayim to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy zonah harlotry.

²⁶ Thou hast also played the zonah fornicator with the Mitzrayim, thy very fleshy neighbors; and hast increased thy zonah harlotry, to provoke Me to anger.

²⁷ Hinei, therefore I have stretched out My yad against thee, and have diminished thine food ration, and delivered thee unto the nefesh (passionate desire) of them that hate thee, the banot Pelishtim (daughters of the Philistines), which are ashamed of thy derech zimmah (lewd deportment).

²⁸ Thou hast played the zonah also with Ashur, because thou wast insatiable; indeed, thou hast played the zonah with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

²⁹ Thou hast moreover multiplied thy zenut to eretz Kena’an unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied therewith.

³⁰ How degenerate is thine lev, saith Adonoi Hashem, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of a brazen isha zonah;

³¹ In that thou buildest thine gev in rosh kol derech, and makest thine ramah in every rechov; and hast not been as a zonah, in that thou scornest hire;

³² But as the isha (wife) the mena’efet (one that commiteth adultery), which taketh zarim instead of her ish!

³³ They give nedeh (gifts) to all zonot; but thou givest thy nadan (gift) to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy zenut.

³⁴ And the opposite is in thee from other nashim in thy zonah harlotry, whereas none doth solicit thee to commit zonah harlotry: and in that thou givest an etnan (payment), and no etnan is given unto thee, therefore thou art opposite.

³⁵ Therefore, O zonah, hear the Devar Hashem.

³⁶ Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Because thy passion was poured out, and thy ervah uncovered through thy zonah harlotry with thy lovers, and with all the gillulim (idols) of thy to’avot, and by the dahm of thy banim, which thou didst give unto them;

³⁷ Hineni, therefore 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 around about against thee, and will uncover thy ervah (nakedness) unto them, that they may see all thy ervah (nakedness, pudenda).

³⁸ And I will judge thee, as nashim that are guilty of no’afot (acts of adulteresses, breaking wedlock) and shefach dahm are judged; and I will bring dahm upon thee in chemah (wrath) and kina (jealousy).

³⁹ And I will also give thee into their yad, and they shall throw down thine gev, and shall break down thy ramot (high places, cult prostitution sites of pagan worship); they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee erom (naked) and bare.

⁴⁰ They shall also bring up a kahal against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and hack thee to bits with their charavot (swords).

⁴¹ And they shall burn thine batim (houses) with eish, and execute shefatim (judgments) upon thee in the sight of many nashim; and I will cause thee to cease from playing the zonah, and thou also shalt give no etnan (payment) any more.

⁴² So will I make My chemah (wrath) toward thee to rest, and My kina (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 provoked Me in all these things; therefore surely I also will repay thy derech upon thine rosh, saith Adonoi Hashem; and thou shalt not commit this zimmah (lewdness) in addition to all thine to’avot.

⁴⁴ Hinei, every one that useth proverbs shall use this mashal against thee, saying, As is the imma (mother), so is her bat (daughter).

⁴⁵ Thou art bat of thy em, that despised her ish and her banim; and thou art the achot (sister) of thy akhayot, which despised their anashim and their banim; your em was a Chittit (Hittite), and your av an Emori (Amorite).

⁴⁶ And thine elder achot (sister) is Shomron, she and her banot that dwell to thy north; and thy younger achot, that dwelleth to thy south, is Sodom and her banot.

⁴⁷ Yet hast thou not walked after their drakhim, nor done after their to’avot; but, as if that were too little a thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy drakhim.

⁴⁸ As I live, saith Adonoi Hashem, Sodom thy achot (sister) hath not done, she nor her banot, as thou hast done, thou and thy banot.

⁴⁹ Hinei, this was the avon Sodom thy achot; ga’on (pride), over fullness of lechem, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her banot, neither did she strengthen the yad of the oni (poor) and evyon (needy).

⁵⁰ And they were haughty, and committed to’evah before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw.

⁵¹ Neither hath Shomron committed half of thy chattot (sins); but thou hast multiplied thine to’avot more than they, and hast made thy akhayot (sisters) seem righteous in all thine to’avot which thou hast done.

⁵² Thou also, which hast judged thy akhayot (sisters), bear thine own shame for thy chattot (sins) that thou hast committed more abominable than theirs; they are more righteous than thou; indeed, be thou disgraced also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast made thy akhayot (sisters) seem righteous.

⁵³ When I shall restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her banot, and the fortunes of Shomron and her banot, then will I restore the fortunes of thy fortune among them:

⁵⁴ That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be disgraced in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.

⁵⁵ When thy akhayot (sisters), Sodom and her banot, shall return to their former state, and Shomron and her banot shall return to their former state, then thou and thy banot shall return to your former state.

⁵⁶ For thy achot (sister) Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy ga’on (pride),

⁵⁷ Before thy ra’ah (wickedness) was uncovered, as at the time of the cherpah (disgrace) of the banot Aram (Syria), and all that are around her, the banot of the Pelishtim (Philistines), which despise thee all around.

⁵⁸ Thou hast borne [the penalty of] thy zimmah (lewdness) and thine to’avot, saith Hashem.

⁵⁹ For thus saith Adonoi Hashem: I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the brit (covenant).

⁶⁰ Nevertheless I will remember My Brit (covenant) with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee a Brit Olam.

⁶¹ Then thou shalt remember thy drakhim, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy akhayot (sisters), thine elder and thy younger; and I will give them unto thee for banot, but not because of thy brit (convenant) [i.e., Sodom and Shomron had no covenant with Hashem].

⁶² And I will establish My Brit (covenant) with thee; and thou shalt know that I am Hashem;

⁶³ That thou mayest remember, and be ashamed, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I have made kapporah (atonement, i.e., when I am pacified, appeased) toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith Adonoi Hashem.

17 And the Devar Hashem came unto me, saying,

² Ben adam, put forth an allegory, and speak a mashal unto the Bais Yisroel;

³ And say, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: A nesher hagadol with great kenafayim (wings), long pinions, full of plumage, which had various colors, came unto Levanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar.

⁴ He broke off its topmost young twig, and carried it into an eretz kena’an (land of trade); he set it in a city of merchants [i.e., Babylon].

⁵ He took also of the zera of ha’aretz, and planted it in a fertile sadeh; he placed it by abundant mayim, and set it out like a willow tree.

⁶ And it yitzmach (sprouted), and became a spreading gefen of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him; so it became a gefen (vine), and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

⁷ There was also another nesher hagadol with great kenafayim (wings) and many feathers; and, hinei, this gefen (vine) did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows where it had been planted.

⁸ It was planted in a sadeh tov by mayim rabbim, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear p’ri, that it might be a majestic gefen.

⁹ Say thou, Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Shall it thrive? Shall he not pull up the shorashim (roots) thereof, and cut off the p’ri (fruit) thereof, that it wither? All of its tzemach (sprouted) leaves shall wither, even without great power or many peoples to pluck it up by the shorashim (roots) thereof.

¹⁰ Indeed, hinei, being transplanted, shall it thrive? Shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the furrows where it tzemach (sprouted).

¹¹ Moreover the Devar Hashem came unto me, saying,

¹² Say now to bais hameri (the rebellious house), Know ye not what these things mean? Tell them: Hinei, Melech Bavel is come to Yerushalayim, and hath taken HaMelech thereof, and the sarim thereof, and led them with him to Bavel;

¹³ And hath taken of the royal zera, and cut a Brit with him, and hath taken an oath of him; he hath also taken away the mighty of ha’aretz;

¹⁴ That the mamlachah (kingdom) might be abased, that it might not exalt itself, but that by being shomer over his brit it might stand.

¹⁵ But he rebelled against him in sending his malachim into Mitzrayim, that they might give him susim and much people. Shall he prosper? Shall he escape that doeth such things? Or shall he break the brit (covenant), and be delivered?

¹⁶ As I live, saith Adonoi Hashem, surely in the makom where the melech dwelleth that made him melech, whose oath he despised, whose brit he broke, even with him in the midst of Bavel he shall die.

¹⁷ Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great kahal do anything for him in the milchamah, by casting up siege mounds, and building siegework, to cut off many nefashot.

¹⁸ Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the brit, when, hinei, he had given his yad [i.e., promised by oath], and still did all these things, he shall not escape.

¹⁹ Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem; As I live, surely Mine oath that he hath despised, and My Brit (covenant) that he hath broken, even it will I repay upon his own rosh.

²⁰ And I will spread My net upon him, and he shall be caught in My snare, and I will bring him to Bavel, and will execute justice on him there for his ma’al (unfaithfulness) that he hath been unfaithful against Me.

²¹ And all his fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the cherev, and they that survive and remain shall be scattered toward kol ruach (all winds); and ye shall know that I Hashem have spoken it.

²² Thus saith Adonoi Hashem; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will plant it; I will break off from the top of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain and prominent;

²³ On the high mountain of Yisroel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear p’ri (fruit), and be a majestic cedar; and under it shall dwell kol tzippor (every bird) of every wing; in the tzel (shadow) of the branches thereof shall they dwell.

²⁴ And all the trees of the sadeh shall know that I Hashem have brought down the high etz (tree), have exalted the low etz (tree), have dried up the green etz (tree), and have made the etz yavesh (dry tree) to flourish. I Hashem have spoken and have done it.