Ezekiel

Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

1Again the word of the LORD came to me. He said:

2Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

2Son of man, make Jerusalem face the disgusting things she has done.

3And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.

3Tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: You began in the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

4And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

4On the day you were born, no one cut your cord. No one washed you clean, rubbed you with salt, or wrapped you in cloth.

NoteRubbing a newborn with salt and wrapping it tightly in cloth was normal care for a baby back then. None of it was done for this child.

5None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.

5No one cared enough to do even one of these things for you. You were thrown out into an open field, unwanted, on the day you were born.

6And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.

6Then I passed by and saw you lying there in your own blood. I said to you, "Live!" As you lay in your blood, I said again, "Live!"

7I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.

7I made you grow like a plant in a field. You grew up and became very lovely. Your body became a woman's, yet you had no clothes at all.

8Now 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 sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

8I passed by again and saw that you were old enough for love. So I spread my cloak over you and covered you. I made a promise to you and entered into an agreement with you, says the Lord GOD, and you became mine.

9Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

9Then I washed you with water, rinsed the blood off you, and rubbed you with olive oil.

10I 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.

10I dressed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.

Note"Badgers' skin" in the KJV means fine leather, the kind used for good sandals.

11I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.

11I put jewelry on you. I placed bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck.

12And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.

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

13Thus 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 exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

13So you wore gold and silver. Your clothes were fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You were very beautiful, and you rose to be a queen.

14And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.

14Your fame spread among the nations because of your beauty. It was perfect, because of the splendor I had given you, says the Lord GOD.

15But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

15But you trusted in your own beauty, and you used your fame to be unfaithful. You gave yourself to everyone who passed by.

16And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

16You took some of your clothes and made colorful shrines for yourself. There you were unfaithful. Such things should never have happened.

17Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

17You also took the fine gold and silver jewelry I had given you. You made idols shaped like men, and you were unfaithful with them.

18And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.

18You took your embroidered clothes and dressed those idols. You set my olive oil and my incense in front of them.

19My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.

19You also took the food I gave you, the fine flour and oil and honey, and set it before them as a pleasing smell. That is what happened, says the Lord GOD.

Note"Meat" in the KJV means food of any kind, not just the flesh of animals.

20Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,

20You even took the sons and daughters you had borne to me and sacrificed them to those idols as food. Was your unfaithfulness not enough?

21That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

21You killed my children and handed them over, passing them through the fire for those idols.

22And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.

22In all your disgusting acts and unfaithfulness, you never remembered the days when you were young. You forgot lying bare and bloody in the field.

23And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the LORD GOD;)

23After all this wickedness you did even more. Woe, woe to you, says the Lord GOD.

24That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.

24You built yourself a mound and set up a tall shrine in every public square.

NoteA "high place" was a raised platform or small shrine built for worshiping idols.

25Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

25You built your shrines at the head of every street. You ruined your own beauty, offering your body to everyone who passed by.

26Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.

26You were unfaithful with your neighbors the Egyptians, who were full of lust. You did it more and more, and it made me angry.

27Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way.

27So I reached out my hand against you and cut down what I had given you. I handed you over to those who hate you, the Philistine women, who were shocked by your shameful ways.

28Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

28You were unfaithful with the Assyrians too, because you were never satisfied. Even after that, you still wanted more.

29Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.

29You spread your unfaithfulness as far as Chaldea, the land of traders. Even that did not satisfy you.

30How weak is thine heart, saith the LORD GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;

30How weak your heart is, says the Lord GOD, when you do all these things, acting like a woman with no shame at all.

31In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;

31You built your mounds at the head of every street and your shrines in every square. Yet you were not even like a prostitute, because you refused payment.

32But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

32You are like a wife who is unfaithful. She takes strangers instead of her own husband.

33They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.

33Men pay prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from every direction.

34And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.

34So you are the opposite of other women. No one chased after you, and you paid instead of being paid. You are backwards.

35Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

35So listen to the word of the LORD, you unfaithful woman.

36Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;

36This is what the Lord GOD says: You poured out your riches and uncovered yourself with your lovers and all your disgusting idols. You also spilled the blood of your children and gave it to them.

37Behold, 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 discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

37So I will gather all the lovers you enjoyed, everyone you loved and everyone you hated. I will bring them against you from all around and strip you bare in front of them.

38And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.

38I will punish you the way women are punished who break their marriage and shed blood. In anger and jealousy I will bring blood upon you.

39And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, 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.

39I will hand you over to them. They will tear down your mounds and your shrines, strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you bare.

40They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

40They will bring a mob against you. They will throw stones at you and cut you down with their swords.

41And they shall burn 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 also shalt give no hire any more.

41They will burn your houses and punish you while many women watch. I will stop your unfaithfulness, and you will pay lovers no more.

42So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

42Then my anger toward you will settle down, and my jealousy will leave you. I will be calm and will not be angry any longer.

43Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.

43You did not remember the days when you were young, and you made me furious with all these things. So I will bring your own deeds down on your head, says the Lord GOD. You added this shameful act to all your other disgusting ones.

44Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.

44Everyone who repeats sayings will use this saying about you: "Like mother, like daughter."

45Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

45You are your mother's daughter, who despised her husband and her children. You are your sisters' sister, who despised theirs. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

46And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

46Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her towns to your north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her towns to your south.

47Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.

47You did not just copy their ways and their disgusting deeds. As if that were too small a thing, you soon became worse than they were.

48As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

48As surely as I live, says the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her towns never did what you and your daughters have done.

49Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

49Here was your sister Sodom's sin: she and her towns were proud, had more than enough food, and lived at ease. They did not help the poor and needy.

50And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

50They were proud and did disgusting things in front of me. So I removed them, as you have seen.

51Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.

51Samaria did not sin half as much as you. You did far more disgusting things than they did, and so you made your sisters look good.

52Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

52You judged your sisters, so now carry your own shame. Your sins were worse, so they seem more right than you. Be ashamed and carry your disgrace.

53When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

53But I will bring Sodom and her towns back from captivity, and Samaria and her towns as well. And I will bring you back along with them.

54That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.

54Then you will carry your own shame. You will be ashamed of everything you did, which made them feel better about themselves.

55When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

55Your sisters, Sodom with her towns and Samaria with her towns, will return to what they were before. You and your daughters will return too.

56For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,

56In the days when you were proud, you would not even speak your sister Sodom's name, except to mock her.

57Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about.

57That was before your own wickedness was uncovered. Now the women of Syria mock you, and so do the Philistine women all around you.

58Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD.

58You must carry the results of your shameful and disgusting deeds, says the LORD.

59For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

59This is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you the way you have dealt with me. You made light of your promise and broke our agreement.

60Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.

60Even so, I will remember the agreement I made with you when you were young. I will set up an agreement with you that lasts forever.

61Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

61Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you take in your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, though not because of our agreement.

62And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD:

62I will make my agreement with you firm, and you will know that I am the LORD.

63That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.

63You will remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth again because of your disgrace. That will be when I forgive you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD.