the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Green's Literal Translation
Ezekiel 16
1 And the Word of Jehovah was to me, saying,2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,3 and say, So says the Lord Jehovah to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth is of the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.4 As for your birth, in the day you were born, your navel was not cut, and you were not washed with water to cleanse you . And you were not salted, and you were not at all swaddled.5 An eye did not have pity on you to do to you one of these, to have compassion on you. But you were thrown into the face of the field, for your person was loathed in the day you were born.
6 And when I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you in your blood, Live! Yea, I said to you in your blood, Live!7 As a myriad, as a field shoot, I have given you, and you are grown and are great. And you come in the finest ornaments. Your breasts are formed, and your hair is grown, yet you were naked and bare.8 And I passed by you, and I looked on you, and, behold, your time was the time of love. And I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. And I swore to you and entered into a covenantwith you, declares the Lord Jehovah. Andyou became Mine.9 And I washed you with water; I washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.10 And I dressed you with embroidered work, and I shod you with dugong sandals . And I wrapped you in fine linen, and I covered you with silk.11 And I adorned you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands and a chain on your neck.12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a crown of beauty on your head.13 And you were adorned with gold and silver. And your clothing was fine linen and silk and embroidered work. Fine flour and honey and oil you ate. And you were very, very beautiful. And you advanced to regal estate.14 And your name went out among the nations, because of your beauty, for it was perfect by My splendor which I had set on you, declares the Lord Jehovah.
15 But you trusted in your beauty, and you prostituted yourself because of your name, and poured out your fornications on all who passed by; it was to him!16 And you took from your clothes and made for you high places of various colors, and fornicated on them, such as had not come, nor shall be.17 And you have taken beautiful things of My gold and of My silver, which I had given to you, and you made images of males, and fornicated with them.18 And you took your embroidered clothes and covered them. And My oil and My incense you have given to their face.19 Also My food which I gave you, fine flour and oil and honey which I fed you, you have given it to their face for a soothing aroma. And it happened, declares the Lord Jehovah.20 And you have taken your sons and your daughters whom you have borne to Me, and you sacrificed these to them for food. Are your fornications small?21 You have slaughtered My sons, and you gave them to cause these to pass through the fire for them.22 And in all your abominations and your fornications you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, when you were squirming in your blood.23 Woe, woe to you, says the Lord Jehovah! For it happened, after all your evil,24 Woe to you that you have also built yourself a mound, and you have made yourself a high place in every open place!25 At the head of every highway you have built your high place, and have made your beauty despised. And you have parted your feet to all who passed by, and have multiplied your fornications.26 You have whored with the sons of Egypt, your neighbors, great of flesh. And you have multiplied your fornications to provoke Me to anger.27 And behold, I have stretched out My hand over you, and I drew back your portion. And I gave you to the will of those hating you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your wicked way.28 You have fornicated with the sons of Assyria without being satisfied. Yea, you fornicated and yet you were not satisfied.29 And you have multiplied your fornication in the land of Canaan, to the Chaldean, and yet you were not satisfied with this.30 How weak is your heart, declares the Lord Jehovah, since you do all these, the work of a woman, an overbearing prostitute,31 in that you built your mound in the head of every highway, and you make your high place in every open place; yet you have not been as a prostitute, even scorning wages.32 Like the adulterous wife, instead of her husband, she takes strangers.33 They give a gift to all harlots, but you give your gifts to all your lovers and bribe them to come to you from all around for your fornication.34 And in you was the opposite from those women in your fornications, since no one whores after you, and in your giving wages, and hire is not given to you. In this you are opposite.
35 Therefore, O harlot, hear the Word of Jehovah,36 So says the Lord Jehovah: Because your lewdness was poured out, and your nakedness was bared in your fornications with your lovers and with the idols of your abominations, and by the blood of your sons whom you gave to them;37 therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you have been pleased, even all whom you have loved, with all whom you have hated, I will even gather them against you from all around, and will uncover your nakedness to them. Yea,they will see all your nakedness.38 And I will judge you with judgments of adulteresses, and with shedders of blood. And I will give you blood of fury and jealousy.39 And I will give you into their hand, and they will tear down your mound, and will demolish your high places. They shall also strip you of your clothes and shall take your beautiful things, and leave you naked and bare.40 And they will raise an assembly to come up against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and cut you with their swords.41 And they shall burn your houses with fire and make judgments against you in the sight of many women. And I will make you stop fornicating; and, also, you shall not give hire again.42 So I will make My fury to rest against you, and My jealousy shall depart from you. And I will be quiet and will not be angry any more.43 Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have troubled Me in all these, so, behold, I also will give your way back on your head, declares the Lord Jehovah. And you shallnot do the wickedness above all yourabominations.
44 Behold, all who use proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, As the mother, so is the daughter.45 You are your mother's daughter who despises her husband and her sons. And you are the sister of your sisters who despise their husbands and their sons. Your mother was a Hittite and your father was an Amorite.46 And your older sister is Samaria, she and her daughters who are dwelling on your left. And your younger sister from you who dwells on the right is Sodom and her daughters.47 Yet you have not walked in their ways nor have done according to their abominations. As if it were only a little thing , you were even more corrupted than they in all your ways.48 As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, your sister Sodom, she and her daughters, have not done as you and your daughters have done.49 Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and her daughters. Also, she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.50 Also, they were haughty and did abomination before My face, so I turned them away as I saw fit .51 And Samaria has not sinned as much as half your sins, but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters in all your abominations which you have done.52 And you who have judged your sisters must bear your humiliation by your sins which you abominably did more than they; they are more righteous than you. And also you be ashamed and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.53 When I shall return their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then also the captivity of your captivity in their midst;54 so that you may bear your shame and be disgraced from all that you have done, since you are a comfort to them.55 When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, then you and your daughters shall return to your former state.56 For your sister Sodom was not to be heard from your mouth in the day of your pride,57 before your evil was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of Syria's daughters and all the ones around her, the daughters of the Philistines who hated you from all around.58 You are bearing your wickedness and your abominations, declares Jehovah.59 For so says the Lord Jehovah: I will even do with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
60 But I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will raise up to you an everlasting covenant.61 Then you shall remember your ways and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, the older than you to the younger than you, and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.62 And I, even I, will raise up My covenant with you. And you shall know that I am Jehovah,63 so that you may remember and be ashamed. And you will not any more open your mouth, because of your humiliation, when I am propitiated for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord Jehovah.
Green's Literal Translation
Copyright © 1976-2000 by Jay P. Green, Sr. Used by permission of the copyright holder.