Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

(By David.)

The Lord's Wonderful Love

Jerusalem Is Unfaithful

16 The Lord said:

² Ezekiel, son of man, remind the people of Jerusalem of their disgusting sins ³ and tell them that I, the Lord God, am saying:

Jerusalem, you were born in the country where Canaanites lived. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.^{[a] 4} When you were born, no one cut you loose from your mother or washed your body. No one rubbed your skin with salt and olive oil,^[b] and wrapped you in warm blankets. ⁵ Not one person loved you enough to do any of these things, and no one even felt sorry for you. You were despised, thrown into a field, and forgotten.

⁶ I saw you lying there, rolling around in your own blood, and I couldn't let you die. ⁷ I took care of you, like someone caring for a tender, young plant. You grew up to be a beautiful young woman with mature breasts and hair, but you were still naked.

⁸ When I saw you again, you were old enough to have sex. So I covered your naked body with my own robe.^[c] Then I solemnly promised that you would belong to me and that I, the Lord God, would take care of you.

⁹ I washed the blood off you and rubbed your skin with olive oil. ¹⁰ I gave you the finest clothes and the most expensive robes,^[d] as well as sandals made from the best leather. ¹¹ I gave you bracelets, a necklace, ¹² a ring for your nose, some earrings, and a beautiful crown. ¹³ Your jewelry was gold and silver, and your clothes were made of only the finest material and embroidered linen. Your bread was baked from fine flour, and you ate honey and olive oil. You were as beautiful as a queen, ¹⁴ and everyone on earth knew it. I, the Lord God, had helped you become a lovely young woman.

3 What good is it to be a Jew? What good is it to be circumcised? ² It is good in a lot of ways! First of all, God's messages were spoken to the Jews. ³ It is true that some of them did not believe the message. But does this mean that God cannot be trusted, just because they did not have faith? ^4 (A) No, indeed! God tells the truth, even if everyone else is a liar. The Scriptures say about God,

⁵ If our evil deeds show how right God is, then what can we say? Is it wrong for God to become angry and punish us? What a foolish thing to ask. ⁶ But the answer is, “No.” Otherwise, how could God judge the world? ⁷ Since your lies bring great honor to God by showing how truthful he is, you may ask why God still says you are a sinner. ⁸ You might as well say, “Let's do something evil, so that something good will come of it!” Some people even claim that we are saying this. But God is fair and will judge them as well.