Ezekiel 16:15 But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking.

◄ Ezekiel 16:15 ►

New International Version
“’But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his.

New Living Translation
“But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking.

English Standard Version
“But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his.

Berean Standard Bible
But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking.

King James Bible
But 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.

New King James Version
“But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it.

New American Standard Bible
“But you trusted in your beauty and became unfaithful because of your fame, and you poured out your obscene practices on every passer-by to whom it might be tempting.

NASB 1995
“But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing.

NASB 1977
“But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing.

Legacy Standard Bible
“But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your name, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing.

Amplified Bible
“But you trusted in and relied on your beauty and prostituted yourself [in idolatry and its debauched rituals] because of your fame, and you poured out your immoralities on every [willing] passer-by and your beauty was his [as you worshiped the idols of the Gentile nations].

Christian Standard Bible
“ ‘But you trusted in your beauty and acted like a prostitute because of your fame. You lavished your sexual favors on everyone who passed by. Your beauty became his.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But you were confident in your beauty and acted like a prostitute because of your fame. You lavished your sexual favors on everyone who passed by. Your beauty became his.

American Standard Version
But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by; his it was.

Contemporary English Version
You learned that you were attractive enough to have any man you wanted, so you offered yourself to every passerby.

English Revised Version
But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by; his it was.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
" 'But you trusted your beauty, and you used your fame to become a prostitute. You had sex with everyone who walked by.

Good News Translation
"But you took advantage of your beauty and fame to sleep with everyone who came along.

International Standard Version
"But you trusted in your beauty. You did what whores do, as a result of your fame. You passed out your sexual favors to anyone who passed by, giving yourself to anyone.

Majority Standard Bible
But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking.

NET Bible
"'But you trusted in your beauty and capitalized on your fame by becoming a prostitute. You offered your sexual favors to every man who passed by so that your beauty became his.

New Heart English Bible
"'But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was.

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

World English Bible
“‘“But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by. It was his.

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
And you trust in your beauty, "" And go whoring because of your renown, "" And pour out your whoredoms on everyone passing by—to him [that would have] it.

Young's Literal Translation
And thou dost trust in thy beauty, And goest a-whoring because of thy renown, And dost pour out thy whoredoms On every passer by -- to him it is.

Smith's Literal Translation
And thou wilt trust in thy beauty, and commit fornication upon thy name, and thou wilt pour out thy fornications upon every one passing by; to him it will be.

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
But trusting in thy beauty, thou playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and thou hast prostituted thyself to every passenger, to be his.

Catholic Public Domain Version
But, having confidence in your own beauty, you fornicated in your fame. And you presented your fornication to every passer-by, so as to become his.

New American Bible
But you trusted in your own beauty and used your renown to serve as a prostitute. You poured out your prostitution on every passerby—let it be his.

New Revised Standard Version
But you trusted in your beauty, and played the whore because of your fame, and lavished your whorings on any passer-by.

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
But you trusted in your own beauty and played the harlot because of your renown, and poured out your fornications on every one who passed by;

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And you trusted on your beauty and you fornicated because of your name, and your poured out your fornications on everyone who passed by

OT Translations

JPS Tanakh 1917
But thou didst trust in thy beauty and play the harlot because of thy renown, and didst pour out thy harlotries on every one that passed by; his it was.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thou didst trust in thy beauty, and didst go a-whoring because of thy renown, and didst pour out thy fornication on every passer by.

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

Jerusalem's Unfaithfulness
…14Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect in the splendor I bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD. 15But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking. 16You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!…

Berean Standard Bible · Download

Cross References

Hosea 2:5
For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’

Jeremiah 2:20
“For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.

Isaiah 57:8
Behind the door and doorpost you have set up your memorial. Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed; you climbed up and opened it wide. And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved; you have gazed upon their nakedness.

Jeremiah 3:1-2
“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Would not such a land be completely defiled? But you have played the harlot with many lovers—and you would return to Me?” declares the LORD. / “Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.

Hosea 9:1
Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations, for you have played the harlot against your God; you have made love for hire on every threshing floor.

Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

Isaiah 1:21
See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!

Jeremiah 3:6
Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there.

Hosea 1:2
When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.”

2 Kings 17:7-8
All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods / and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel.

Revelation 17:1-2
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. / The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”

James 4:4
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.

Revelation 2:20-22
But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols. / Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling. / Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds.

1 Corinthians 6:15-16
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! / Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”

Galatians 5:19
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;

Treasury of Scripture

But you did trust in your own beauty, and played the harlot because of your renown, and poured out your fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

thou didst

Ezekiel 33:13
When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Isaiah 48:1
Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.

and playedst

Ezekiel 20:8
But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

Ezekiel 23:3
And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.

Ezekiel 8:11,12
And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up…

because.

and pouredst

Ezekiel 16:25,36,37
Thou 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…

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Acting A-Whoring Beautiful Beauty Cheap Confide Fact Faith Fame Favors Fornications Goest Harlot Harlotries Lavished Offering Passed Passer Passer-By Play Played Playedst Pour Poured Prostitute Prostitution Renown Talked Trust Trusted Used Whoredoms Widely Willing

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Ezekiel 16

1. Under the parable of a wretched infant is shown the natural state of Jerusalem
6. God's extraordinary love toward her,
15. Her grievous judgment
35. Her sin, equal to her mother,
46. and exceeding her sisters, Sodom and Samaria,
59. calls for judgments
60. Mercy is promised her in the end

Berean Study Bible

But you trusted in your beauty
The Hebrew word for "trusted" is "בָּטַח" (batach), which conveys a sense of confidence or reliance. In this context, it suggests a misplaced trust, where the people of Israel placed their confidence in their own physical and material attributes rather than in God. Historically, Israel was often tempted to rely on its own strength and alliances rather than on divine guidance. The "beauty" here symbolizes the blessings and favor that God had bestowed upon Israel, which were meant to reflect His glory, not to become a source of pride or self-reliance.

and played the harlot
The phrase "played the harlot" is translated from the Hebrew "זָנָה" (zanah), which means to commit fornication or to be unfaithful. This metaphor of harlotry is frequently used in the Bible to describe Israel's spiritual unfaithfulness and idolatry. It reflects a deep betrayal of the covenant relationship between God and His people, akin to marital infidelity. The historical context here is Israel's repeated turning to other gods and nations, seeking security and identity apart from Yahweh.

because of your fame
The word "fame" in Hebrew is "שֵׁם" (shem), meaning name or reputation. Israel's renown was intended to be a testimony to the greatness of God, but instead, it became a source of pride and a means to attract attention for self-serving purposes. This highlights the danger of allowing God's blessings to become idols in themselves, leading to a focus on self-glorification rather than glorifying God.

You lavished your favors
The term "lavished" suggests an extravagant, wasteful giving away of something valuable. The Hebrew root "נָתַן" (natan) means to give or bestow. In this context, it implies that Israel squandered the gifts and blessings given by God, using them to entice and form alliances with other nations and gods. This reflects a historical pattern where Israel often sought political and military alliances, compromising their distinct identity as God's chosen people.

on everyone who passed by
This phrase indicates indiscriminate and promiscuous behavior, symbolizing Israel's eagerness to form alliances and adopt the practices of surrounding nations. The historical context is the constant temptation for Israel to assimilate into the cultures around them, abandoning their unique calling and covenant with God. It serves as a warning against the dangers of conforming to worldly standards and losing one's distinctiveness as God's people.

and your beauty was theirs for the asking
Here, "beauty" again refers to the blessings and favor of God, which were meant to be a reflection of His glory. The phrase "for the asking" suggests that Israel's blessings were given away cheaply, without regard for their sacred purpose. This reflects a spiritual adultery where the people of God exchanged their divine inheritance for fleeting and unworthy pursuits. It serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of valuing and safeguarding the gifts and calling that God has entrusted to His people.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(15) Didst trust in thine own beauty.--Comp. Deuteronomy 32:15; Hosea 13:6. There can scarcely be a more striking instance of the working of the hand of Providence in history than the story of the kingdom of Israel during and after the reign of Solomon. Raised as a theocracy to great power and wealth by the Divine blessing, it began to trust in its own beauty. Solomon's policy was to make it a great and powerful empire among the nations of the earth, losing sight of its true character as the kingdom of God. Consequently the very means he took to aggrandise it became the instruments of its fall. His vast Oriental harem, gathered from all surrounding nations, introduced idolatry into the palace, and fostered it throughout the land. His magnificence was sustained by taxation, which gave the pretext for revolt. The doom was pronounced that the kingdom should be divided, and when this was fulfilled at Solomon's death, his empire outside the boundaries of Palestine fell apart like a rope of sand, while within, instead of one compact and united monarchy, were two petty kingdoms often in hostility to one another, and each inviting to its assistance the most powerful neighbouring monarchs, to whose rapacity the whole ultimately fell a prey.

Playedst the harlot . . . his it would be.--The political relation of the two parts of Israel just described, placed her at the mercy of every more powerful nation, and gave the impetus to every sort of idolatry which her masters chose to encourage. This apostacy from God, still keeping up the figure of the earlier part of the chapter, is represented as harlotry; and not only so, but as indiscriminate harlotry, for Israel never adopted and clung to any one false God, but worshipped the abominations of every nation which prevailed over her.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 15. - We enter on the history of the apostasy, and the root evil was that the bride of Jehovah had been unfaithful to her Lord. She looked on her glory as her own, and did not recognize that everything in it was the gift of God (Hosea 2:8). The words obviously point to the policy which Solomon had initiated, of alliances with the heathen and the consequent adoption of their worship. This, as from the earliest days of Israel, was the "whoredom" (Revised Version) of the unfaithful with (Exodus 34:15, 16; Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 31:16; Judges 2:17; Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2:20; Hosea 1, 2). And it was, so to speak, a promiscuous whoredom. Every passer by was admitted to her embraces, every nation that offered its alliance had its worship recognized and adopted. In the closing words of extremest scorn, the prophet adds, his it was. Jerusalem was, as I have said, the Messalina of the nations.

Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

But because of
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

your fame,
שְׁמֵ֑ךְ (šə·mêḵ)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 8034: A name

you trusted
וַתִּבְטְחִ֣י (wat·tiḇ·ṭə·ḥî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - second person feminine singular
Strong's 982: To trust, be confident, sure

in your beauty
בְיָפְיֵ֔ךְ (ḇə·yā·p̄ə·yêḵ)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 3308: Beauty

and played the harlot.
וַתִּזְנִ֖י (wat·tiz·nî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - second person feminine singular
Strong's 2181: To commit adultery, to commit idolatry

You lavished
וַתִּשְׁפְּכִ֧י (wat·tiš·pə·ḵî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - second person feminine singular
Strong's 8210: To spill forth, to expend, to sprawl out

your favors
תַּזְנוּתַ֛יִךְ (taz·nū·ṯa·yiḵ)
Noun - feminine plural construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 8457: Harlotry, idolatry

on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

everyone
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

who passed by,
עוֹבֵ֖ר (‘ō·w·ḇêr)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5674: To pass over, through, or by, pass on

and your beauty was theirs for the asking.
יֶֽהִי׃ (ye·hî)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Jussive - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 16:15 But you did trust in your beauty (Ezek. Eze Ezk)