LEB EZE Chapter 16

God’s Covenant Grace to Unfaithful and Rebellious Israel

16 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] make known to Jerusalem its detestable things, 3 and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites,[fn] your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born[fn] your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were not thoroughly washed clean with water,[fn] and you were not thoroughly rubbed with salt,[fn] and you were not carefully wrapped in strips of cloth.[fn] 5 No eye took pity on you[fn] to do to you one of these things to show compassion for you, and you were thrown into the open field[fn] in their despising of you on the day you were born.[fn]

6 “ ‘And I passed by you, and I saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, “Live! 7 Grow up;[fn] I will make you like a plant of the field.” And you grew up, and you became tall and reached full womanhood.[fn] Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked and bare.

8 “ ‘And I passed by you, and I saw you, and look, your time of lovemaking had come,[fn] and so I spread out my hem over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore to you, and I entered into[fn] a covenant with you,’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, ‘and you became mine.[fn] 9 And I washed you with water, and I rinsed off your blood from on you, and I anointed you with oil. 10 And I clothed you with beautiful finished cloth, and I put sandals on you of fine leather, and I bound you in fine linen, and I covered you with costly fabric. 11 And I adorned you with ornaments,[fn] and I put a bracelet on your arms and a necklace on your neck. 12 And I put an ornamental ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown[fn] on your head. 13 And you adorned yourself with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen and costly fabric and beautiful finished cloth; you ate finely milled flour and honey and olive oil, and you became exceedingly beautiful; you were fit to be a queen.[fn] 14 And a name went out for you among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my majesty that I bestowed on you,’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 15 ‘And you trusted in your beauty, and you prostituted on account of your name, and you poured out your fornication on every one passing by, saying, “Let it be his.” 16 And you took from your clothes and you made for yourself colorful[fn] shrines, and you prostituted on them; this had not happened before,[fn] and it will not continue to happen.[fn] 17 And you took your beautiful jewelry[fn] made from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself male images,[fn] and you prostituted with them. 18 And you took the clothes of your beautiful finished cloth, and you covered them and my oil and my incense you set before them.[fn] 19 And my bread that I gave to you, finely milled flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, then you set it before them[fn] as a pleasing odor,[fn] and so it was,’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 20 ‘And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten,[fn] as if your whorings were not enough.[fn] 21 And you slaughtered my children, and you gave them to be sacrificed to them.[fn] 22 And in all of your detestable things and your fornication you did not remember the days of your childhood when you were naked and bare,[fn] when you were kicking about in your blood.

23 “ ‘And then after all of your evil! Woe, woe, to you!’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 24 ‘And then you built for yourself a mound, and you made for yourself a high place in every public square. 25 At the head of every street you built your high place and you disgraced your beauty and you spread your feet for every passerby, and you increased your whoring. 26 And you prostituted with the Egyptians,[fn] your neighbors who were sexually aroused,[fn] and you increased your fornication to provoke me. 27 And look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I reduced your portion, and I gave you into[fn] the desire of your haters, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed because of your lewd conduct.[fn] 28 And you prostituted with the Assyrians[fn] on account of your insatiable lust,[fn] and you prostituted with them, and still you were not satisfied. 29 And you increased your fornication to the land of traders,[fn] to Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied. 30 How hot with fever was your heart!’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. ‘When you did[fn] all of these actions of a headstrong female prostitute,[fn] 31 when you built[fn] your mound at the head of every street and your high place you made on every street, yet[fn] you were[fn] not like a prostitute, as you were scorning your harlot’s wages. 32 O, adulterous woman! In the place of her husband she received strangers. 33 To all prostitutes they give a fee, but you, you gave your gifts to all of your lovers, and you bribed them to come to you from all around in your whorings! 34 And it was the opposite with you from the other women in your whorings; no one solicited you as a prostitute.[fn] You gave[fn] a harlot’s wages, and a harlot’s wages were not given to you, and so it was just the opposite.

35 “ ‘Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of Yahweh. 36 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of the pouring out of your shame and because your nakedness was revealed in your whoring with your lovers, and on account of all of the idols of your detestable things, and according to the blood of your children whom you gave to them, 37 therefore, look! I am gathering all of your lovers whom you were pleased about,[fn] and all of whom you loved in addition to all of whom you hated, and I will gather them against you from everywhere,[fn] and I will uncover your nakedness to them, and they will see all of your nakedness. 38 And I will judge you with the judgment of women committing adultery and shedding blood, and I will give you the blood of rage and jealousy. 39 And I will give you into their hand, and they will demolish your mound, and they will break down your high places, and they will strip you of your clothes, and they will take your beautiful jewelry,[fn] and they will leave you naked and bare. 40 And they will bring up against you a crowd, and they will stone you with stones,[fn] and they will cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 And they will burn your houses with fire, and they will execute against you judgments before[fn] many women, and I will stop you from prostitution, and also a harlot’s wages you will not give[fn] again. 42 And I will satisfy my rage on you, and my jealousy will turn away from you, and I will be calm, and I will not be angry any longer. 43 Because[fn] you did not remember[fn] the days of your childhood and you made me angry with all of these. And in turn I, look, I will return your way upon your head,’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, ‘and did[fn] you not do wickedness[fn] in addition to all of your detestable things? 44 Look! Everyone quoting a proverb[fn] against you, he will quote, saying,[fn] ‘Like her mother is her daughter!’ 45 You are a daughter of your mother who abhorred her husband and her children, and you are a sister of your sisters who abhorred their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite. 46 And your elder sister, she is Samaria, and her daughters, who are dwelling on your north, and your younger sister is the one dwelling on your south; she is Sodom and her daughters. 47 And you have not only gone in their ways, but[fn] you also did according to their detestable things. In such a short time[fn] you behaved more corruptly than they in all of your ways. 48 As surely as I live,’[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely your sister Sodom and her daughters did not do as[fn] you and your daughters did. 49 Look! This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: Pride, abundance of food, and prosperous ease[fn] was to her and to her daughters, and she did not sustain the needy and the poor.[fn] 50 And they were proud, and they did a detestable thing before me,[fn] and I removed them because[fn] I saw it. 51 And Samaria did not sin according to even half of your sins,[fn] and you caused your detestable things to increase more than they, and you made your sister righteous in comparison with all of your detestable things that you did.[fn] 52 Also,[fn] you bear your disgrace, by which you furnished justification to your sisters[fn] through your sins by which you acted more abominably than they; they were more righteous than you, and also,[fn] you be ashamed and bear your disgrace through your making your sister righteous.

53 And I will restore their fortune, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and even the fortunes of your captivity in the midst of them, 54 in order that you may bear your disgrace and you may be put to shame because of all that you did at your consoling them. 55 And as for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and you and your daughters will return to your former state. 56 And was not Sodom, your sister, a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride 57 before[fn] your evil was uncovered? It was like the time of the scorn of the daughters of Aram and all those around her, and of the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who are despising you. 58 Your wickedness and your detestable things, you, you must bear them,’ declares[fn] Yahweh. 59 ‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: And I will do it[fn] to you according to what you have done,[fn] who despised the oath to break covenant. 60 And I, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.[fn] 61 And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters, both the older and the younger,[fn] and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant. 62 And I, I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am Yahweh, 63 in order that you will remember, and you will be ashamed, and you will not open your mouth again[fn] because of[fn] your disgrace when I forgive you for all that you have done!’ ” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.