Ezekiel 16:35
New International Version
“’Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!

New Living Translation
“Therefore, you prostitute, listen to this message from the LORD!

English Standard Version
“Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD:

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!

King James Bible
Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

New King James Version
‘Now then, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD!

New American Standard Bible
Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD.

NASB 1995
Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD.

NASB 1977
Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of Yahweh.

Amplified Bible
Therefore, O prostitute [Israel], hear the word of the LORD.

Christian Standard Bible
“ ‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!

American Standard Version
Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah:

Contemporary English Version
Jerusalem, you prostitute, listen to me.

English Revised Version
Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
" 'Listen to the word of the LORD, you prostitute.

Good News Translation
Now then, Jerusalem, you whore! Hear what the LORD is saying.

International Standard Version
"Therefore listen to this message from the LORD, you whore!

Majority Standard Bible
Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!

NET Bible
"'Therefore O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD:

New Heart English Bible
"Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of the LORD:

Webster's Bible Translation
Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

World English Bible
“Therefore, prostitute, hear Yahweh’s word:
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Therefore, O whore, hear a word of YHWH!

Young's Literal Translation
Therefore, O whore, hear a word of Jehovah,

Smith's Literal Translation
For this, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah:
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Because of this, O harlot, listen to the word of the Lord.

New American Bible
Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore, O whore, hear the word of the LORD:
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD;

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Because of this, whore, hear the word of LORD JEHOVAH
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD!

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Therefore, harlot, hear the word of the Lord:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judgment on Jerusalem
35Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD! 36This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them,…

Cross References
Jeremiah 3:1-3
“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. / Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.

Hosea 2:2-5
Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts. / Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and turn her into a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst. / I will have no compassion on her children, because they are the children of adultery. ...

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 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.

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.

Revelation 17:1-5
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.” / And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. ...

Jeremiah 13:27
Your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution on the hills and in the fields—I have seen your detestable acts. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?”

Isaiah 57:3-9
“But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes! / Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, offspring of deceit, / who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? ...

Revelation 18:3
All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.”

Jeremiah 5:7-8
“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes. / They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

Hosea 4:12-14
My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God. / They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery. / I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go off with prostitutes and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes. So a people without understanding will come to ruin.

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.

Isaiah 50:1
This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

Jeremiah 31:22
How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”

2 Peter 2:14-15
Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed. / They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.


Treasury of Scripture

Why, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

O harlot

Isaiah 1:21
How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Isaiah 23:15,16
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot…

Jeremiah 3:1,6-8
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD…

hear

Ezekiel 13:2
Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;

Ezekiel 20:47
And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

Ezekiel 34:7
Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

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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














Therefore
This word serves as a conclusion or a result of the preceding actions and judgments described earlier in the chapter. In the context of Ezekiel 16, it indicates a transition from recounting Israel's unfaithfulness to pronouncing the consequences. The Hebrew word used here is "לָכֵן" (lakhen), which often introduces divine judgment or a prophetic declaration. It underscores the certainty and inevitability of what follows, emphasizing that the actions of Israel have led to this divine response.

O prostitute
The term "prostitute" is a metaphorical reference to Israel's spiritual unfaithfulness. In Hebrew, the word is "זוֹנָה" (zonah), which literally means a woman who engages in sexual immorality for gain. Here, it symbolizes Israel's idolatry and alliances with pagan nations, which are seen as acts of infidelity against God. This metaphor is powerful, illustrating the depth of Israel's betrayal and the seriousness of their covenant breach with God. Historically, Israel's engagement with foreign gods and cultures is well-documented, and this imagery would have been a stark reminder to the original audience of their spiritual adultery.

hear
The Hebrew word "שְׁמַע" (shema) is not merely about auditory reception but implies obedience and response. In the Jewish tradition, the "Shema" is a central declaration of faith, emphasizing the importance of listening and acting upon God's word. Here, it is a call to attention, urging Israel to listen carefully to the divine pronouncement that follows. It is a plea for repentance and a return to faithfulness, highlighting the hope that even in judgment, there is an opportunity for redemption.

the word of the LORD
This phrase signifies the authoritative and divine message that Ezekiel is delivering. "Word" in Hebrew is "דְּבַר" (davar), which can mean a matter, thing, or speech. It underscores the power and authority of God's communication. "LORD" is the translation of "יהוה" (YHWH), the sacred and covenantal name of God, emphasizing His eternal and unchanging nature. The use of this phrase indicates that what follows is not merely a human opinion but a divine decree. It serves as a reminder of God's sovereignty and the seriousness with which His words should be received. In the broader scriptural context, the "word of the LORD" is a recurring theme, representing God's will and purpose being revealed to humanity.

Verse 35. - From the task of painting the guilt of Judah the prophet proceeds to that of denouncing its punishment.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Therefore,
לָכֵ֣ן (lā·ḵên)
Adverb
Strong's 3651: So -- thus

O prostitute,
זוֹנָ֔ה (zō·w·nāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2181: To commit adultery, to commit idolatry

hear
שִׁמְעִ֖י (šim·‘î)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - feminine singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

the word
דְּבַר־ (də·ḇar-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

of the LORD!
יְהוָֽה׃ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 16:35 Therefore prostitute hear the word of Yahweh: (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 16:34
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