Ezekiel, 16

1. The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

1. Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2. 'Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her loathsome practices!

2. Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

3. Say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: By origin and birth you belong to the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

3. And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity [is] of the land of Canaan; thy father [was] an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.

4. At birth, the very day you were born, there was no one to cut your navel-string, or wash you in water to clean you, or rub you with salt, or wrap you in swaddling clothes.

4. And [as for] thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple [thee]; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

5. No one looked at you with pity enough to do any of these things out of sympathy for you. You were exposed in the open fields in your own dirt on the day you were born.

5. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.

6. "I saw you kicking on the ground in your blood as I was passing, and I said to you as you lay in your blood: Live!

6. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live.

7. and I made you grow like the grass of the fields. You developed, you grew, you reached marriageable age. Your breasts became firm and your hair grew richly, but you were stark naked.

7. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: [thy] breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou [wast] naked and bare.

8. Then I saw you as I was passing. Your time had come, the time for love. I spread my cloak over you and covered your nakedness; I gave you my oath, I made a covenant with you -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- and you became mine.

8. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time [was] the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

9. I bathed you in water, I washed the blood off you, I anointed you with oil.

9. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

10. I gave you embroidered dresses, fine leather shoes, a linen headband and a cloak of silk.

10. I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

11. I loaded you with jewels, gave you bracelets for your wrists and a necklace for your throat.

11. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.

12. I gave you nose-ring and earrings; I put a beautiful diadem on your head.

12. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.

13. You were loaded with gold and silver and dressed in linen and silk and brocade. Your food was the finest flour, honey and oil. You grew more and more beautiful; and you rose to be queen.

13. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment [was of] fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

14. The fame of your beauty spread through the nations, since it was perfect, because I had clothed you with my own splendour -- declares the Lord Yahweh.

14. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it [was] perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.

15. "But you became infatuated with your own beauty and used your fame to play the whore, lavishing your debauchery on all comers.

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

16. You took some of your clothes to make for yourself high places bright with colours and there you played the whore.

16. And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: [the like things] shall not come, neither shall it be [so].

17. You also took your jewellery, made with my gold and silver which I had given you, and made yourself male images to serve your whorings.

17. Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

18. You took your embroidered clothes and used these to dress them up, and you offered them my oil and my incense.

18. And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.

19. And the bread I gave you, the finest flour, the oil and honey with which I fed you, you offered them as a pleasing smell. "What is more -- declares the Lord Yahweh-

19. My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, [wherewith] I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and [thus] it was, saith the Lord GOD.

20. you took the sons and daughters you had borne me and sacrificed them as food to the images. Was not your whoring enough in itself,

20. Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. [Is this] of thy whoredoms a small matter,

21. for you to slaughter my children and hand them over to be burnt in their honour?

21. That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through [the fire] for them?

22. And in all your loathsome practices and your whorings you never called your early days to mind, when you were stark naked, kicking on the ground in your own blood.

22. And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, [and] wast polluted in thy blood.

23. "To crown your wickedness -- disaster upon you, disaster! declares the Lord Yahweh-

23. And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;)

24. you built yourself a mound and made yourself a high place in every open space.

24. [That] thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.

25. At the entry to every alley you made yourself a high place, defiling your beauty and opening your legs to all comers in countless acts of fornication.

25. Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

26. You have also fornicated with your big-membered neighbours, the Egyptians, provoking my anger with further acts of fornication.

26. Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.

27. So now I have raised my hand against you, I have cut down on your food, I have put you at the mercy of your enemies, the Philistine women, who blush at your lewd behaviour.

27. Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary [food], and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way.

28. Still unsatisfied, you prostituted yourself to the Assyrians; you played the whore with them, but were not satisfied even then.

28. Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

29. You committed further acts of fornication in the country of merchants, with the Chaldaeans, and these did not satisfy you either.

29. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.

30. "How simple-minded you are!-declares the Lord Yahweh -- for although you do all the things that a professional prostitute would,

30. How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these [things], the work of an imperious whorish woman;

31. in building a mound and making yourself a high place in every street, you do not act like a proper prostitute because you disdain to take a fee.

31. In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;

32. An adulteress welcomes strangers instead of her husband.

32. [But as] a wife that committeth adultery, [which] taketh strangers instead of her husband!

33. All prostitutes accept presents, but you give presents to all your lovers, you bribe them to come from all over the place to fornicate with you!

33. They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.

34. In fornicating, you are the opposite of other women, since no one runs after you to fornicate with you; since you give the fee and do not get one, you are the very opposite!

34. And the contrary is in thee from [other] women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.

35. "Very well, whore, hear the word of Yahweh!

35. Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

36. The Lord Yahweh says this: For having squandered your money and let yourself be seen naked while whoring with your lovers and all the foul idols of your loathsome practices and for giving them your children's blood-

36. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;

37. for all this, I shall assemble all the lovers to whom you have given pleasure, all the ones you liked and also all the ones you disliked; yes, I shall assemble them round you and strip you naked in front of them, and let them see you naked from head to foot.

37. Behold, 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 round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

38. I shall pass on you the sentence that adulteresses and murderesses receive; I shall hand you over to their jealous fury;

38. And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.

39. I shall hand you over to them; they will destroy your mound and pull down your high place; they will tear off your clothes, take away your jewels and leave you stark naked.

39. And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

40. Then they will call an assembly of citizens to deal with you, who will stone you to death and hack you to pieces with their swords,

40. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

41. and burn down your premises and execute justice on you, while many other women look on; and I shall put an end to your whoring: no more paid lovers for you!

41. And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.

42. Once my fury is exhausted with you, then my jealousy will leave you; I shall be calm and not angry any more.

42. So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

43. Since you never called to mind your early days and have done nothing but provoke me, now I in my turn shall bring your conduct down on your own head -- declares the Lord Yahweh! "Have you not added this lewd behaviour to your other loathsome practices?

43. Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these [things]; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon [thine] head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.

44. So now all dealers in proverbs will apply this one to you: Like mother, like daughter.

44. Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use [this] proverb against thee, saying, As [is] the mother, [so is] her daughter.

45. Yes; you are a true daughter of your mother, who hated her husband and her children; you are a true sister of your sisters, who hated their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

45. Thou [art] thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou [art] the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother [was] an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

46. Your elder sister is Samaria, who lives to the north of you with her daughters. Your younger sister is Sodom, who lives to the south of you with her daughters.

46. And thine elder sister [is] Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, [is] Sodom and her daughters.

47. You never failed to imitate their behaviour and copy their loathsome practices, and soon your behaviour was more corrupt than theirs was.

47. Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as [if that were] a very little [thing], thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.

48. As I live -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.

48. [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

49. The crime of your sister Sodom was pride, gluttony, calm complacency; such were hers and her daughters' crimes. They never helped the poor and needy;

49. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

50. they were proud, and engaged in loathsome practices before me, and so I swept them away as you have seen.

50. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw [good].

51. And yet Samaria never committed half the crimes that you have. "You have done more loathsome things than they have. By all your loathsome practices you have made your sisters seem innocent,

51. Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.

52. and now you bear the shame of which you have freed your sisters; since the sins which you have committed are more revolting than theirs, they are more upright than you are. So now, bear the disgrace and shame of having put your sisters in the right.

52. Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

53. "I shall restore their fortunes, I shall restore Sodom and her daughters, I shall re- store Samaria and her daughters, and then I shall restore your fortune with theirs,

53. When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then [will I bring again] the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

54. so that you can bear your shame and disgrace for all you have done, and so console them.

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

55. When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, are restored to what they were, and Samaria and her daughters are restored to what they were, then you too and your daughters will be restored to what you were.

55. When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

56. Did you not gloat over your sister Sodom when you were so proud,

56. For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,

57. before you were stripped naked? Like her, you are now the laughing-stock of the women of Edom, of all the women round, of the women of Philistia, who pour out their contempt on you.

57. Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of [thy] reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all [that are] round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about.

58. You have brought this on yourself, with your lewdness and your loathsome practices -- declares the Lord Yahweh.

58. Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD.

59. "For the Lord Yahweh says this: I shall treat you as you have deserved for making light of an oath and breaking a covenant,

59. For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

60. but I shall remember my covenant with you when you were a girl and shall conclude a covenant with you that will last for ever.

60. Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.

61. And you for your part will remember your behaviour and feel ashamed of it when you receive your elder and younger sisters and I make them your daughters, although this is not included in my covenant with you.

61. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

62. I shall renew my covenant with you; and you will know that I am Yahweh,

62. And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD:

63. and so remember and feel ashamed and in your confusion be reduced to silence, when I forgive you for everything you have done -- declares the Lord Yahweh." '

63. That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.