*THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
EZEKIEL
Ezekiel 16 ©
By the similitude of a newborn and miserably forsaken young daughter, etc., God presents before the eyes of the Jews their unworthiness and His special love and kindness, which He has shown them out of mere free grace, vs. 1, 2, 3, etc. On the contrary, their vile unthankfulness and unfaithfulness, manifested by all manner of idolatry and paganish covenants, 15. Moreover, the justice of His severe judgments upon them, 35. Which they (being worse than their sisters, Sodom and Samaria) had well deserved, 45. Yet with a promise of gracious restoration, which they, with the elect Gentiles, would be partakers of in the Messiah, 60.
AGAIN the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Son of man, cause 1Jerusalem to know her 2abominations,
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy 3birth and thy 4nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was 5an Amorite, and thy mother an 6Hittite.
And as for thy nativity, 7in the day thou wast born thy navel 8was 9not cut, neither wast thou washed in water 10to supple thee; thou wast not salted 11at all, nor swaddled at all.
12None eye pitied thee, to do any 13of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou 14wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing 15of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
¶And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted 16in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast 17in thy blood, 18Live; 19yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.
I have caused thee to 20multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to 21excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast 22naked and bare.
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time 23of love; and I 24spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy 25nakedness: yea, Ia sware unto thee, and entered into 26a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
Then 27washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away 28thy blood from thee, and I 29anointed thee with oil.
30I clothed thee also with 31broidered work, and shod thee with 32badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with 33fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put 34bracelets upon thy hands, and a 35chain on thy 36neck.
And I put a 37jewel 38on thy forehead, and 39earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful 40crown upon thine head.
41Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and 42broidered work; thou didst eat 43fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast 44exceeding 45beautiful, and thou didst prosper 46into a kingdom.
And thy renown 47went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my 48comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
¶But thou didst 49trust in thine own beauty, and 50playedst the harlot 51because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his 52it was.
And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy 53high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: 54the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
Thou hast also taken 55thy fair jewels of 56my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and 57madest to thyself 58images of men, and didst commit 59whoredom with them,
And tookest thy broidered garments, and 60coveredst them: and thou hast set 61mine oil and mine 62incense before them.
My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before 63them for a 64sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.
Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto 65me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto 66them 67to be devoured. 68Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
That thou hast 69slainb my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire 70for them?
And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days 71of thy youth, when 72thou wast naked and bare, and wast 73polluted in thy blood.
And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;)
That thou hast also built unto thee an 74eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.
Thou hast built thy high place 75at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and 76hast opened thy 77feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.
Thou hast also 78committed fornication with the 79Egyptians thy neighbours, 80great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.
Behold, therefore I have 81stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine 82ordinary food, and 83delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, 84the daughters ofc the Philistines, which are ashamed of 85thy lewdd way.
Thou hast 86played the whore also with the 87Assyrians, because thou wast 88unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.
Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication 89in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
How 90weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an 91imperious whorish woman;
In that thou buildest thine 92eminent place 93in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as 94an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;
But as 95a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh 96strangers instead of 97her husband!
98They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest 99thy gifts to all thy 100lovers, and hirest them, that they may 101come unto thee 102on every side 103for thy whoredom.
And 104the contrary is in thee 105from other women in thy whoredoms, 106whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.
¶Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy 107filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with 108thy lovers, and with all the idols of 109thy abominations, and by the 110blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;
Behold, therefore I will gather all thy 111lovers, with whom thou hast 112taken 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 113thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.
And I will judge thee, as women 114that break wedlock and 115shed blood are judged; and I will give thee 116blood in fury and 117jealousy.
And 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 118fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.
They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.
And they shall burn thine houses 119with fire,e and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many 120women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.
So will I make 121my fury toward thee to rest, and 122my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
Because thou hast not remembered 123the days of thy youth, but hast 124fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense 125thy way upon thine head,f saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit 126this lewdness above all thine 127abominations.
¶Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this 128proverb against thee, saying, 129As is the mother, so is her daughter.
130Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth 131her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of 132thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: 133your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
And thine 134elder sister is Samaria, she and her 135daughters that dwell 136at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
Yet 137hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, 138as if that were a very little 139thing, thou wast corrupted 140more than they in all thy 141ways.
As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.142
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, 143fulness of bread, and abundance of 144idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
And they were haughty, and committed 145abomination 146before me: therefore I tookg them away 147as I saw good.
148Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast 149justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
Thou also, which hast 150judged thy 151sisters, 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 152sisters.
When I shall bring again their 153captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the 154captivity of Samaria and her daughters, 155then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:
That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a 156comfort unto 157them.
When 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.
For thy sister Sodom 158was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of 159thy pride,
Before thy wickedness was 160discovered, as at the time 161of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round 162about her, 163the daughters of the Philistines, which 164despise thee 165round about.
Thou hast borne 166thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD.
For thus saith the Lord GOD; 167I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despisedh the 168oath in breaking the 169covenant.i
¶Nevertheless I will 170remember my covenant 171with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an 172everlasting covenant.
Then 173thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt 174receive 175thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee 176for daughters,j but not by 177thy covenant.
And I will 178establish my 179covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD:
That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth 180any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified 181toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.