Ezekiel 16
1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 “Son of man, make Jerusalem know her abominations.
3 And say: ‘This is what the Lord GOD says 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 As for your birth, on the day you were born, your cord was not cut; you were not washed with water to make you clean, rubbed with salt, or wrapped in cloths.
5 No eye pitied you enough to do any of these things for you out of compassion. You were thrown out into the open field, despised on the day you were born.
6 I passed by you and saw you thrashing in your blood. I said to you, as you lay in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you, as you lay in your blood, ‘Live!’
7 I made you grow like the plants of the field. You grew and became tall, reaching the full beauty of adornment. Your breasts formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.
8 I passed by you and saw you, and your time had come, the time for love. I spread the edge of my cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I swore to you and made a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine.
9 I washed you with water, rinsed the blood from you, and anointed you with oil.
10 I dressed you in embroidered clothes, put fine leather sandals on your feet, wrapped you in fine linen, and covered you with silk.
11 I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck.
12 I put a ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.
13 You adorned yourself with gold and silver; your clothes were fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very, very beautiful and attained royal status.»’”
14 “‘«Your fame spread among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect because of the splendor I had placed on you, declares the Lord GOD.
15 But you trusted in your beauty and became a prostitute because of your fame. You poured out your promiscuity on everyone who passed by, and you became theirs.
16 You took some of your clothes and made colorful shrines for yourself on the hills, and there you prostituted yourself. Such things have never happened before and will never happen again.
17 You took the beautiful things made from my gold and silver that I had given you and made male images for yourself, and with them you prostituted yourself.
18 You took your embroidered clothes and covered those images with them; you placed my oil and incense before them.
19 And the food I had given you—the fine flour, oil, and honey with which I fed you—you placed before them as a pleasing aroma. That is what happened, declares the Lord GOD.
20 You took your sons and daughters, whom you had borne to me, and sacrificed them to those idols as food. Was your prostitution not enough?
21 You slaughtered my children and handed them over, making them pass through the fire for the idols.
22 In all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, thrashing in your blood.
23 And after all your wickedness—alas, alas for you!—declares the Lord GOD.
24 You built a platform for yourself and made a high place for yourself in every public square.
25 At every street corner you built your high place, made your beauty repulsive, spread your legs for everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of prostitution.»’”
26 “‘«You prostituted yourself with the Egyptians, your neighbors, whose flesh was large, and multiplied your acts of prostitution to provoke me.
27 So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your share. I handed you over to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your shameless conduct.
28 You prostituted yourself with the Assyrians because you could not be satisfied. You prostituted yourself with them, and still you were not satisfied.
29 You multiplied your acts of prostitution as far as the land of Canaan and Chaldea, and even then you were not satisfied.
30 How weak your heart is, declares the Lord GOD, when you do all these things, the work of a brazen prostitute!
31 When you built your platform at every street corner and made your high place in every public square, you were not like a prostitute, because you despised payment.
32 You adulterous wife, you take in strangers instead of your own husband.
33 Gifts are given to all prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers and bribed them to come to you from every direction for your acts of prostitution.
34 In your prostitution you were the opposite of other women: no one prostituted herself after you. You gave payment, but no payment was given to you. You were the opposite.
35 Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of the LORD.»
36 This is what the Lord GOD says: «Because your wealth was poured out and your nakedness exposed in your acts of prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols and the blood of your children that you gave to them,
37 I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you took pleasure, everyone you loved and everyone you hated. I will gather them against you from every direction, expose your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness.
38 I will judge you with the judgments given to adulteresses and those who shed blood. I will make you a victim of bloodshed in my fury and jealousy.»’”
39 “‘«I will hand you over to them. They will tear down your platform and demolish your high places. They will strip off your clothes, take your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.
40 They will bring a crowd against you, stone you, and cut you down with their swords.
41 They will burn your houses with fire and execute judgments against you in the sight of many women. I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will no longer give payment.
42 Then I will quiet my fury against you, and my jealousy will turn away from you. I will be calm and will no longer be angry.
43 Because you did not remember the days of your youth and stirred me up with all these things, I will also bring your conduct down on your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Did you not commit this indecency on top of all your abominations?
44 Look, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb against you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’
45 You are your mother’s daughter, who despised her husband and children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
46 Your older sister is Samaria, who lives to your north with her daughters; your younger sister, who lives to your south, is Sodom with her daughters.
47 You did not walk in their ways or do according to their abominations. As if that were too little, you became more corrupt than they were in all your ways.
48 As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, Sodom your sister and her daughters have not done what you and your daughters have done.
49 Look, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, plenty of food, and carefree ease, but they did not help the poor and needy.
50 They were arrogant and committed abominations before me, so I removed them when I saw it.»’”
51 “‘«Samaria did not commit even half your sins. You multiplied your abominations more than they did and made your sisters seem righteous by all the abominations you committed.
52 You, too, bear your shame, you who judged your sister. Because of your sins, by which you acted more abominably than they did, they are more righteous than you. So be ashamed and bear your shame, for you made your sisters seem righteous.
53 I will restore their fortunes: the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and the fortunes of your captives among them.
54 Then you will bear your shame and be disgraced for all you have done, when you become a comfort to them.
55 Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, will return to their former state; Samaria and her daughters will return to their former state; and you and your daughters will return to your former state.
56 You did not even mention your sister Sodom in the days of your pride.
57 That was before your wickedness was exposed, when you suffered the taunts of the daughters of Aram and all your neighbors, the daughters of the Philistines, who despise you on every side.
58 You yourself have borne the consequences of your indecency and your abominations, declares the LORD.»
59 For this is what the Lord GOD says: «I will deal with you as you have done, you who despised an oath by breaking the covenant.
60 But I will remember my covenant 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 sisters, both those older and those younger than you. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.
62 I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
63 Then you will remember and be ashamed, and you will never again open your mouth because of your shame, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, declares the Lord GOD.»’”
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