Isa 5:2, 59:1-4, 12-15, Lam 1:5, 4:13, 5:16-17, Eze 16, Eze 20 | ESV | STEP | He dug it and cleared it of stones , and planted it with choice vines ; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes , but it yielded wild grapes .

2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with ^achoice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and ^bhe looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.

Isaiah 59:1-4

Evil and Oppression

1 Behold, ^cthe Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 ^dbut your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
3 ^eFor your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 ^fNo one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
^gthey conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

Isaiah 59:12-15

12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13 transgressing, and denying the Lord,
and turning back from following our God,
^hspeaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

Judgment and Redemption

14 ⁱJustice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him ^{▼▼Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes}
that there was no justice.

Lamentations 1:5

5 ^kHer foes have become the head;
her ^lenemies prosper,
because ^mthe Lord has afflicted her
ⁿfor the multitude of her transgressions;
^oher children have gone away,
captives before the foe.

Lamentations 4:13

13 This was for ^pthe sins of her prophets
and ^qthe iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.

Lamentations 5:16-17

16 ^rThe crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 For this ^sour heart has become sick,
for these things ^tour eyes have grown dim,

Ezekiel 16

The Lord’s Faithless Bride

1 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^u“Son of man, ^vmake 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 ^wAmorite and your mother a ^xHittite. 4 And as for your birth, ^yon 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, ^zbut you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, ^aaon the day that you were born.

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

8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and ^ahI spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you ^aiand entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, ^ajand you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and ^akanointed you with oil. 10 ^alI 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 ^anAnd I adorned you with ornaments and ^aoput 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. ^apYou ate fine flour and honey and oil. ^aqYou grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And ^aryour 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 ^as“But you trusted in your beauty ^atand played the whore ^{▼▼Or were unfaithful; also verses 16, 17, 26, 28} because of your renown ^avand 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 ^azyour beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and ^bamade for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. 18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, ^bband set my oil and my incense before them. 19 ^bcAlso my bread that I gave you— ^bdI fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for ^bea pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God. 20 ^bfAnd you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and ^bgthese 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 ^bhthe days of your youth, ^biwhen 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 ^bja vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. 25 At the head of every street ^bkyou built your lofty place and made ^blyour beauty an abomination, ^bmoffering yourself ^{▼▼Hebrew spreading your legs} to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. 26 ^boYou also played the whore ^bpwith the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, ^bqmultiplying your whoring, ^brto provoke me to anger. 27 Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you ^bsand diminished your allotted portion ^btand delivered you to the greed of your enemies, ^buthe daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. 28 ^bvYou played the whore also ^bwwith 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 ^bxof 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, ^bzbecause you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, ^cabut 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 ^cbyou 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, ^ccand because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, 37 therefore, behold, ^cdI will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and ^ceall those you hated. ^cfI will gather them against you from every side ^cgand will uncover your nakedness to them, that ^chthey may see all your nakedness. 38 ^ciAnd I will judge you ^cjas women who commit adultery and ^ckshed 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 ^clvaulted chamber and break down ^cmyour lofty places. ^cnThey shall strip you of your clothes and take ^coyour beautiful jewels and leave you ^cpnaked and bare. 40 ^cqThey shall bring up a crowd against you, ^crand they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 ^csAnd they shall ^ctburn your houses and ^cuexecute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. ^cvI will make you stop playing the whore, and ^cwyou shall also give payment no more. 42 ^cxSo 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 ^cythe days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, ^czI have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not ^dacommitted lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

44 “Behold, everyone ^dbwho 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 ^dcyour sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. ^ddYour mother was a Hittite and ^deyour father an Amorite. 46 And ^dfyour elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and ^dgyour younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. 47 ^dhNot only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time ^diyou were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 ^djAs I live, declares the Lord God, your sister ^dkSodom 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, ^dlexcess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and ^dmdid an abomination before me. So ^dnI removed them, when I saw it. 51 ^doSamaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and ^dphave made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. 52 ^dqBear 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 ^dr“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 ^dsand be ashamed of all that you have done, ^dtbecoming a consolation to them. 55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, ^duand Samaria and her daughters shall return ^dvto their former state, ^dwand you and your daughters shall return ^dxto your former state. 56 Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth ^dyin the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become ^dzan object of reproach for the daughters of Syria ^{▼▼Some manuscripts (compare Syriac) of Edom} and all those around her, and for ^ebthe daughters of the Philistines, ^ecthose all around who despise you. 58 ^edYou 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 ^eewho have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, 60 yet ^efI will remember my covenant with you ^egin the days of your youth, ^ehand I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. 61 ^eiThen you will remember your ways ^ejand be ashamed when you take ^ekyour sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you ^elas daughters, but not on account of ^{▼▼Or not apart from} the covenant with you. 62 I will establish my covenant with you, ^enand you shall know that I am the Lord, 63 that you may remember and be confounded, and ^eonever open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 20

Israel’s Continuing Rebellion

1 ^epIn the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of ^eqthe elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, ^erand sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me: 3 ^es“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? ^etAs I live, declares the Lord God, ^euI will not be inquired of by you. 4 ^evWill you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? ^ewLet them know the abominations of their fathers, 5 and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^exOn the day when I chose Israel, ^eyI 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, ^famaking myself known to them in the land of Egypt; ^fbI swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. 6 On that day I swore to them that ^fcI would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land ^fdflowing with milk and honey, ^fethe most glorious of all lands. 7 And I said to them, ' ^ffCast away the detestable things ^fgyour eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with ^fhthe idols of Egypt; ^fiI am the Lord your God.' 8 ^fjBut they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. ^fkNone 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 ^fland spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 ^fmBut I acted ^fnfor the sake of my name, ^fothat it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, ^fpin whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10 ^fqSo I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11 ^frI gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, ^fsby which, if a person does them, he shall live. 12 Moreover, I gave them ^ftmy Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, ^futhat they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. 13 ^fvBut the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. ^fwThey did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; ^fxand my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

^fy“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, ^fzin whose sight I had brought them out. 15 Moreover, ^gaI swore to them in the wilderness ^gbthat I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land ^gcflowing with milk and honey, ^gdthe most glorious of all lands, 16 because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; ^gefor their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless, ^gfmy eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or ^ggmake a full end of them in the wilderness.

18 “And I said to ^ghtheir children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk ^giin the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, ^gjnor defile yourselves with their idols. 19 ^gkI am the Lord your God; ^glwalk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, 20 and ^gmkeep my Sabbaths holy that ^gnthey may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.' 21 ^goBut the children ^gprebelled against me. ^gqThey 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.

^gr“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 22 ^gsBut I withheld my hand ^gtand acted for the sake of my name, ^guthat it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 23 ^gvMoreover, ^gwI swore to them in the wilderness ^gxthat 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, ^gyand their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols. 25 ^gzMoreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, 26 and I defiled them through ^hatheir very gifts ^hbin their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it ^hcthat they might know that I am the Lord.

27 “Therefore, ^hdson 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 ^hedealing treacherously with me. 28 For when I had brought them into the land that ^hfI swore to give them, then wherever they saw ^hgany high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented ^hhthe provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings. 29 (I said to them, ^hi'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: ^hkWill you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go ^hlwhoring after their detestable things? 31 When you present your gifts and ^hmoffer 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 ^hoshall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? ^hpAs I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

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

The Lord Will Restore Israel

33 ^ht“As I live, declares the Lord God, ^husurely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and ^hvwith wrath poured out I will be king over you. 34 ^hwI 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 ^hxAnd I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, ^hyand there I will enter into judgment with you ^hzface to face. 36 ^iaAs 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 ^ibpass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 ^icI will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. ^idI will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, ^iebut they shall not enter the land of Israel. ^ifThen you will know that I am the Lord.

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

40 ⁱⁱ“For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord God, there ^ijall the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. ^ikThere 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 ^ilI bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And ^imI will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 42 ⁱⁿAnd you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that ^ioI swore to give to your fathers. 43 ^ipAnd there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, ^iqand you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. 44 And you shall know that I am the Lord, ^irwhen I deal with you for my name’s sake, ^isnot according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”

45 ^{▼▼Ch 21:1 in Hebrew} And the word of the Lord came to me: 46 ^iu“Son of man, ^ivset your face toward the southland; ^{▼▼Or toward Teman} ^ixpreach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. 47 Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, ^iyI will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every ^izgreen tree in you and every ^jadry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and ^jball faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. 48 ^jcAll flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” 49 Then I said, ^jd“Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, ^je‘Is he not a maker of parables?’”