Ezekiel 16:1-34

Amplified Bible

God’s Grace to Unfaithful Jerusalem

16 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, make Jerusalem understand [the heinous and vile nature of] her repulsive (idolatrous) acts ³ and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem (all of Israel), “Your [spiritual] origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite; your [spiritual] father was an ^[a]Amorite and your [spiritual] mother a Hittite.^{(A) 4} And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing, nor were you rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. ⁵ No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out in the open field, for you were loathed on the day that you were born.

⁶ “When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your [newborn] blood, I said to you while you were there in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were there in your blood, ‘Live!’ ⁷ I made you (Israel) multiply like plants [which grow] in the field, and you grew up and became tall and you reached the age for [wearing] fine jewelry; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare.

⁸ “Then I passed by you [again] and looked on you; behold, you were maturing and at the time for love, and I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore [an oath] to you and entered into a covenant with you,” says the Lord God, “and you became Mine.” ⁹ “Then I washed you with water; yes, I [thoroughly] washed away from you the [clinging] blood and anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of ^[b]porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹ I adorned you with ornaments and I put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck. ¹² I also put a ring in your nostril and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was [made] of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil; so you were extremely beautiful and you advanced and prospered into royalty. ¹⁴ Then your fame went out among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My majesty and splendor which I bestowed on you,” says the Lord God.

¹⁵ “But you trusted in and relied on your beauty and prostituted yourself [in idolatry and its debauched rituals] because of your fame, and you poured out your immoralities on every [willing] passer-by and your beauty was his [as you worshiped the idols of the Gentile nations]. ¹⁶ You took some of your clothes and made for yourself [decorated] high places and shrines of various colors and prostituted yourself on them—things which should never have come about and taken place. ¹⁷ You also took your beautiful jewels and beautiful vessels made of My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men so that you could prostitute yourself with them; ¹⁸ and you took your embroidered clothing and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them. ¹⁹ Also My bread which I gave you, [made from the] fine flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, you even offered it before idols [no better than cow dung] as a sweet and soothing aroma; so it happened,” says the Lord God. ²⁰ “Moreover, you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne to Me, and you destroyed them as sacrifices [to your man-made gods]. Were your gross immoralities so small a matter? ²¹ You slaughtered My children and offered them up to [worthless] idols, forcing them to pass through the [hideousness of the] fire. ²² And in all your repulsive acts and prostitutions (idolatrous immoralities) you did not [pause to] remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, squirming in your [newborn] blood.

²³ “Then it came about after all your wickedness (‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord God), ²⁴ that you built yourself an ^[c]altar for prostitution and made yourself a high place [for ritual prostitution] in every square [of Jerusalem]. ²⁵ At the beginning of every street you built your high place and made your beauty repulsive; and you offered your body to every passer-by and multiplied your obscene immorality. ²⁶ You also prostituted yourself with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors [by embracing their pagan rituals], and you multiplied your obscene immorality to provoke Me to anger. ²⁷ Behold now [listen very carefully], I have stretched out My hand against you, reduced your portion, and handed you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your infamous behavior. ²⁸ You prostituted yourself with the Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you prostituted yourself with them and still were not satisfied. ²⁹ Moreover, you increased your obscene immorality with the land of tradesmen, Chaldea (Babylonia), and yet even with this you were not satisfied.”’”

³⁰ “How weakened by longing and lust is your heart (mind),” says the Lord God, “while you do all these things, the actions of a bold and brazen prostitute. ³¹ When you built your shrine altar for prostitution at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every public square, you were not like a prostitute because you refused payment. ³² You adulterous wife, who welcomes and receives strangers instead of her husband! ³³ Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you give your gifts to all your lovers, bribing the pagan nations to come to you [as allies] from every direction for your obscene immoralities. ³⁴ And you are different from other [unfaithful] women in your promiscuity, in that no one follows you to lure you into prostitution, and because you give money and no money is given you; in this way you are different.”