Eze 16:1-62, 20:1-44 | ESV | STEP | Again the word of the Lord came to me:

1 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^a“Son of man, ^bmake known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an ^cAmorite and your mother a ^dHittite. 4 And as for your birth, ^eon 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. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, ^fbut you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, ^gon the day that you were born.

6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing ^hin your blood, I said to you ⁱin your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you ^jin your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 ^kI made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall ^land arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet ^myou were naked and bare.

8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and ⁿI spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you ^oand entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, ^pand you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and ^qanointed you with oil. 10 ^rI clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. ^{▼▼Or with rich fabric} 11 ^tAnd I adorned you with ornaments and ^uput bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. ^vYou ate fine flour and honey and oil. ^wYou grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And ^xyour 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.

15 ^y“But you trusted in your beauty ^zand played the whore ^{▼▼Or were unfaithful; also verses 16, 17, 26, 28} because of your renown ^aband lavished your whorings ^{▼▼Or unfaithfulness; also verses 20, 22, 25, 26, 29, 33, 34, 36} on any passerby; your beauty ^{▼▼Hebrew it} became his. 16 You 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. ^{▼▼The meaning of this Hebrew sentence is uncertain} 17 You also took ^afyour beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and ^agmade for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. 18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, ^ahand set my oil and my incense before them. 19 ^aiAlso my bread that I gave you— ^ajI fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for ^aka pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God. 20 ^alAnd you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and ^amthese you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter 21 that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? 22 And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember ^anthe days of your youth, ^aowhen you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood.

23 “And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord God), 24 you built yourself ^apa vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. 25 At the head of every street ^aqyou built your lofty place and made ^aryour beauty an abomination, ^asoffering yourself ^{▼▼Hebrew spreading your legs} to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. 26 ^auYou also played the whore ^avwith the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, ^awmultiplying your whoring, ^axto provoke me to anger. 27 Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you ^ayand diminished your allotted portion ^azand delivered you to the greed of your enemies, ^bathe daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. 28 ^bbYou played the whore also ^bcwith the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied. 29 You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land ^bdof Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.

30 “How sick is your heart, ^{▼▼Revocalization yields How I am filled with anger against you} declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, 31 building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, ^bfbecause you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, ^bgbut you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. 34 So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and ^bhyou gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.

35 “Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: 36 Thus 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, ^biand because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, 37 therefore, behold, ^bjI will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and ^bkall those you hated. ^blI will gather them against you from every side ^bmand will uncover your nakedness to them, that ^bnthey may see all your nakedness. 38 ^boAnd I will judge you ^bpas women who commit adultery and ^bqshed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. 39 And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your ^brvaulted chamber and break down ^bsyour lofty places. ^btThey shall strip you of your clothes and take ^buyour beautiful jewels and leave you ^bvnaked and bare. 40 ^bwThey shall bring up a crowd against you, ^bxand they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 ^byAnd they shall ^bzburn your houses and ^caexecute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. ^cbI will make you stop playing the whore, and ^ccyou shall also give payment no more. 42 ^cdSo will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry. 43 Because you have not remembered ^cethe days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, ^cfI have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not ^cgcommitted lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

44 “Behold, everyone ^chwho uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ 45 You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of ^ciyour sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. ^cjYour mother was a Hittite and ^ckyour father an Amorite. 46 And ^clyour elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and ^cmyour younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. 47 ^cnNot only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time ^coyou were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 ^cpAs I live, declares the Lord God, your sister ^cqSodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. 49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, ^crexcess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and ^csdid an abomination before me. So ^ctI removed them, when I saw it. 51 ^cuSamaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and ^cvhave made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. 52 ^cwBear 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.

53 ^cx“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, 54 that you may bear your disgrace ^cyand be ashamed of all that you have done, ^czbecoming a consolation to them. 55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, ^daand Samaria and her daughters shall return ^dbto their former state, ^dcand you and your daughters shall return ^ddto your former state. 56 Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth ^dein the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become ^dfan object of reproach for the daughters of Syria ^{▼▼Some manuscripts (compare Syriac) of Edom} and all those around her, and for ^dhthe daughters of the Philistines, ^dithose all around who despise you. 58 ^djYou bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the Lord.

The Lord’s Everlasting Covenant

59 “For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you ^dkwho have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, 60 yet ^dlI will remember my covenant with you ^dmin the days of your youth, ^dnand I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. 61 ^doThen you will remember your ways ^dpand be ashamed when you take ^dqyour sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you ^dras daughters, but not on account of ^{▼▼Or not apart from} the covenant with you. 62 I will establish my covenant with you, ^dtand you shall know that I am the Lord,

Ezekiel 20:1-44

Israel’s Continuing Rebellion

1 ^duIn the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of ^dvthe elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, ^dwand sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me: 3 ^dx“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? ^dyAs I live, declares the Lord God, ^dzI will not be inquired of by you. 4 ^eaWill you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? ^ebLet them know the abominations of their fathers, 5 and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^ecOn the day when I chose Israel, ^edI swore ^{▼▼Hebrew I lifted my hand; twice in this verse; also verses 6, 15, 23, 28, 42} to the offspring of the house of Jacob, ^efmaking myself known to them in the land of Egypt; ^egI swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. 6 On that day I swore to them that ^ehI would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land ^eiflowing with milk and honey, ^ejthe most glorious of all lands. 7 And I said to them, ' ^ekCast away the detestable things ^elyour eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with ^emthe idols of Egypt; ^enI am the Lord your God.' 8 ^eoBut they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. ^epNone of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them ^eqand spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 ^erBut I acted ^esfor the sake of my name, ^etthat it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, ^euin whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10 ^evSo I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11 ^ewI gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, ^exby which, if a person does them, he shall live. 12 Moreover, I gave them ^eymy Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, ^ezthat they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. 13 ^faBut the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. ^fbThey did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; ^fcand my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

^fd“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. 14 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, ^fein whose sight I had brought them out. 15 Moreover, ^ffI swore to them in the wilderness ^fgthat I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land ^fhflowing with milk and honey, ^fithe most glorious of all lands, 16 because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; ^fjfor their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless, ^fkmy eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or ^flmake a full end of them in the wilderness.

18 “And I said to ^fmtheir children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk ^fnin the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, ^fonor defile yourselves with their idols. 19 ^fpI am the Lord your God; ^fqwalk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, 20 and ^frkeep my Sabbaths holy that ^fsthey may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.' 21 ^ftBut the children ^furebelled against me. ^fvThey did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.

^fw“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 22 ^fxBut I withheld my hand ^fyand acted for the sake of my name, ^fzthat it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 23 ^gaMoreover, ^gbI swore to them in the wilderness ^gcthat I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, 24 because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, ^gdand their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols. 25 ^geMoreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, 26 and I defiled them through ^gftheir very gifts ^ggin their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it ^ghthat they might know that I am the Lord.

27 “Therefore, ^gison of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by ^gjdealing treacherously with me. 28 For when I had brought them into the land that ^gkI swore to give them, then wherever they saw ^glany high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented ^gmthe provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings. 29 (I said to them, ^gn'What is the high place to which you go?' So its name is called Bamah ^{▼▼ Bamah means high place} to this day.)

30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^gpWill you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go ^gqwhoring after their detestable things? 31 When you present your gifts and ^groffer up your children in fire, ^{▼▼Hebrew and make your children pass through the fire} you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And ^gtshall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? ^guAs I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

32 ^gv“What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, ^gw‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, ^gxand worship wood and stone.’

The Lord Will Restore Israel

33 ^gy“As I live, declares the Lord God, ^gzsurely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and ^hawith wrath poured out I will be king over you. 34 ^hbI will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. 35 ^hcAnd I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, ^hdand there I will enter into judgment with you ^heface to face. 36 ^hfAs I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord God. 37 I will make you ^hgpass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 ^hhI will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. ^hiI will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, ^hjbut they shall not enter the land of Israel. ^hkThen you will know that I am the Lord.

39 “As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: ^hlGo serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; ^hmbut my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.

40 ^hn“For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord God, there ^hoall the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. ^hpThere I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. 41 As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when ^hqI bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And ^hrI will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 42 ^hsAnd you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that ^htI swore to give to your fathers. 43 ^huAnd there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, ^hvand you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. 44 And you shall know that I am the Lord, ^hwwhen I deal with you for my name’s sake, ^hxnot according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”