English Standard Version

New Living Translation

1Again the word of the LORD came to me:

1Then another message came to me from the LORD:

2“Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations,

2“Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins.

3and say, Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

3Give her this message from the Sovereign LORD: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

4And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.

4On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth.

5No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.

5No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die.

6“And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’

6“But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’

7I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.

7And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked.

8“When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine.

8And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.

9Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil.

9“Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin.

10I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.

10I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather.

11And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck.

11I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces,

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

12a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head.

13Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty.

13And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and costly fabric and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were!

14And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.

14Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign LORD.

15“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.

15“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.

16You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be.

16You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen?

17You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore.

17You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me!

18And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them.

18You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them.

19Also my bread that I gave you—I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for a pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord GOD.

19Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign LORD.

20And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter

20“Then you took your sons and daughters—the children you had borne to me—and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough?

21that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them?

21Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols?

22And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood.

22In all your years of adultery and detestable sin, you have not once remembered the days long ago when you lay naked in a field, kicking about in your own blood.

23“And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord GOD ),

23“What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your other wickedness,

24you built yourself a vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square.

24you built a pagan shrine and put altars to idols in every town square.

25At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself to any passerby and multiplying your whoring.

25On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution.

26You also played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger.

26Then you added lustful Egypt to your lovers, provoking my anger with your increasing promiscuity.

27Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you and diminished your allotted portion and delivered you to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior.

27That is why I struck you with my fist and reduced your boundaries. I handed you over to your enemies, the Philistines, and even they were shocked by your lewd conduct.

28You played the whore also with the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied.

28You have prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, too. It seems you can never find enough new lovers! And after your prostitution there, you still were not satisfied.

29You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land of Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.

29You added to your lovers by embracing Babylonia, the land of merchants, but you still weren’t satisfied.

30“How sick is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute,

30“What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign LORD, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute.

31building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

31You build your pagan shrines on every street corner and your altars to idols in every square. In fact, you have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even demanded payment.

32Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!

32Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband.

33Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings.

33Prostitutes charge for their services—but not you! You give gifts to your lovers, bribing them to come and have sex with you.

34So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.

34So you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay your lovers instead of their paying you! Judgment on Jerusalem’s Prostitution

35“Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD:

35“Therefore, you prostitute, listen to this message from the LORD!

36Thus says the Lord GOD, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them,

36This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you have poured out your lust and exposed yourself in prostitution to all your lovers, and because you have worshiped detestable idols, and because you have slaughtered your children as sacrifices to your gods,

37therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.

37this is what I am going to do. I will gather together all your allies—the lovers with whom you have sinned, both those you loved and those you hated—and I will strip you naked in front of them so they can stare at you.

38And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy.

38I will punish you for your murder and adultery. I will cover you with blood in my jealous fury.

39And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your lofty places. They shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewels and leave you naked and bare.

39Then I will give you to these many nations who are your lovers, and they will destroy you. They will knock down your pagan shrines and the altars to your idols. They will strip you and take your beautiful jewels, leaving you stark naked.

40They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.

40They will band together in a mob to stone you and cut you up with swords.

41And they shall burn your houses and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. I will make you stop playing the whore, and you shall also give payment no more.

41They will burn your homes and punish you in front of many women. I will stop your prostitution and end your payments to your many lovers.

42So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry.

42“Then at last my fury against you will be spent, and my jealous anger will subside. I will be calm and will not be angry with you anymore.

43Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

43But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by doing all these evil things, I will fully repay you for all of your sins, says the Sovereign LORD. For you have added lewd acts to all your detestable sins.

44“Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’

44Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’

45You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

45For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and so do you. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

46And your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters.

46“Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south.

47Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

47But you have not merely sinned as they did. You quickly surpassed them in corruption.

48As I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.

48As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters.

49Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

49Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door.

50They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.

50She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen.

51Samaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed.

51“Even Samaria did not commit half your sins. You have done far more detestable things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you.

52Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

52Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous.

53“I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst,

53“But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too.

54that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them.

54Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison.

55As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your daughters shall return to your former state.

55Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored.

56Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride,

56In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt.

57before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become an object of reproach for the daughters of Syria and all those around her, and for the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you.

57But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned—by Edom and all her neighbors and by Philistia.

58You bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD.

58This is your punishment for all your lewdness and detestable sins, says the LORD.

59“For thus says the Lord GOD: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant,

59“Now this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant.

60yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.

60Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

61Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you.

61Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant.

62I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD,

62And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

63that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD.”

63You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.