God's Love for Lawless Jerusalem
Ezekiel 16, verse 1. Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Ezekiel 16, verse 2. “Son of man, testify emphatically to Jerusalem concerning her lawlessness. Ezekiel 16, verse 3. You shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord to Jerusalem: “Your root and birth are from the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. Ezekiel 16, verse 4. As for your birth, on the day you were born they did not bind your breasts, nor were you washed in water. Neither were you salted with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. Ezekiel 16, verse 5. Nor did My eye pity you to do any one of these things for you, to suffer anything for you; but you were cast out into the open field because of the perversity of your soul on the day you were born. Ezekiel 16, verse 6. “As I passed by, I saw you defiled in your blood. So I said to you, ‘Let there be life out of your blood, and multiply.’ Ezekiel 16, verse 7. I made you as a field in full bloom, and you multiplied, became great, and entered into great cities. Your breasts were firm and your hair grew, but you were naked and behaved improperly. Ezekiel 16, verse 8. As I passed by and saw you, behold, it was your time, a time for lodging people. So I spread My wings over you, covered your shame, and swore an oath to you. I entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord. Ezekiel 16, verse 9. “Then I washed you in water, washed away your blood, and anointed you with oil. Ezekiel 16, verse 10. I clothed you in embroidered garments with purple underneath. I dressed you with fine linen and covered you with a veil of fine silk. Ezekiel 16, verse 11. I adorned you with jewelry and put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck. Ezekiel 16, verse 12. I put a ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a crown of boasting on your head. Ezekiel 16, verse 13. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate pastry of fine flour, oil, and honey. You became very beautiful. Ezekiel 16, verse 14. Your name went out among the nations for your beauty, because it was perfected with elegance and beauty which I put upon you,” says the Lord.
Playing the Prostitute
Ezekiel 16, verse 15. “But you put your trust in your beauty, played the prostitute because of your name, and poured out your fornication on everyone passing by. Ezekiel 16, verse 16. You took cloth from your garments, made idols of needlework for yourself, and committed fornication with them. But you should never have entered into such a thing, nor should this have taken place. Ezekiel 16, verse 17. You also took the fine jewelry of My gold and silver that I gave you and made male images for yourself, and committed fornication with them. Ezekiel 16, verse 18. You took your embroidered garments and clothed them. Then you set before them My oil and incense, Ezekiel 16, verse 19. and took My bread which I gave you—the pastry of fine flour, oil, and honey I fed you—and set it before them as a fragrant offering; and so it was,” says the Lord. Ezekiel 16, verse 20. “You also took your sons and daughters whom you bore, and sacrificed these to them to be destroyed, and committed fornication as if that were a small matter. Ezekiel 16, verse 21. Besides your fornication, you slaughtered your children and offered them as a sacrifice to ward off evil from yourselves. Ezekiel 16, verse 22. Thus you no longer remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and behaved improperly, and lived defiled in your blood. Ezekiel 16, verse 23. “So it came to pass, after all your evils,” says the Lord, Ezekiel 16, verse 24. “that you also built for yourself a house of fornication, and made a public place for yourself in every street; Ezekiel 16, verse 25. and at the beginning of every road, you built your brothel and ravaged your beauty. You spread your legs to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of prostitution. Ezekiel 16, verse 26. You committed fornication with the children of Egypt, your fleshly neighbor, and committed fornication in many ways, to provoke Me to anger. Ezekiel 16, verse 27. So when I stretch out My hand against you, then I will abolish your customs and will deliver you over to souls who hate you, even to the daughters of foreign lands, who will turn you aside from your way wherein you were ungodly. Ezekiel 16, verse 28. You also committed fornication with the daughters of Assyria, and even then you were not satisfied; indeed you committed fornication with them and were not satisfied. Ezekiel 16, verse 29. You multiplied your covenants with the Chaldeans, and not even with these were you satisfied. Ezekiel 16, verse 30. Why should I make a covenant with your daughter,” says the Lord, “when you do all these things, the deeds of a prostitute? So you committed threefold fornication.
An Adulterous Wife
Ezekiel 16, verse 31. “With your daughters, you built a house of prostitution at the beginning of every road, set up your high place in every street, and became as a prostitute gathering wages. Ezekiel 16, verse 32. An adulterous wife is like you, who prefers a whore's wages to her own husband. Ezekiel 16, verse 33. She even gives wages to those who commit fornication with her; and you give wages to all your lovers, and load them with wages, so they should come to you from all around for your prostitution. Ezekiel 16, verse 34. So there happened in you a perverseness in your prostitution beyond that of other women, and they committed fornication with you when you gave them wages; and no wages were received by you; thus perverseness happened in you. Ezekiel 16, verse 35. “Now then, prostitute, hear the word of the Lord! Ezekiel 16, verse 36. Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you poured out your money, and your shamefulness was uncovered in your prostitution with your lovers, and because of your many inventions of lawlessness, and the blood of your children you gave to them; Ezekiel 16, verse 37. therefore, behold, I will gather against you all your lovers with whom you consorted, and all those you loved, and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will uncover your evil deeds before them, so they may see all your shame. Ezekiel 16, verse 38. Thus I will be avenged on you with the vengeance of an adulteress, and bring upon you the blood of fury and jealousy. Ezekiel 16, verse 39. I shall deliver you into their hands, and they will demolish your house of prostitution and destroy your high place. They will strip you of your clothes, take your proud jewelry, and leave you naked and in disgrace. Ezekiel 16, verse 40. They also shall bring up a multitude against you to stone you with stones, and to strike you down with their swords. Ezekiel 16, verse 41. They will burn down your houses and execute punishments on you in the sight of many women. Then I shall turn you back from prostitution, and you will no longer give wages. Ezekiel 16, verse 42. So I shall discharge My anger against you, then My jealousy will depart from you. I shall be at rest and no longer concerned for you. Ezekiel 16, verse 43. Because you did not remember the day of your youth, but grieved Me with all these things, therefore behold, I recompensed your deeds on your own head,’ says the Lord. For thus you committed ungodliness beyond all your other lawlessness. Ezekiel 16, verse 44. “These are all the things they spoke against you in a parable, saying, ‘Like mother, like daughter!’ Ezekiel 16, verse 45. You are your mother's daughter, rejecting her husband and children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who reject their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. Ezekiel 16, verse 46. Your elder sister who dwells with her daughters to the north of you is Samaria, and your younger sister who dwells to the south of you is Sodom and her daughters. Ezekiel 16, verse 47. You not only walked in their ways and acted according to their lawlessness; but, as if that were too little, you excelled more than they in all your ways. Ezekiel 16, verse 48. “As I live,” says the Lord, “surely your sister Sodom and her daughters have carried on in the manner you and your daughters have done. Ezekiel 16, verse 49. Surely this was the lawless action of your sister Sodom, namely, arrogance. For in fullness of bread and abundance of wine, she and her daughter lived in self-indulgence. This belonged to her and her daughters, but they did not give a helping hand to the poor and needy. Ezekiel 16, verse 50. So they were haughty and committed acts of lawlessness before Me; therefore, I removed them as I saw fit. Ezekiel 16, verse 51. But Samaria did not commit half your sins, for you multiplied your lawlessness beyond them, and declared your sisters righteous by all the lawless deeds you committed. Ezekiel 16, verse 52. Therefore, bear your punishment, for you corrupted your sisters by your sins, sins more lawless than their own. You made them appear more righteous than yourself. Yes, be disgraced, and bear your dishonor in which you declared your sisters righteous. Ezekiel 16, verse 53. “I will turn away from their faithlessness, the faithlessness of Sodom and her daughters, and I will turn away from the faithlessness of Samaria and her daughters. I will also turn away from your faithlessness in the midst of them, Ezekiel 16, verse 54. so you may bear your punishment and be dishonored by all you did to provoke My anger. Ezekiel 16, verse 55. But your sister Sodom and her daughters shall be restored as they were from the beginning, and Samaria and her daughters shall be restored as they were from the beginning. Even you and your daughters shall be restored as you were from the beginning. Ezekiel 16, verse 56. Surely your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the days of your arrogance, before your evils were uncovered. Ezekiel 16, verse 57. Even now you are a disgrace to the daughters of Syria and all those around her, and to the daughters of the foreigners around you on every side. Ezekiel 16, verse 58. By your deeds of ungodliness and lawlessness, you received these things,” says the Lord.
The Covenant Remembered
Ezekiel 16, verse 59. “For thus says the Lord: ‘I will deal with you as you have done, as you dishonored these things so as to break my covenant. Ezekiel 16, verse 60. Nevertheless I shall remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and raise up an everlasting covenant for you. Ezekiel 16, verse 61. Then you will remember your way and be utterly dishonored when you receive your older and younger sisters. I shall give them to you for strengthening, but not because of your covenant. Ezekiel 16, verse 62. But I shall raise up My covenant with you. Then you will know that I am the Lord, Ezekiel 16, verse 63. that you may remember and be ashamed, and may never open your mouth again because of your dishonor, when I am reconciled to you for all you did,’ says the Lord.”