The Lord's Faithless Bride

16 Again the word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)make known to Jerusalem her abominations, ³ and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an ^(C)Amorite and your mother a ^(D)Hittite. ⁴ And as for your birth, ^(E)on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. ⁵ No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, ^(F)but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, ^(G)on the day that you were born.

⁶ “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing ^(H)in your blood, I said to you ^(I)in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you ^(J)in your blood, ‘Live!’ ^7 (K)I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall ^(L)and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet ^(M)you were naked and bare.

⁸ “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and ^(N)I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you ^(O)and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, ^(P)and you became mine. ⁹ Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and ^(Q)anointed you with oil. ^10 (R)I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.^{[a] 11 (S)}And I adorned you with ornaments and ^(T)put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. ¹² And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. ^(U)You ate fine flour and honey and oil. ^(V)You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. ¹⁴ And ^(W)your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.

^15 (X)“But you trusted in your beauty ^(Y)and played the whore^[b] because of your renown ^(Z)and lavished your whorings^[c] on any passerby; your beauty^[d] became his.

³³ Men give gifts to all prostitutes, ^(A)but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. ³⁴ So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and ^(B)you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.

³⁵ “Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: ³⁶ Thus says the Lord God, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, ^(C)and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, ³⁷ therefore, behold, ^(D)I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and ^(E)all those you hated. ^(F)I will gather them against you from every side ^(G)and will uncover your nakedness to them, that ^(H)they may see all your nakedness. ^38 (I)And I will judge you ^(J)as women who commit adultery and ^(K)shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. ³⁹ And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your ^(L)vaulted chamber and break down ^(M)your lofty places. ^(N)They shall strip you of your clothes and take ^(O)your beautiful jewels and leave you ^(P)naked and bare. ^40 (Q)They shall bring up a crowd against you, ^(R)and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. ^41 (S)And they shall ^(T)burn your houses and ^(U)execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. ^(V)I will make you stop playing the whore, and ^(W)you shall also give payment no more. ^42 (X)So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry. ⁴³ Because you have not remembered ^(Y)the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, ^(Z)I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not ^(AA)committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

⁴⁴ “Behold, everyone ^(AB)who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ ⁴⁵ You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of ^(AC)your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. ^(AD)Your mother was a Hittite and ^(AE)your father an Amorite. ⁴⁶ And ^(AF)your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and ^(AG)your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. ^47 (AH)Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time ^(AI)you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

The Lord's Everlasting Covenant

⁵⁹ “For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you ^(A)who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, ⁶⁰ yet ^(B)I will remember my covenant with you ^(C)in the days of your youth, ^(D)and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. ^61 (E)Then you will remember your ways ^(F)and be ashamed when you take ^(G)your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you ^(H)as daughters, but not on account of^[a] the covenant with you. ⁶² I will establish my covenant with you, ^(I)and you shall know that I am the Lord, ⁶³ that you may remember and be confounded, and ^(J)never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”