Yechezkel 16 יחזקאל ט״ז

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Son of man, cause Yerushalayim to know her abominations,

and say, Thus says the Lord God to Yerushalayim; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Kena῾an; thy father was an Emorite, and thy mother a Ḥittite,

and as for thy birth, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water for cleansing; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

No eyes pitied thee, to do any of these to thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, in thy loathsomeness, in the day that thou wast born.

And when I passed by thee, and saw thee weltering in thy blood, I said to thee, In thy blood live! yea, I said to thee, In thy blood live!

I will cause thee to increase like the plant of the field. And thou didst increase, and grow big, and thou didst come to possess great attractions: thy breasts were firm, and thy hair was grown, and yet thou wast poorly clad and bare.

Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness; yea, I swore to thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, says the Lord God, and thou didst become mine.

Then I washed thee with water; indeed, I rinsed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

I clothed thee also with embroidered cloth, and shod thee with taĥash skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck,

and I put a ring upon thy nose, and earrings in thy ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.

Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast very very beautiful, and thou wast fit for royal estate.

And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my splendour which I had bestowed upon thee, says the Lord God.

But thou didst trust in thy own beauty, and didst play the harlot because of thy renown, and didst lavish thy fornications on everyone that passed by; his it was.

And thou didst take some of thy garments, and didst make for thyself high places decked out in various colours, and on those thou didst play the harlot: such things may not come about, nor shall it continue.

Thou hast also taken thy fair implements, made of my gold and my silver, and hast made for thyself male images, and hast committed lewdness with them,

and thou hast taken thy embroidered garments, to cover them: and thou hast set my oil and my incense before them.

My bread also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, says the Lord God.

Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast born to me, and these hast thou sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were thy harlotries so small a matter?

And thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

And in all thy abominations and thy harlotries thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou was poorly clad and bare, weltering in thy blood.

And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe to thee! says the Lord God;)

that thou hast also built to thee a platform, and hast made thee a high place in every street.

Thou hast built thy high place on every main street, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast offered thyself to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy harlotries.

Thou hast also played the harlot with the children of Miżrayim, thy neighbours of large flesh; and hast multiplied thy harlotry, to provoke me to anger.

Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thy allotment, and delivered thee to the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Pelishtim, who are ashamed of thy lewd way.

Thou hast played the harlot also with the children of Ashshur, because thou wast insatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet thou couldst not be satisfied.

Thou hast moreover multiplied thy harlotry in the land of Kena῾an as far as Kasdim; and yet thou wast not satisfied with that.

How weak is thy heart, says the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an importunate harlot;

in that thou didst build thy platform in every main street, and didst make thy high place in every street; yet thou hast not been like a harlot, for thou didst scorn payment,

but rather like a wife that commits adultery, who takes strangers instead of her husband!

Men give gifts to all harlots: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come to thee on every side for thy lewd satisfaction.

And the contrary is in thee from other women, in that thou didst solicit to harlotry, and wast not solicited; and in that thou didst give hire, and no hire was given thee: thus thou art contrary.

Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord:

Thus says the Lord God; Because thy shame was displayed, and thy nakedness laid bare through thy harlotries with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and because of the blood of thy children, which thou didst give to them;

behold, therefore I will gather all 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 uncover thy nakedness to them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

And I will judge thee, as women are judged that break wedlock or shed blood; and I will bring upon thee the blood of anger and jealousy.

And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy platform, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

And they shall burn thy 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 also shalt give no hire any more.

So will I relieve my fury upon thee, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy ways upon thy head, says the Lord God: for thou hast not taken thought concerning thy abominations.

Behold, everyone that uses proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.

Thou art thy mother’s daughter, who loathed her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Ḥittite, and your father an Emorite.

And thy elder sister is Shomeron, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwells at thy right hand, is Sedom and her daughters.

Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: for after a very little while, thou wast more corrupt than they in all thy ways.

As I live, says the Lord God, Sedom thy sister has not done, neither she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

Behold this was the iniquity of thy sister Sedom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of bread, and abundance of idleness, and yet she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I removed them when I saw it.

Nor did Shomeron commit half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thy abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters by all thy abominations which thou hast done.

Thou also, bear thy own disgrace, in that thou hast given judgment for thy sisters: through thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they, they are become more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast made thy sisters seem righteous.

When I shall bring back their captivity, the captivity of Sedom and her daughters, and the captivity of Shomeron and her daughters, then will I bring back the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

that thou mayst bear thy own disgrace, and mayst be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort to them.

When thy sisters, Sedom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Shomeron and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

For was not thy sister Sedom a byword in thy mouth in the day of thy pride,

before thy wickedness was laid bare, it was at the time of the taunt of the daughters of Aram, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Pelishtim, who despise thee round about?

Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thy abominations, says the Lord.

For thus says the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, for thou hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.

Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thy elder and thy younger: and I will give them to thee for daughters, but not on account of the covenant with thee.

And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord:

that thou mayst remember, and be put to shame, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I have forgiven thee for all that thou hast done, says the Lord God.