Old/New Testament
16 The Prophet declared the benefits of God toward Jerusalem. 15 Their unkindness. 46 He justifieth the wickedness of other people in comparison of the sins of Jerusalem. 49 The cause of the abominations, into which the Sodomites fell. 60 Mercy is promised to the repentant.
1 Again, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem, Thine habitation and thy kindred is of the land [a]of Canaan: thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.
4 And in thy nativity when thou wast [b]born, thy navel was not cut: thou wast not washed in water to soften thee: thou wast not salted with salt, nor swaddled in clouts.
5 None eye pitied thee to do any of these unto thee, for to have compassion upon thee, but thou wast cast out in the open field to the contempt of thy person in the day that thou wast born.
6 And when I passed by thee, I saw thee polluted in thine [c]own blood, and I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, Thou shalt live: even when thou wast in thy blood, I said unto thee, Thou shalt live.
7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou hast gotten excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.
8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was as the time of love, and I spread my skirts over thee, and covered [d]thy filthiness: yea, I swear unto thee, and entered into a covenant with [e]thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine.
9 Then washed I thee with [f]water: yea, I washed away thy blood from thee, and I [g]anointed thee with oil.
10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thine hands, and a chain on thy neck.
12 And I put a frontlet upon thy face, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful [h]crown upon thine head.
13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work: thou didst eat fine flour, and honey and oil, and thou wast very beautiful, and thou didst grow up into a kingdom.
14 And thy name was spread among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my [i]beauty which I had set upon thee, saith the Lord God.
15 Now thou didst [j]trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot, because of thy renown, and hast poured out [k]thy fornications on everyone that passed by, thy desire was to him.
16 And thou didst take thy garments, and deckedst thine high places with divers colors, [l]and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither hath any done so.
17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels made of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and [m]madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,
18 And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and my perfume before them.
19 My meat also, which I gave thee, as fine flour, oil and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savor: thus it was, saith the Lord God.
20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them, to [n]be devoured: is this thy whoredom a small matter?
21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through fire for them?
22 And in all thine abominations and whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.
23 And beside all thy wickedness (woe, woe unto thee, saith the Lord God)
24 Thou hast also built unto thee an high place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.
25 Thou hast built thine high place at every [o]corner of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred: thou hast opened thy feet to everyone that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredom.
26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the [p]Egyptians thy neighbors, which have great members, and hast increased thy whoredom, to provoke me.
27 Behold, therefore I did stretch out mine hand over thee, and will diminish thine ordinary, and deliver thee unto the will of them that hate thee, even to the [q]daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy wicked way.
28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable: yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.
29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication from the land of Canaan unto Chaldea, and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things, even the work of a [r]presumptuous whorish woman?
31 In that thou buildest thine high place in the corner of every way, and makest thine high place in every street, and hast not been as an harlot [s]that despiseth a reward,
32 But as a wife that playeth the harlot, and taketh others for her husband:
33 They give gifts to all other whores, but thou givest gifts unto all thy lovers, and rewardest them that they may come unto thee on every 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 givest a reward and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.
35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord.
36 Thus saith the Lord God, Because thy [t]shame was poured out, and thy filthiness discovered through thy fornications with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thine abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst offer unto them,
37 Behold, therefore I will gather all [u]thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated: I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy filthiness unto them, that they may see all thy filthiness.
38 And I will judge thee after the manner of them that are [v]harlots, and of them that shed blood, and I will give thee the blood of wrath, and jealousy.
39 I will also give thee into their hands, and they shall destroy thine high place, and shall break down thine high places: they shall strip thee also out of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.
40 They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.
41 And they (A)shall burn up thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou shalt give no reward anymore.
42 So will I make my wrath toward thee to rest, and my [w]jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will cease, and be no more angry.
43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast provoked me with all these things, behold, therefore I also have [x]brought thy way upon thy head, saith the Lord God: yet hast not thou had consideration of all thine abominations.
44 Behold, all that use proverbs, shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, [y]so is her daughter.
45 Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that hath cast off her husband and her children, and thou art the sister of thy [z]sisters, which forsook their husbands and their children: your mother is an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, and her [aa]daughters, that dwell at thy left hand, and [ab]thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom, and her daughters.
47 Yet hast thou [ac]not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but as it had been a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.
48 As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, neither she nor her daughters, as thou hast done and thy daughters.
49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, [ad]pride, fullness of bread and abundance of idleness was in her, and in her daughters: neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50 But they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as pleased me.
51 Neither [ae]hath Samaria committed half of thy sins, but thou hast exceeded them in thine abominations, and hast [af]justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
52 Therefore thou which hast justified thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins, that thou hast committed more abominable than they which are more righteous than thou art: be thou therefore confounded also, and bear thy shame, seeing that thou hast justified thy sisters.
53 Therefore I will bring again [ag]their captivity, with the captivity of Sodom, and her daughters, and with the captivity of Samaria, and her daughters: even the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them,
54 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou hast [ah]comforted them.
55 And thy sister Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state: Samaria also and her daughters shall return to their former state: [ai]when thou and thy daughters shall return to your former state.
56 For thy sister Sodom [aj]was not heard of [ak]by thy report in the day of thy pride,
57 Before thy wickedness was [al]discovered, as in that same time of the reproach of the daughters of Aram, and of all the daughters of the Philistines round about [am]her, which despise thee on all sides.
58 Thou hast borne therefore thy wickedness and thine abomination, saith the Lord.
59 For thus saith the Lord God, I might even deal with thee, as thou hast done: when thou didst despise the [an]oath, in breaking the covenant.
60 Nevertheless, I will [ao]remember my covenant made with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will confirm unto thee an everlasting Covenant.
61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive [ap]thy sisters, both thy elder and thy younger, and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not [aq]by thy covenant.
62 And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord,
63 That thou mayest remember, and be [ar]ashamed, and never open thy mouth anymore: because of thy shame when I am pacified toward thee, for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.
17 The parable of the two Eagles.
1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, put forth a parable and speak a proverb unto the house of Israel,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God, The great [as]eagle with great wings and long wings, and full of feathers, which had diverse colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar,
4 And brake off the top of his twig, and carried it into the land of [at]merchants, and set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the [au]seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful ground: he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
6 And it budded up, and was like [av]a spreading vine of [aw]low stature, whose branches turned toward it, and the roots thereof were under it: so it became a vine, and it brought forth branches, and shot forth buds.
7 There was also [ax]another great Eagle with great wings and many feathers, and behold, this vine did turn her roots toward it, and spread forth her branches toward it, that she might water it by the trenches of her plantation.
8 It was planted in a good soil by great [ay]waters, that it should bring forth branches, and bear fruit, and be an excellent vine.
9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God, Shall it prosper? shall [az]he not pull up the roots thereof, and destroy the fruit thereof, and cause them to dry? all the leaves of her bud shall wither without great power, or many people, to pluck it up by the roots thereof.
10 Behold, it was planted: but shall it prosper? shall it not be dried up, and wither? [ba]when the East wind shall touch it, it shall wither in the trenches, where it grew.
11 Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
12 Say now to this rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, behold, the king of Babel is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken [bb]the king thereof and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babel,
13 And hath taken one of the King’s seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken [bc]an oath of him: he hath also taken the princes of the land,
14 That the kingdom might be in subjection, and not lift itself up, but keep their covenant, and stand to it.
15 But he rebelled against him, and sent his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses, and much people: shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?
16 As I live, saith the Lord God, he shall die in the midst of Babel, in the place of the king that had made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant made with him, he brake.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty host, and great multitude of people, maintain him in the war, when they have cast up mounts, and built ramparts to destroy many persons.
18 For he hath despised the oath, and broken the covenant (yet lo, he had given [bd]his hand) because he hath done all these things, he shall not escape.
19 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, As I live, I will surely bring mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, upon his own head.
20 (B)And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my net, and I will bring him to Babel, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he hath committed against me.
21 And all that flee from him with all his host, shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all the winds: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it.
22 Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take off the top[be]of this high cedar, and will set it, and cut off the [bf]top of the tender plant thereof, and I will plant it upon an high mountain and great.
23 Even in the high mountain of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be an excellent cedar, and under it shall remain all birds, and every [bg]fowl shall dwell in the shadow of the branches thereof.
24 And all the [bh]trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, and exalted the low tree: that I have dried up the green tree, and made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken it, and have done it.
3 2 To show that a Christian man must govern his tongue with the bridle of faith and charity, 6 he declareth the commodities and mischiefs that ensue thereof: 15 and how much man’s wisdom 17 differeth from heavenly.
1 My [a]brethren, be not many masters, [b]knowing that we [c]shall receive the greater condemnation.
2 For in many things we [d]sin all. [e]If any man sin not in word, he is a perfect man, and able to bridle all the body.
3 [f]Behold, we put bits into the horses’ mouths, that they should obey us, and we turn about all their body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small rudder, whithersoever the governor listeth.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth of great things: [g]behold, how great a thing a little fire kindleth.
6 And the tongue is fire, yea, a [h]world of wickedness: so is the tongue set among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and [i]setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For the whole nature of beasts, and of birds, and of creeping things, and things of the sea is tamed, and hath been tamed of the nature of man.
8 But the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 [j]Therewith bless we God even the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after the [k]similitude of God.
10 [l]Out of one mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing: my brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11 Doth a fountain send forth at one place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bring forth olives, either a vine figs? so can no fountain make both salt water and sweet.
13 [m]Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show by good conversation his works in meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, rejoice not, neither be liars against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is sedition, and all manner of evil works.
17 But the wisdom that is from above, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of [n]mercy and good fruits, without judging, and without hypocrisy.
18 [o]And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace, of them that make peace.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.