Jerusalem Is Unfaithful
1 The Lord said:
2 Ezekiel, son of man, remind the people of Jerusalem of their disgusting sins 3 and tell them that I, the Lord God, am saying:
Jerusalem, you were born in the country where Canaanites lived. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 When you were born, no one cut you loose from your mother or washed your body. No one rubbed your skin with salt and olive oil, and wrapped you in warm blankets. 5 Not one person loved you enough to do any of these things, and no one even felt sorry for you. You were despised, thrown into a field, and forgotten.
6 I saw you lying there, rolling around in your own blood, and I couldn't let you die. 7 I took care of you, like someone caring for a tender, young plant. You grew up to be a beautiful young woman with mature breasts and hair, but you were still naked.
8 When I saw you again, you were old enough to have sex. So I covered your naked body with my own robe. Then I solemnly promised that you would belong to me and that I, the Lord God, would take care of you.
9 I washed the blood off you and rubbed your skin with olive oil. 10 I gave you the finest clothes and the most expensive robes, as well as sandals made from the best leather. 11 I gave you bracelets, a necklace, 12 a ring for your nose, some earrings, and a beautiful crown. 13 Your jewelry was gold and silver, and your clothes were made of only the finest material and embroidered linen. Your bread was baked from fine flour, and you ate honey and olive oil. You were as beautiful as a queen, 14 and everyone on earth knew it. I, the Lord God, had helped you become a lovely young woman.
15 You learned that you were attractive enough to have any man you wanted, so you offered yourself to every passerby. 16 You made shrines for yourself and decorated them with some of your clothes. That's where you took your visitors to have sex with them. These things should never have happened! 17 You made idols out of the gold and silver jewelry I gave you, then you sinned by worshiping those idols. 18 You dressed them in the clothes you got from me, and you offered them the olive oil and incense I gave you. 19 I supplied you with fine flour, olive oil, and honey, but you sacrificed it all as offerings to please those idols. I, the Lord God, watched this happen.
20 But you did something even worse than that—you sacrificed your own children to those idols! 21 You slaughtered my children, so you could offer them as sacrifices. 22 You were so busy sinning and being a prostitute that you refused to think about the days when you were young and were rolling around naked in your own blood.
23 Now I, the Lord God, say you are doomed! Not only did you do these evil things, 24 but you also built places on every street corner 25 where you disgraced yourself by having sex with anyone who walked by. And you did that more and more every day! 26 To make me angry, you even offered yourself to Egyptians, who were always ready to sleep with you.
27 So I punished you by letting those greedy Philistine enemies take over some of your territory. But even they were offended by your repulsive behavior.
28 You couldn't get enough sex, so you chased after Assyrians and slept with them. You still weren't satisfied, 29 so you went after Babylonians. But those merchants could not satisfy you either.
30 I, the Lord God, say that you were so disgusting that you would have done anything to get what you wanted. 31 You had sex on every street corner, and when you finished, you refused to accept money. That's worse than being a prostitute! 32 You are nothing but an unfaithful wife who would rather have sex with strangers than with your own husband. 33 Prostitutes accept money for having sex, but you bribe men from everywhere to have sex with you. 34 You're not like other prostitutes. Men don't ask you for sex—you offer to pay them!
Jerusalem Must Be Punished
The Lord said:
35 Jerusalem, you prostitute, listen to me. 36 You chased after lovers, then took off your clothes and had sex. You even worshiped disgusting idols and sacrificed your own children as offerings to them. 37 So I, the Lord God, will gather every one of your lovers, those you liked and those you hated. They will stand around you, and I will rip off your clothes and let all of those lovers stare at your nakedness. 38 I will find you guilty of being an unfaithful wife and a murderer, and in my fierce anger I will sentence you to a violent death! 39 Then I will hand you over to your lovers, who will tear down the places where you had sex. They will take your clothes and jewelry, leaving you naked and empty-handed.
40 Your lovers and an angry mob will stone you to death; they will cut your dead body into pieces 41 and burn down your houses. Other women will watch these terrible things happen to you. I promise to stop you from being a prostitute and paying your lovers for sex.
42 Only then will I calm down and stop being angry and jealous. 43 You made me furious by doing all these disgusting things and by forgetting how I took care of you when you were young. Then you made things worse by acting like a prostitute. You must be punished! I, the Lord God, have spoken.
Jerusalem's Two Sisters
The Lord said:
44 People will use this saying about you, Jerusalem: “If the mother is bad, so is her daughter.” 45 You are just like your mother, who hated her husband and her own children. You are also like your sisters, who hated their husbands and children. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 46 Your older sister was Samaria, that city to your north with her nearby villages. Your younger sister was Sodom, that city to your south with her nearby villages. 47 You followed their way of life and their wicked customs, and soon you were more repulsive than they were.
48 As surely as I am the living Lord God, the people of Sodom and its nearby villages were never as sinful as you. 49 They were arrogant and spoiled; they had everything they needed and still refused to help the poor and needy. 50 They thought they were better than everyone else, and they did things I hate. And so I destroyed them.
51 You people of Jerusalem have sinned twice as much as the people of Samaria. In fact, your evil ways have made both Sodom and Samaria look innocent. 52 So their punishment will seem light compared to yours. You will be disgraced and put to shame because of your disgusting sins.
Jerusalem Will Be Ashamed
The Lord said to Jerusalem:
53 Someday I will bless Sodom and Samaria and their nearby villages. I will also bless you, Jerusalem. 54 Then you will be ashamed of how you've acted, and Sodom and Samaria will be relieved that they weren't as sinful as you. 55 When that day comes, you and Sodom and Samaria will once again be well-off, and all nearby villages will be restored.
56 Jerusalem, you were so arrogant that you sneered at Sodom. 57 But now everyone has learned how wicked you really are. The countries of Syria and Philistia, as well as your other neighbors, hate you and make insulting remarks. 58 You must pay for all the vulgar and disgusting things you have done. I, the Lord, have spoken.
The Lord Makes a Promise to Jerusalem
The Lord said:
59 Jerusalem, you deserve to be punished, because you broke your promises and ignored our agreement. 60 But I remember the agreement I made with you when you were young, and so I will make you a promise that will last forever. 61 When you think about how you acted, you will be ashamed, especially when I return your sisters to you as daughters, even though this was not part of our agreement. 62 I will keep this solemn promise, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 I will forgive you, but you will think about your sins and be too ashamed to say a word. I, the Lord God, have spoken.
1 Again, the worde of the Lord came vnto me, saying, 2 Sonne of man, cause Ierusalem to knowe her abominations, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God vnto Ierusalem, Thine habitation and thy kindred is of the land of Canaan: thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. 4 And in thy natiuitie whe thou wast borne, thy nauell was not cut: thou wast not washed in water to soften thee: thou wast not salted with salt, nor swadled in cloutes. 5 None eye pitied thee to do any of these vnto thee, for to haue compassion vpon thee, but thou wast cast out in the open fielde to the contempt of thy person in ye day that thou wast borne. 6 And when I passed by thee, I saw thee polluted in thine owne blood, and I said vnto thee, whe thou wast in thy blood, Thou shalt liue: euen when thou wast in thy blood, I saide vnto thee, Thou shalt liue. 7 I haue caused thee to multiplie as the bud of the fielde, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou hast gotten excellent ornaments: thy breastes are facioned, thine heare is growen, where as thou wast naked and bare. 8 Nowe when I passed by thee, and looked vpon thee, beholde, thy time was as the time of loue, and I spred my skirtes ouer thee, and couered thy filthines: yea, I sware vnto thee, and entred into a couenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. 9 Then washed I thee with water: yea, I washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oyle. 10 I clothed thee also with broydred worke, and shod thee with badgers skin: and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I couered thee with silke. 11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets vpon thine handes, and a chaine on thy necke. 12 And I put a frontlet vpon thy face, and earings in thine eares, and a beautifull crowne vpon thine head. 13 Thus wast thou deckt with gold and siluer, and thy rayment was of fine linen, and silke, and broydred worke: thou didest eate fine floure, and honie and oyle, and thou wast very beautifull, and thou didest grow vp into a kingdome. 14 And thy name was spred among the heathen for thy beautie: for it was perfite through my beautie which I had set vpon thee, saith the Lord God. 15 Nowe thou didest trust in thine owne beautie, and playedst the harlot, because of thy renowne, and hast powred out thy fornications on euery one that passed by, thy desire was to him. 16 And thou didest take thy garments, and deckedst thine hie places with diuers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like thinges shall not come, neither hath any done so. 17 Thou hast also taken thy faire iewels made of my golde and of my siluer, which I had giuen thee, and madest to thy selfe images of men, and didest commit whoredome with them, 18 And tookest thy broydred garments, and coueredst them: and thou hast set mine oyle and my perfume before them. 19 My meate also, which I gaue thee, as fine floure, oyle, and honie, wherewith I fedde thee, thou hast euen set it before them for a sweete sauour: thus it was, saith the Lord God. 20 Moreouer thou hast taken thy sonnes and thy daughters, whome thou hast borne vnto me, and these hast thou sacrificed vnto them, to be deuoured: is this thy whoredome a small matter? 21 That thou hast slaine my children, and deliuered them to cause them to passe through fire for them? 22 And in all thine abominations and whoredomes thou hast not remembred the dayes of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood. 23 And beside all thy wickednes (wo, wo vnto thee, saith the Lord God) 24 Thou hast also built vnto thee an hie place, and hast made thee an hie place in euery streete. 25 Thou hast built thine hie place at euery corner of the way, and hast made thy beautie to be abhorred: thou hast opened thy feete to euery one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredome. 26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, which haue great members, and hast encreased thy whoredome, to prouoke me. 27 Beholde, therefore I did stretche out mine hand ouer thee, and will diminish thine ordinarie, and deliuer thee vnto the will of them that hate thee, euen to the daughters of the Philistims, which are ashamed of thy wicked way. 28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insaciable: yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. 29 Thou hast moreouer multiplied thy fornication from the land of Canaan vnto Caldea, and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith. 30 Howe weake is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these thinges, euen the worke of a presumptuous whorish woman? 31 In that thou buildest thine hie place in the corner of euery way, and makest thine hie place in euery streete, and hast not bene as an harlot that despiseth a reward, 32 But as a wife that playeth the harlot, and taketh others for her husband: 33 They giue giftes to all other whores, but thou giuest giftes vnto all thy louers, and rewardest them, that they may come vnto thee on euery side for thy fornication. 34 And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy fornications, neither the like fornication shall be after thee: for in that thou giuest a rewarde, and no reward is giuen vnto thee, therefore thou art contrary. 35 Wherefore, O harlot, heare the worde of the Lord. 36 Thus sayeth the Lord God, Because thy shame was powred out, and thy filthinesse discouered through thy fornications with thy louers, and with all the idoles of thine abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didest offer vnto them, 37 Beholde, therefore I wil gather all thy louers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loued, with al them that thou hast hated: I will euen gather them round about against thee, and will discouer thy filthines vnto them, that they may see all thy filthines. 38 And I wil iudge thee after ye maner of them that are harlots, and of them that shead blood, and I wil giue thee the blood of wrath and ielousie. 39 I will also giue thee into their handes, and they shall destroy thine hie place, and shall breake downe thine hie places. they shall strippe thee also out of thy clothes, and shall take thy faire iewels, and leaue thee naked and bare. 40 They shall also bring vp a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swordes. 41 And they shall burne vp thine houses with fire, and execute iudgements vpon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou shalt giue no reward any more. 42 So will I make my wrath towarde thee to rest, and my ielousie shall depart from thee, and I will cease and be no more angrie. 43 Because thou hast not remembred the dayes of thy youth, but hast prouoked me with all these things, behold, therefore I also haue brought thy way vpon thine head, sayeth the Lord God: yet hast not thou had consideration of all thine abominations. 44 Beholde, all that vse prouerbes, shall vse this prouerbe against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. 45 Thou art thy mothers daughter, that hath cast off her husband and her children, and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which forsooke their husbands and their children: your mother is an Hittite, and your father an Amorite. 46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, and her daughters, that dwell at thy left hand, and thy yong sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom, and her daughters. 47 Yet hast thou not walked after their wayes, nor done after their abominations: but as it had bene a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more then they in all thy wayes. 48 As I liue, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, neither shee nor her daughters, as thou hast done and thy daughters. 49 Beholde, this was the iniquitie of thy sister Sodom, Pride, fulnesse of bread, and aboundance of idlenesse was in her, and in her daughters: neither did shee strengthen the hande of the poore and needie. 50 But they were hautie, and committed abomination before mee: therefore I tooke them away, as pleased me. 51 Neither hath Samaria committed halfe of thy sinnes, but thou hast exceeded them in thine abominations, and hast iustified thy sisters in all thine abominations, which thou hast done. 52 Therefore thou which hast iustified thy sisters, beare thine owne shame for thy sinnes, that thou hast committed more abominable then they which are more righteous then thou art: be thou therefore confounded also, and beare thy shame, seeing that thou hast iustified thy sisters. 53 Therefore I will bring againe their captiuitie with the captiuitie of Sodom, and her daughters, and with the captiuitie of Samaria, and her daughters: euen the captiuitie of thy captiues in the middes of them, 54 That thou mayest beare thine owne shame, and mayest bee confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou hast comforted them. 55 And thy sister Sodom and her daughters shall returne to their former state: Samaria also and her daughters shall returne to their former state, when thou and thy daughters shall returne to your former state. 56 For thy sister Sodom was not heard of by thy report in the day of thy pride, 57 Before thy wickednes was discouered, as in that same time of the reproch of the daughters of Aram, and of all the daughters of the Philistims round about her which despise thee on all sides. 58 Thou hast borne therefore thy wickednesse and thine abomination, saith the Lord. 59 For thus saith the Lord God, I might euen deale with thee, as thou hast done: when thou didest despise the othe, in breaking the couenant. 60 Neuerthelesse, I wil remember my couenant made with thee in ye dayes of thy youth, and I wil confirme vnto thee an euerlasting couenant. 61 Then thou shalt remember thy wayes, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receiue thy sisters, both thy elder and thy yonger, and I will giue them vnto thee for daughters, but not by thy couenat. 62 And I wil establish my couenant with thee, and thou shalt knowe that I am the Lord, 63 That thou mayest remember, and be ashamed, and neuer 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.