Ezekiel 16:1-43

1The Lord spoke his word to me. He said,

2“Son of man, make known to the people of Jerusalem the disgusting things they have done.

3Tell them, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says to the people of Jerusalem: Your birthplace and your ancestors were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.

4When you were born, your umbilical cord wasn’t cut. You weren’t washed with water to make you clean. You weren’t rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloth.

5No one who saw you felt sorry enough for you to do any of these things. But you were thrown into an open field. You were rejected when you were born.

6“ ‘Then I went by you and saw you kicking around in your own blood. I said to you, “Live.”

7I made you grow like a plant in the field. You grew up, matured, and became a young woman. Your breasts developed, and your hair grew. Yet, you were naked and bare.

8“ ‘I went by you again and looked at you. You were old enough to make love to. So I spread my robe over you, and covered your naked body. I promised to love you, and I exchanged marriage vows with you. You became mine, declares the Almighty Lord.

9“ ‘Then I bathed you with water, and I washed off your blood. I poured olive oil over you.

10I put an embroidered dress on you and fine leather sandals on your feet. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with silk.

11I gave you jewelry. I put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck.

12I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.

13So you wore gold and silver jewelry. You were dressed in fine linen, silk, and embroidered clothes. Your food was flour, honey, and olive oil. You were very beautiful, and eventually you became a queen.

14You became famous in every nation because of your beauty. Your beauty was perfect because I gave you my glory, declares the Almighty Lord.

15“ ‘But you trusted your beauty, and you used your fame to become a prostitute. You had sex with everyone who walked by.

16You took some of your clothes and made your worship sites colorful. This is where you acted like a prostitute. Such things shouldn’t happen. They shouldn’t occur.

17You took your beautiful gold and silver jewelry that I had given you and made male idols for yourself. Then you committed adultery with them.

18You took off your embroidered clothes and covered the idols with them. You offered my olive oil and incense in their presence.

19You 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 Almighty Lord.

20“ ‘You took your sons and daughters, who belonged to me, and you sacrificed them as food to idols. Wasn’t your prostitution enough?

21You slaughtered my children and presented them as burnt offerings to idols.

22With all the disgusting things that you did and all your acts of prostitution, you didn’t remember the time when you were young. You didn’t remember when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your own blood.

23“ ‘How horrible! How horrible it will be for you! declares the Almighty Lord. After all your wickedness,

24you built yourself platforms and illegal worship sites in every city square.

25You also built worship sites at the head of every street. You used your beauty to seduce people there. You offered your body to everyone who passed by. You increased your acts of prostitution.

26You had sex with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians. You used your prostitution to make me angry.

27“ ‘So I used my power against you. I took away some of your land, and I handed you over to your greedy enemies, the Philistines, who were ashamed of what you had done.

28“ ‘You had sex with the Assyrians because you weren’t satisfied. You still weren’t satisfied.

29So you increased your acts of prostitution to include the land of the merchants, the Babylonians. Even after that, you weren’t satisfied.

30“ ‘You have no will power! declares the Almighty Lord. You do everything a shameless prostitute does.

31You build your platforms at the head of every street and place your illegal worship sites in every square. Yet, you aren’t like other prostitutes, because you don’t want to be paid.

32You are an adulterous wife who prefers strangers to her husband.

33All prostitutes get paid. But you give gifts to all your lovers and bribe them to come to you from all directions to have sex with you.

34You are a different kind of prostitute. No one goes after you for favors. You are the opposite. You pay them, and you don’t accept payment.

35“ ‘Listen to the Lord’s word, you prostitute.

36This is what the Almighty Lord says: You exposed yourself and uncovered your naked body when you gave yourself to your lovers and to all your disgusting idols. You also killed your children and sacrificed their blood to these idols.

37That is why I will gather all your lovers with whom you found pleasure. I will have all those who love you and hate you gather around. I will uncover your body for them, and they will see you naked.

38I will punish you the same way that those who are guilty of prostitution and murder are punished. I will give you the death penalty in my fury and burning anger.

39I will hand you over to your lovers. They will destroy your platforms and tear down your illegal worship sites. They will tear off your clothes, take away your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.

40They will also bring a mob against you. They will stone you and cut you into pieces with their swords.

41They will burn your houses and punish you in the presence of many women. I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay others.

42Then I will rest from my fury against you, and I will stop being angry. I will be at peace. I will no longer be angry.

43“ ‘You didn’t remember the time when you were young, and you made me very angry with all these things. So I will pay you back for what you have done, declares the Almighty Lord. Didn’t you make wicked plans in addition to all your disgusting practices?