God’s Covenant Grace to Unfaithful and Rebellious Israel
1 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying},
2
"Son of man, make known to Jerusalem its detestable things,
3
and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth [were] from the land of the Canaanites, your father [was] an Amorite, and your mother [was] a Hittite.
4
And [as for] your birth, {on the day you were born} your umbilical cord was not cut, and {you were not thoroughly washed clean with water}, and {you were not thoroughly rubbed with salt}, and {you were not carefully wrapped in strips of cloth}.
5
{No eye took pity on you} to do to you one of these [things] to show compassion for you, and you were thrown {into the open field} in [their] despising of you {on the day you were born}.
6
" 'And I passed by you, and I saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, "Live!
7
Grow up; I will make you like a plant of the field." And you grew up, and you became tall and {reached full womanhood}. [Your] breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, but you [were] naked and bare.
8
" 'And I passed by you, and I saw you, and look, {your time of lovemaking had come}, and [so] I spread out my hem over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore to you, and I entered into a covenant with you,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, 'and {you became mine}.
9
And I washed you with water, and I rinsed off your blood from on you, and I anointed you with oil.
10
And I clothed you [with] beautiful finished cloth, and I put sandals [on] you [of] fine leather, and I bound you in fine linen, and I covered you [with] costly fabric.
11
And I adorned you [with] ornaments, and I put a bracelet on your arms and a necklace on your neck.
12
And I put an ornamental ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a {beautiful crown} on your head.
13
And you adorned yourself with gold and silver, and your clothing [was] fine linen and costly fabric and beautiful finished cloth; you ate finely milled flour and honey and olive oil, and you became exceedingly beautiful; {you were fit to be a queen}.
14
And a name went out for you among the nations because of your beauty, for it [was] perfect because of my majesty that I bestowed on you,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
15
'And you trusted in your beauty, and you prostituted on account of your name, and you poured out your fornication on every [one] passing by, [saying], "Let it be his."
16
And you took from your clothes and you made for yourself colorful shrines, and you prostituted on them; {this had not happened before}, and it {will not continue to happen}.
17
And you took {your beautiful jewelry} [made] from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself {male images}, and you prostituted with them.
18
And you took the clothes of your beautiful finished cloth, and you covered them and my oil and my incense you set {before them}.
19
And my bread that I gave to you, finely milled flour and oil and honey [with which] I fed you, then you set it {before them} as a {pleasing odor}, and so it was,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
20
'And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten, {as if your whorings were not enough}.
21
And you slaughtered my children, and you gave them {to be sacrificed to them}.
22
And [in] all of your detestable things and your fornication you did not remember the days of your childhood {when you were naked and bare}, [when] you were kicking about in your blood.
23
" 'And then after all of your evil! Woe, woe, to you!' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
24
'And [then] you built for yourself a mound, and you made for yourself a high place in every public square.
25
At [the] head of every street you built your high place and you disgraced your beauty and you spread your feet for every passerby, and you increased your whoring.
26
And you prostituted with the {Egyptians}, your neighbors {who were sexually aroused}, and you increased your fornication to provoke me.
27
And look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I reduced your portion, and I gave you into the desire of your haters, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed because of your lewd {conduct}.
28
And you prostituted with the {Assyrians} on account of {your insatiable lust}, and you prostituted [with] them, and still you were not satisfied.
29
And you increased your fornication to [the] land of traders, [to] Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.
30
How hot with fever [was] your heart!' {declares} the Lord Yahweh. '{When you did} all of these actions {of a headstrong female prostitute},
31
{when you built} your mound at [the] head of every street and your high place you made on every street, yet you were not like a prostitute, [as you were] scorning [your] harlot's wages.
32
O, adulterous woman! In the place of her husband she received strangers.
33
To all prostitutes they give a fee, but you, you gave your gifts to all of your lovers, and you bribed them to come to you from all around in your whorings!
34
And it was the opposite with you from the [other] women in your whorings; {no one solicited you as a prostitute}. {You gave} a harlot's wages, and [a] harlot's wages [were] not given to you, and [so] it was [just] the opposite.
35
" 'Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of Yahweh.
36
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of the pouring out of your shame and [because] your nakedness was revealed in your whoring with your lovers, and on account of all of the idols of your detestable things, and according to the blood of your children whom you gave to them,
37
therefore, look! I [am] gathering all of your lovers {whom you were pleased about}, and all of whom you loved in addition to all of whom you hated, and I will gather them against you from {everywhere}, and I [will] uncover your nakedness to them, and they will see all of your nakedness.
38
And I will judge you [with the] judgment of [women] committing adultery and shedding blood, and I will give you [the] blood of rage and jealousy.
39
And I will give you into their hand, and they will demolish your mound, and they will break down your high places, and they will strip you of your clothes, and they will take {your beautiful jewelry}, and they will leave you naked and bare.
40
And they will bring up against you a crowd, and they will stone you with stones, and they will cut you to pieces with their swords.
41
And they will burn your houses with fire, and they will execute against you judgments {before} many women, and I will stop you from prostitution, and also a harlot's wages you will not give again.
42
And I will satisfy my rage on you, and my jealousy will turn away from you, and I will be calm, and I will not be angry [any] longer.
43
{Because} you did not remember the days of your childhood and you made me angry with all of these. And in turn I, look, I will return your way upon [your] head,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, 'and did you not [do] wickedness in addition to all of your detestable things?
44
Look! Everyone quoting a proverb against you, he will quote, {saying}, 'Like her mother [is] her daughter!'
45
You [are] a daughter of your mother [who] abhorred her husband and her children, and you [are] a sister of your sisters who abhorred their husbands and their children. Your mother [was] a Hittite, and your father [was] an Amorite.
46
And your elder sister, she [is] Samaria, and her daughters, [who are] dwelling on your north, and your younger sister [is] the one dwelling on your south; [she] [is] Sodom and her daughters.
47
And you have not [only] gone in their ways, but you [also] did according to their detestable things. {In such a short time} you behaved [more] corruptly than they in all of your ways.
48
{As surely as I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, 'surely your sister Sodom and her daughters did not [do] as you and your daughters did.
49
Look! This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: Pride, abundance of food, and {prosperous ease} was to her and to her daughters, and {she did not sustain the needy and the poor}.
50
And they were proud, and they did a detestable thing {before me}, and I removed them {because} I saw [it].
51
And Samaria did not sin {according to even half of your sins}, and you caused your detestable things to increase more than they, and you made your sister righteous [in comparison] with all of your detestable things that you did.
52
Also, you bear your disgrace, [by] which you furnished justification to your sisters through your sins [by] which you acted more abominably than they; they were more righteous than you, and also, you be ashamed and bear your disgrace through your making your sister righteous.
53
And I will restore their fortune, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and [even] the fortunes of your captivity in the midst of them,
54
in order that you may bear your disgrace and you may be put to shame because of all that you did at your consoling them.
55
And [as for] your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and you and your daughters will return to your former state.
56
And was not Sodom, your sister, a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride
57
{before} your evil was uncovered? [It was] like the time of the scorn of the daughters of Aram and all [those] around her, and of the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who [are] despising you.
58
Your wickedness and your detestable things, you, you must bear them,' {declares} Yahweh.
59
'For thus says the Lord Yahweh: And I will do it to you {according to what you have done}, who despised [the] oath to break covenant.
60
And I, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you {an everlasting covenant}.
61
And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters, {both the older and the younger}, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant.
62
And I, I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh,
63
in order that you will remember, and you will be ashamed, and {you will not open your mouth again} {because of} your disgrace when I forgive you for all that you have done!'" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.