The book of the prophet Ezekiel 16 The harlot and the abominations of Jerusalem

 

The book of the prophet Ezekiel 16

The harlot and the abominations of Jerusalem

 

1 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.

3 And say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite.

4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for purification; nor were you rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.

5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you; but you were cast out into the open field, because of the loathing of your soul, on the day you were born.

6 And when I passed by you, I saw you stained with your blood, and I said to you, “Though you are in your blood, live!” Yes, I said to you, “Though you are in your blood, live!”

7 I made you multiply like the shoots of the field; you grew and became tall and reached great beauty. Your breasts developed and your hair grew long, but you were naked and bare.

8 When I passed by you and saw you, your time had come for love; so I spread the edge of my cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I swore an oath to you and made a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

9 Then I washed you with water, and cleansed you of your blood, and anointed you with oil.

10 I clothed you with embroidery, and shod you with badger skin, and girded you with fine linen, and covered you with silk.

11 I adorned you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck.

12 I put a jewel on your forehead, earrings in your ears, and a crown of glory on your head.

13 And so you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery; you ate fine flour, honey, and oil; and you were exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered, until you became queen.

14 And your fame spread among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect, because of the glory I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.

15 But you trusted in your beauty and became corrupt because of your fame; you prostituted yourself to everyone who passed by, to be theirs.

16 And you took some of your garments and made for yourself high places adorned with various colors, and you prostituted yourself on them; such things have not happened, nor will they ever happen.

17 And you took your ornaments, which I gave you from my gold and my silver, and you made images of men, and you prostituted yourself with them.

18 Then you took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you placed my oil and my perfume before them.

19 And my bread that I gave you, the fine flour, and the oil and honey, with which I sustained you, you also placed before them as a pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God.

20 Moreover , you took your sons and daughters, whom you bore to me, and sacrificed them to them to be consumed. Is your prostitution a small thing?

21 And you killed my children and handed them over to them to be passed through the fire.

22 And in all your abominations and your prostitutions, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and uncovered, and stained with your blood.

23 And it came to pass, after all your wickedness (woe! Woe to you! declares the Lord God),

24 You built a vault and made high places in all the streets.

25 At every street corner you built your high place, and made your beauty abominable, and spread your feet to everyone who passed by: and multiplied your prostitutions.

26 You also prostituted yourself with the Egyptians, your neighbors who were very fleshy, and you multiplied your prostitution. To provoke me to anger.

27 Therefore, behold, I have set my hand upon you, and have reduced your portion, and have delivered you into the hands of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your depraved ways.

28 You also prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; and even after prostituting yourself with them, you were not satisfied;

29 You continued your prostitution in the land of Canaan as far as Chaldea, and even that did not satisfy you.

30 How weak is your heart, declares the Lord God, that you are doing all these things, the work of an imperious harlot!

31 When you built your vault at the corner of every street, and made your place in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, for you despised payment:

32 You were like the adulterous woman who, instead of her husband, receives strangers.

33 All prostitutes receive payment, but you give gifts to all your lovers; you give them gifts so that they may come to you from all directions because of your prostitution.

34 Thus, the opposite happens with you compared to other women in your prostitution, for they do not go after you to prostitution; because, when you give the payment, and you are not given the payment, you do the opposite.

35 Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord.

36 Thus says the Lord God: Because your money has been poured out, and your nakedness has been uncovered in your whoredoms with your lovers, as well as with all the idols of your abominations, and in the blood of your children whom you gave to them:

37 Behold, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have mingled, and all those whom you have loved, with all those whom you have hated, and I will gather them against you all around, and I will uncover your nakedness before them, that they may see all your nakedness.

38 And I will judge you as adulteresses and those who shed blood are judged; and I will deliver you over to the blood of fury and jealousy.

39 And I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall bring down your vault, and overturn your high places, and strip you of your garments, and take away your ornaments, and leave you naked and bare.

40 Then they will bring up a mob against you, and they will stone you with stones, and pierce you through with their swords.

41 And they shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments against you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to cease from being a harlot, and you shall give no more wages.

42 So I will cause my anger to rest on you, and my jealousy will turn away from you; I will be quiet and will never be angry again.

43 Because you did not remember the days of your youth, and you provoked me to anger with all this, behold, I will also bring your way upon your own head, says the Lord God, and you shall not commit such wickedness concerning all your abominations.

44 Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb against you, saying: 'Like mother, like daughter.'

45 You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

46 Your older sister is Samaria and her daughters, who live to your left; and your younger sister, who lives to your right, is Sodom and her daughters.

47 Yet you have not walked in their ways, nor have you done according to their abominations; but, as if this were too little, you have corrupted yourself even more than they have, in all your ways.

48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters did not do to you and your daughters.

49 Behold, this was the wickedness of your sister Sodom: pride, abundance of food, and abundance of idleness were in her and her daughters; but she never strengthened the hand of the poor and needy .

50 And they became arrogant and committed abominations before me; therefore I removed them from there, when I saw it.

51 Samaria did not commit half of your sins; you multiplied your abominations more than they did, and you justified your sisters by all the abominations you committed.

52 You, then, suffer your shame, you who judged your sisters, for your sins, which you made more abominable than they, more righteous than you; be ashamed also, and suffer your shame, for you justified your sisters.

53 I will restore their fortunes, the captives of Sodom and her daughters, the captives of Samaria and her daughters, and the captives of your captivity among them;

54 So that you may suffer your shame, and be ashamed of all that you have done, while you give them comfort.

55 When your sisters, Sodom, and their daughters return to their former state, then you and your daughters will also return to your former state.

56 Not even Sodom, your sister, was mentioned by your mouth on the day of your pride,

57 Before your wickedness was discovered, as in the time of the scorn of the daughters of Syria, and of all who were around her, the daughters of the Philistines who despised you all around.

58 “Your wickedness and your abominations you will bear,” says the Lord.

59 For thus says the Lord God: I will do to you as you have done , who despised the oath, breaking the covenant.

60 But I will remember my covenant that I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older sisters along with your younger sisters, for I will give them to you as daughters, but not by your covenant.

62 For I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord;

63 So that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I reconcile you to all that you have done, declares the Lord God.