Ezekiel 16:7-63 »‘I made you numerous like plants of the field. You grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments. Your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.«’

NSB⁽ⁱ⁾ ⁷ »‘I made you numerous like plants of the field. You grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments. Your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.«’ ⁸ »‘Then I passed by you and saw that you were at the time for love. So I spread my skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became mine, declares the Lord Jehovah. ⁹ »‘Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ »‘I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet. I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹ »‘I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck.’« ¹² »‘I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ »‘You were adorned with gold and silver. Your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. ¹⁴ »‘You became famous in every nation because of your beauty. Your beauty was perfect because I gave you my glory,’ declares the Lord Jehovah.« ¹⁵ »‘But you trusted your beauty. You used your fame to become a prostitute. You had sex with everyone who walked by. ¹⁶ »‘You took some of your clothes and made your worship sites colorful. This is where you acted like a prostitute. Such things should not happen. They should not occur. ¹⁷ »‘You took your beautiful gold and silver jewelry that I had given you and made male idols for yourself. Then you committed adultery with them. ¹⁸ »‘You took off your embroidered clothes and covered the idols with them. You offered my olive oil and incense in their presence. ¹⁹ »‘You also offered them sweet and fragrant sacrifices. You gave flour, olive oil, and honey-all the food that I gave you to eat. This is what happened,’ declares the Lord Jehovah.« ²⁰ »‘You took your sons and daughters, who belonged to me, and you sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough? ²¹ »‘You slaughtered my children and presented them as burnt offerings to idols. ²² »‘During your disgusting life as a prostitute you never once remembered your childhood, when you were naked, squirming in your own blood.’« ²³ The Lord Jehovah said: »You are doomed! Doomed! You did all that evil, and then ²⁴ by the side of every road you built places to worship idols and practice prostitution. ²⁵ »You dragged your beauty through the mud. You offered yourself to everyone who came by, and you were more of a prostitute every day. ²⁶ »You let your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, go to bed with you, and you used your prostitution to make me angry. ²⁷ »Now I have raised my hand to punish you and to take away your share of my blessing. I have handed you over to the Philistines, who hate you. They are also disgusted with your immoral actions. ²⁸ »The others did not satisfy you so you ran after the Assyrians. You were their prostitute, but they did not satisfy you either. ²⁹ »You were also a prostitute for the Babylonians, that nation of merchants, but they did not satisfy you either. ³⁰ »I, the Lord Jehovah am furious with you. 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 is worse than being a prostitute! ³² »You are 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 are not like other prostitutes. Men do not ask you for sex. You offer to pay them! ³⁵ »Jerusalem, you prostitute, listen to the word of Jehovah. 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 Jehovah, 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 judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged. I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy. ³⁹ »I will also give you into the hands of your lovers. They will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and will leave you naked and bare. ⁴⁰ »They will incite a crowd against you and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹ »They will burn your houses with fire and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women. Then I will stop you from playing the harlot. You will also no longer pay your lovers. ⁴² »I will calm my fury against you and my indignation will depart from you. I will be pacified and angry no more. ⁴³ ‘»You have not remembered the days of your youth but have enraged me by all these things. I will therefore bring your conduct down on your own head,’ declares the Lord Jehovah. ‘That way you will not commit this lewdness on top of all your other abominations. ⁴⁴ ‘»Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb concerning you: »Like mother, like daughter.« ⁴⁵ ‘»You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You are also the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. ⁴⁶ ‘»Now your older sister is Samaria, who lives north of you with her daughters. Your younger sister, who lives south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. ⁴⁷ ‘»Yet you have not merely walked in their ways or done according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you acted more corruptly in all your conduct than they. ⁴⁸ ‘»As I am alive,’ declares the Lord Jehovah, ‘Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. ⁴⁹ ‘»This was the guilt of your sister Sodom. She and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. ⁵⁰ ‘»They were arrogant and did disgusting things in front of me. So I did away with them when I saw this. ⁵¹ ‘»Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done many more disgusting things than they ever did. Because of all the disgusting things that you have done, you make your sisters look innocent. ⁵² ‘»You will have to suffer disgrace because you accused your sisters. Yet, your sins are more disgusting than theirs. They look like they are innocent compared to you. Be ashamed of yourself and suffer disgrace, because you have made your sisters look like they are innocent.’ ⁵³ ‘»I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and Samaria and her daughters. I will also restore your fortune along with theirs. ⁵⁴ ‘»You will have to suffer disgrace and be ashamed of everything you have done, including comforting them. ⁵⁵ ‘»When Sodom and her daughters and Samaria and her daughters return to what they once were, you and your daughters will return to what you once were. ⁵⁶ ‘»You did not mention your sister Sodom when you were arrogant. ⁵⁷ ‘»You did not mention her before your wickedness was revealed. Now the daughters of Aram and their neighbors despise you. The daughters of the Philistines also despise you. Those around you hate you. ⁵⁸ ‘»You must suffer because of all the crude and disgusting things you have done,’ declares Jehovah.« ⁵⁹ »The Lord Jehovah says: ‘I will treat you the way you deserve, because you ignored your promises and broke the covenant. ⁶⁰ ‘»I will honor the covenant I made with you when you were young. I will make a covenant with you that will last forever. ⁶¹ ‘»You will remember how you have acted, and be ashamed of it when you get your older sister and your younger sister back. I will let them be like daughters to you, even though this was not part of my covenant with you.’ ⁶² ‘»I will renew my covenant with you, and you will know that I am Jehovah. ⁶³ ‘»I will forgive all the wrongs you have done, but you will remember them and be too ashamed to open your mouth.’ The Lord Jehovah has spoken.«