Ezekiel 16
1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 'Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, and thou hast said:
“Son of man, inform Jerusalem about her abominations,
3 Thus said the Lord Jehovah to Jerusalem: Thy birth and thy nativity [Are] of the land of the Canaanite, Thy father the Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.
and declare, 'The Lord Yahweh says this to Jerusalem: Your beginning and your birth took place in the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.
4 As to thy nativity, in the day thou wast born, Thou — thy navel hath not been cut, And in water thou wast not washed for ease, And thou hast not been salted at all, And thou hast not been swaddled at all.
On the day of your birth, your mother did not cut your navel, nor did she purify you in water or rub you down with salt, or wrap cloth around you.
5 No eye hath had pity on thee, to do to thee any of these, To have compassion on thee, And thou art cast on the face of the field, With loathing of thy person. In the day thou hast been born — thou!
No eye had compassion for you to do any of these things for you, to be compassionate toward you. On the day that you were born, with loathing for your life, you were thrown out into the open field.
6 And I do pass over by thee, And I see thee trodden down in thy blood, And I say to thee in thy blood, Live, And I say to thee in thy blood, Live.
But I passed by you, and I saw you writhing in your own blood; so I said to you in your blood, “Live!” I said to you in your blood, “Live!”
7 A myriad — as the shoot of the field I have made thee, And thou art multiplied, and art great, And comest in with an excellent adornment, Breasts have been formed, and thy hair hath grown — And thou, naked and bare!
I made you grow like a plant in a field. You multiplied and became great, and you became the jewel of jewels. Your breasts became firm, and your hair grew thick, though you had been naked and bare.
8 And I pass over by thee, and I see thee, And lo, thy time [is] a time of loves, And I spread My skirt over thee, And I cover thy nakedness, And I swear to thee, and come in to a covenant with thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And thou dost become Mine.
I passed by you again, and I saw you. See! the time of love came for you, so I spread my robe over you and covered your nakedness. Then I swore to you and brought you into a covenant—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—and you became mine.
9 And I do wash thee with water, And I wash away thy blood from off thee, And I anoint thee with perfume.
So I washed you with water and rinsed your blood off you, and I anointed you with oil.
10 And I clothe thee with embroidery, And I shoe thee with badger's skin, And I gird thee with fine linen, And I cover thee with figured silk.
I dressed you in embroidered clothes and placed leather sandals on your feet. I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk.
11 And I adorn thee with adornments, And I give bracelets for thy hands, And a chain for thy neck.
Next I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain around your neck.
12 And I give a ring for thy nose, And rings for thine ears, And a crown of beauty on thy head.
I put a nose ring in your nostrils and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.
13 And thou dost put on gold and silver, And thy clothing [is] fine linen, And figured silk and embroidery, Fine flour, and honey, and oil thou hast eaten, And thou art very very beautiful, And dost go prosperously to the kingdom.
So you were adorned with gold and silver, and you were dressed in fine linen, silk, and embroidered clothes; you ate fine flour, honey, and oil, and you were very beautiful, and you became a queen.
14 And go forth doth thy name among nations, Because of thy beauty — for it [is] complete, In My honour that I have set upon thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect in the majesty that I had given to you—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.
15 And thou dost trust in thy beauty, And goest a-whoring because of thy renown, And dost pour out thy whoredoms On every passer by — to him it is.
But you trusted in your own beauty, and you acted like a prostitute because of your fame; you poured out your acts of prostitution on everyone who passed by, so that your beauty became his.
16 And thou dost take of thy garments, And dost make to thee spotted high-places, And dost go a-whoring upon them, They are not coming in — nor shall it be!
Then you took your clothes and with them you made high places for yourself decorated in various colors, and there you acted like a prostitute. This should not have happened. Nor should such a thing exist.
17 And thou dost take thy beauteous vessels Of My gold and My silver that I gave to thee, And dost make to thee images of a male, And dost go a-whoring with them,
You took the fine jewels of the gold and silver that I gave you, and you made for yourself male figures, and you did with them as a prostitute would do.
18 And dost take the garments of thy embroidery, And thou dost cover them, And My oil and My perfume thou hast set before them.
You took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set my oils and perfumes before them.
19 And My bread, that I gave to thee, Fine flour, and oil, and honey, that I caused thee to eat. Thou hast even set it before them, For a sweet fragrance — thus it is, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
My bread I gave you—made with fine flour, oil, and honey—you set before them for a fragrant aroma, for this is what happened—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.
20 And thou dost take thy sons and thy daughters Whom thou hast born to Me, And dost sacrifice them to them for food. Is it a little thing because of thy whoredoms,
Then you took your sons and daughters whom you bore for me, and you sacrificed them to the images to be devoured as food. Are your acts of prostitution a small matter?
21 That thou dost slaughter My sons, And dost give them up in causing them to pass over to them?
You slaughtered my children to the idols and made them pass through the fire.
22 And with all thine abominations and thy whoredoms, Thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, When thou wast naked and bare, Trodden down in thy blood thou wast!
In all your abominations and your acts of prostitution you have not thought about the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare as you thrashed about in your blood.
23 And it cometh to pass, after all thy wickedness, (Woe, woe, to thee — an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah),
Woe! Woe to you!—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—therefore, in addition to all this wickedness,
24 That thou dost build to thee an arch, And dost make to thee a high place in every broad place.
you built yourself a vaulted chamber in every public place.
25 At every head of the way thou hast built thy high place, And thou dost make thy beauty abominable, And dost open wide thy feet to every passer by, And dost multiply thy whoredoms,
You built your high place at the head of every road and made your beauty a disgrace, and you spread your legs to anyone who passed by, and you multiplied your acts of prostitution.
26 And dost go a-whoring unto sons of Egypt, Thy neighbours — great of appetite! And thou dost multiply thy whoredoms, To provoke Me to anger.
You have acted like a prostitute with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and you committed many more acts of prostitution, provoking me to anger.
27 And lo, I have stretched out My hand against thee, And I diminish thy portion, And give thee to the desire of those hating thee, The daughters of the Philistines, Who are ashamed of thy wicked way.
See! I will strike you with my hand and cut off your food. I will hand your life over to your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your obscene behavior.
28 And thou goest a-whoring unto sons of Asshur, Without thy being satisfied, And thou dost go a-whoring with them, And also — thou hast not been satisfied.
You have acted like a prostitute with the Assyrians because you could not be satisfied. You acted like a prostitute and still were not satisfied.
29 And thou dost multiply thy whoredoms On the land of Canaan — toward Chaldea, And even with this thou hast not been satisfied.
You performed many more acts of prostitution in the land of the merchants of Chaldea, and even this did not satisfy you.
30 How weak [is] thy heart, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, In thy doing all these, The work of a domineering whorish woman.
How sick is your heart—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—that you would do all these things, deeds of a shameless prostitute?
31 In thy building thine arch at the head of every way, Thy high place thou hast made in every broad place, And — hast not been as a whore deriding a gift.
You have built your high places at the head of every street and made your vaulted chamber in every public place. Yet you were not like a prostitute because you refused to take payment.
32 The wife who committeth adultery — Under her husband — doth receive strangers.
You adulterous woman, you accept strangers instead of your husband.
33 To all whores they give a gift, And — thou hast given thy gifts to all thy lovers, And dost bribe them to come in unto thee, From round about — in thy whoredoms.
People give payment to every prostitute, but you give your wages to all your lovers and bribe them to come to you from all around for your acts of prostitution.
34 And the contrary is in thee from women in thy whoredoms, That after thee none doth go a-whoring; And in thy giving a gift, And a gift hath not been given to thee; And thou art become contrary.
So there is a difference between you and those other women, since no one goes to you to ask you to sleep with them. Instead, you pay them. No one pays you.
35 Therefore, O whore, hear a word of Jehovah,
Therefore, you prostitute, listen to the word of Yahweh.
36 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of thy brass being poured forth, And thy nakedness is revealed in thy whoredoms near thy lovers, And near all the idols of thy abominations, And according to the blood of thy sons, Whom thou hast given to them;
The Lord Yahweh says this: Because you have poured out your lust and uncovered your nakedness through your acts of prostitution with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children's blood,
37 Therefore, lo, I am assembling all thy lovers, To whom thou hast been sweet, And all whom thou hast loved, Besides all whom thou hast hated; And I have assembled them by thee round about, And have revealed thy nakedness to them, And they have seen all thy nakedness.
therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers that you have met, all those whom you loved and all those whom you hated, and I will gather them against you on every side. I will uncover your nakedness to them so they see all your nakedness.
38 And I have judged thee — judgments of adulteresses, And of women shedding blood, And have given thee blood, fury, and jealousy.
For I will punish you for adultery and the shedding of blood, and I will bring on you the bloodshed of my anger and passion.
39 And I have given thee into their hand, And they have thrown down thine arch, And they have broken down thy high places, And they have stript thee of thy garments, And they have taken thy beauteous vessels, And they have left thee naked and bare.
I will give you into their hands so they will throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your high places and they will strip you of your clothes and take all of your jewelry. They will leave you naked and bare.
40 And have caused an assembly to come up against thee, And stoned thee with stones, And thrust thee through with their swords,
Then they will bring up a crowd against you and stone you with stones, and they will cut you apart with their swords.
41 And burnt thy houses with fire, And done in thee judgments before the eyes of many women, And I have caused thee to cease from going a-whoring, And also a gift thou givest no more.
They will burn your houses and will perform many acts of punishment on you in the sight of many women, for I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers.
42 And I have caused My fury against thee to rest, And My jealousy hath turned aside from thee, And I have been quiet, and I am not angry any more.
Then I will calm my fury against you; my anger will leave you, for I will be satisfied, and will no longer be angry.
43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, And dost give trouble to Me in all these, Lo, even I also thy way at first gave up, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And I did not this thought for all thine abominations.
Because you did not call to mind the days of your youth and have made me shake with anger because of all these things, therefore, behold! I myself will bring down on your own head the punishment for what you have done—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration. Have you not added prostitution to all your other detestable practices?
44 Lo, every one using a simile, Doth use a simile concerning thee, saying: As the mother — her daughter!
Behold! Everyone who speaks proverbs concerning you will say, “As the mother is, so also is her daughter.”
45 Thy mother's daughter thou [art], Loathing her husband and her sons, And thy sisters' sister thou [art], Who loathed their husbands and their sons, Your mother [is] a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
You are the daughter of your mother, who detested her husband and her children, and you are the sister of your sisters who detested their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite.
46 And thine elder sister [is] Samaria, she and her daughters, Who is dwelling at thy left hand, And thy younger sister, who is dwelling on thy right hand, [is] Sodom and her daughters.
Your older sister was Samaria and her daughters were the ones living in the north, while your younger sister was the one living south of you, that is, Sodom and her daughters.
47 And — in their ways thou hast not walked, And according to their abominations done, As a little thing it hath been loathed, And thou dost more corruptly than they in all thy ways.
You not only walked in their ways and copied their behavior and practices, but in all your ways you have been worse than they were.
48 I live — an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Sodom thy sister hath not done — she and her daughters — As thou hast done — thou and thy daughters.
As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—your sister Sodom and her daughters, have not done as much evil as you and your daughters have done.
49 Lo, this hath been the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, Arrogancy, fulness of bread, and quiet ease, Have been to her and to her daughters, And the hand of the afflicted and needy She hath not strengthened.
Behold! This was the sin of your sister Sodom that she was arrogant in her leisure, careless and unconcerned about anything. She did not strengthen the hands of the poor and needy people.
50 And they are haughty and do abomination before Me, And I turn them aside when I have seen.
She was arrogant and committed disgusting actions before me, so I took them away just as you have seen.
51 As to Samaria, as the half of thy sins — she hath not sinned, And thou dost multiply thine abominations more than they, And dost justify thy sisters by all thy abominations that thou hast done.
Neither did Samaria commit even half of your sins; instead, you have done many more disgusting things than they did, and you have shown that your sisters were better than you because of all the disgusting things that you do!
52 Thou also — bear thy shame, That thou hast adjudged to thy sisters, Because of thy sins that thou hast done more abominably than they, They are more righteous than thou, And thou, also, be ashamed and bear thy shame, In thy justifying thy sisters.
Especially you, show your own shame; in this way you have shown that your sisters were better than you, because of the sins you committed in all those disgusting ways. Your sisters now seem better than you. Especially you, show your own shame, for in this way you have shown that your sisters were better than you.
53 And I have turned back [to] their captivity, The captivity of Sodom and her daughters, And the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, And the captivity of thy captives in their midst,
For I will restore their fortunes—the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters; but your fortunes will be among them.
54 So that thou dost bear thy shame, And hast been ashamed of all that thou hast done, In thy comforting them.
On account of these things you will show your shame; you will be humiliated because of everything that you have done, and in this way you will be a comfort to them.
55 And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, Do turn back to their former state, And Samaria and her daughters Do turn back to their former state, And thou and thy daughters do turn back to your former state.
So your sister Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former condition, and Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former estate. Then you and your daughters will be restored to your former condition.
56 And thy sister Sodom hath not been for a report in thy mouth, In the day of thine arrogancy,
Sodom your sister was not even mentioned by your mouth in the days when you were proud,
57 Before thy wickedness is revealed, As [at] the time of the reproach of the daughters of Aram, And of all her neighbours, the daughters of the Philistines, Who are despising thee round about.
before your wickedness was revealed. But now you are an object of scorn to the daughters of Edom and to all the daughters of the Philistines around her. People all about despise you.
58 Thy devices and thine abominations, Thou hast borne them, an affirmation of Jehovah.
You will show your shame and your disgusting actions!—this is Yahweh's declaration!
59 For thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have dealt with thee as thou hast done, In that thou hast despised an oath — to break covenant.
The Lord Yahweh says this: I will deal with you as you deserve, you who have despised your oath by breaking the covenant.
60 And I — I have remembered My covenant with thee, In the days of thy youth, And I have established for thee a covenant age-during.
But I myself will call to mind my covenant with you made in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
61 And thou hast remembered thy ways, And thou hast been ashamed, In thy receiving thy sisters — Thine elder with thy younger, And I have given them to thee for daughters, And not by thy covenant.
Then you will call to mind your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older sisters and your younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.
62 And I — I have established My covenant with thee, And thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah.
I myself will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.
63 So that thou dost remember, And thou hast been ashamed, And there is not to thee any more an opening of the mouth because of thy shame, In My receiving atonement for thee, For all that thou hast done, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'
Because of these things, you will call everything to mind and be ashamed, so you will no longer open your mouth to speak because of your shame, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.'”
