Psa 50:21, Jer 3:2, Eze 16, Eze 23 | ESV | STEP | These things you have done , and I have been silent ; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

21 These things you have done, and I ^ahave been silent;
you thought that I ^{▼▼Or that the I am} was one like yourself.
But now I ^crebuke you and ^dlay the charge before you.

Jeremiah 3:2

2 Lift up your eyes to ^ethe bare heights, and see!
Where have you not been ravished?
^fBy the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers
like an Arab in the wilderness.
^gYou have polluted the land
with your vile whoredom.

Ezekiel 16

The Lord’s Faithless Bride

1 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^h“Son of man, ⁱmake 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 ^jAmorite and your mother a ^kHittite. 4 And as for your birth, ^lon 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, ^mbut you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, ⁿon the day that you were born.

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

8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and ^uI spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you ^vand entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, ^wand you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and ^xanointed you with oil. 10 ^yI 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 ^aaAnd I adorned you with ornaments and ^abput 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. ^acYou ate fine flour and honey and oil. ^adYou grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And ^aeyour 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 ^af“But you trusted in your beauty ^agand played the whore ^{▼▼Or were unfaithful; also verses 16, 17, 26, 28} because of your renown ^aiand 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 ^amyour beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and ^anmade for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. 18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, ^aoand set my oil and my incense before them. 19 ^apAlso my bread that I gave you— ^aqI fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for ^ara pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God. 20 ^asAnd you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and ^atthese 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 ^authe days of your youth, ^avwhen 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 ^awa vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. 25 At the head of every street ^axyou built your lofty place and made ^ayyour beauty an abomination, ^azoffering yourself ^{▼▼Hebrew spreading your legs} to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. 26 ^bbYou also played the whore ^bcwith the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, ^bdmultiplying your whoring, ^beto provoke me to anger. 27 Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you ^bfand diminished your allotted portion ^bgand delivered you to the greed of your enemies, ^bhthe daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. 28 ^biYou played the whore also ^bjwith 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 ^bkof 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, ^bmbecause you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, ^bnbut 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 ^boyou 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, ^bpand because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, 37 therefore, behold, ^bqI will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and ^brall those you hated. ^bsI will gather them against you from every side ^btand will uncover your nakedness to them, that ^buthey may see all your nakedness. 38 ^bvAnd I will judge you ^bwas women who commit adultery and ^bxshed 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 ^byvaulted chamber and break down ^bzyour lofty places. ^caThey shall strip you of your clothes and take ^cbyour beautiful jewels and leave you ^ccnaked and bare. 40 ^cdThey shall bring up a crowd against you, ^ceand they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 ^cfAnd they shall ^cgburn your houses and ^chexecute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. ^ciI will make you stop playing the whore, and ^cjyou shall also give payment no more. 42 ^ckSo 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 ^clthe days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, ^cmI have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not ^cncommitted lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

44 “Behold, everyone ^cowho 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 ^cpyour sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. ^cqYour mother was a Hittite and ^cryour father an Amorite. 46 And ^csyour elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and ^ctyour younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. 47 ^cuNot only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time ^cvyou were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 ^cwAs I live, declares the Lord God, your sister ^cxSodom 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, ^cyexcess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and ^czdid an abomination before me. So ^daI removed them, when I saw it. 51 ^dbSamaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and ^dchave made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. 52 ^ddBear 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 ^de“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 ^dfand be ashamed of all that you have done, ^dgbecoming a consolation to them. 55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, ^dhand Samaria and her daughters shall return ^dito their former state, ^djand you and your daughters shall return ^dkto your former state. 56 Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth ^dlin the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become ^dman object of reproach for the daughters of Syria ^{▼▼Some manuscripts (compare Syriac) of Edom} and all those around her, and for ^dothe daughters of the Philistines, ^dpthose all around who despise you. 58 ^dqYou 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 ^drwho have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, 60 yet ^dsI will remember my covenant with you ^dtin the days of your youth, ^duand I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. 61 ^dvThen you will remember your ways ^dwand be ashamed when you take ^dxyour sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you ^dyas daughters, but not on account of ^{▼▼Or not apart from} the covenant with you. 62 I will establish my covenant with you, ^eaand you shall know that I am the Lord, 63 that you may remember and be confounded, and ^ebnever open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 23

Oholah and Oholibah

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^ec“Son of man, there were ^edtwo women, the daughters of one mother. 3 ^eeThey played the whore in Egypt; ^efthey played the whore ^egin their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms ^{▼▼Hebrew nipples; also verses 8, 21} handled. 4 Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. ^eiThey became mine, and they ^ejbore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is ^ekSamaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

5 “Oholah played the whore ^elwhile she was mine, and ^emshe lusted after her lovers ^enthe Assyrians, warriors 6 clothed in purple, ^eogovernors and commanders, ^epall of them desirable young men, ^eqhorsemen riding on horses. 7 She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted. 8 She did not give up her whoring ^erthat she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her. 9 Therefore ^esI delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 ^etThese uncovered her nakedness; ^euthey seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became ^eva byword among women, ^ewwhen judgment had been executed on her.

11 ^ex“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became ^eymore corrupt than her sister ^{▼▼Hebrew than she} in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, ^faall of them desirable young men. 13 And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. 14 But she carried her whoring further. She saw men ^fbportrayed on the wall, the ^fcimages of ^fdthe Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, 15 wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. 16 When she saw them, she lusted after them and ^fesent messengers to them ^ffin Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her ^fginto the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, ^fhshe turned from them in disgust. 18 When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. 19 Yet she increased her whoring, ^firemembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt 20 and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed ^{▼▼Vulgate, Syriac; Hebrew bosom for the sake of} your young breasts.”

22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers ^fkfrom whom you turned in disgust, ^fland I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, ^fmPekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, ^fndesirable young men, ^fogovernors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 And they shall come against you from the north ^{▼▼Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown} with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. ^fqThey shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and ^frI will commit the judgment to them, and ^fsthey shall judge you according to their judgments. 25 And I will direct my jealousy against you, ^ftthat they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. ^fuThey shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 ^fvThey shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 ^fwThus I will put an end to your lewdness and ^fxyour whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.

28 “For thus says the Lord God: ^fyBehold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, ^fzinto the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29 and ^gathey shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor ^gband leave you naked and bare, and ^gcthe nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring 30 have brought this upon you, because ^gdyou played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister; ^getherefore I will give ^gfher cup into your hand. 32 Thus says the Lord God:

“You shall drink your sister’s cup
that is deep and large;
you shall be laughed at and held in derision,
for it contains much;
33 you will be filled with ^ggdrunkenness and sorrow.
^ghA cup of horror and desolation,
the cup of ^giyour sister Samaria;
34 ^gjyou shall drink it and drain it out,
and gnaw its shards,
and tear your breasts;
for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 35 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because ^gkyou have forgotten me and ^glcast me behind your back, you yourself ^gmmust bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

36 The Lord said to me: ^gn“Son of man, ^gowill you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. 37 For ^gpthey have committed adultery, ^gqand blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even ^groffered up ^{▼▼Or have even made pass through the fire} to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. 38 Moreover, this they have done to me: ^gtthey have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and ^guprofaned my Sabbaths. 39 For when ^gvthey had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day ^gwthey came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, ^gxthis is what they did in my house. 40 They even sent for men to come from afar, ^gyto whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, ^gzpainted your eyes, ^haand adorned yourself with ornaments. 41 You sat on ^hba stately couch, with a table spread before it ^hcon which you had placed my incense and ^hdmy oil. 42 The ^hesound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards ^{▼▼Or Sabeans} were brought from the wilderness; and they put ^hgbracelets on the hands of the women, and ^hhbeautiful crowns on their heads.

43 “Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, 'Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!' ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain} 44 For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women! 45 But righteous men ^hjshall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.”

46 For thus says the Lord God: ^hk“Bring up a vast host against them, and make them ^hlan object of terror and ^hma plunder. 47 ^hnAnd the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. ^hoThey shall kill their sons and their daughters, and ^hpburn up their houses. 48 ^hqThus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49 And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and ^hryou shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and ^hsyou shall know that I am the Lord God.”