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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Ezekiel 16 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ezekiel/16.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/ezekiel/16-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > Ezekiel 16</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ezekiel/15.htm" title="Ezekiel 15">◄</a> Ezekiel 16 <a href="../ezekiel/17.htm" title="Ezekiel 17">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/ezekiel/16.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Jerusalem—an Unfaithful Wife</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Then another message came to me from the LORD: <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>“Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Give her this message from the Sovereign LORD: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>“But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>“Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and costly fabric and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign LORD.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>“But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign LORD.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>“Then you took your sons and daughters—the children you had borne to me—and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>In all your years of adultery and detestable sin, you have not once remembered the days long ago when you lay naked in a field, kicking about in your own blood.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>“What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your other wickedness, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>you built a pagan shrine and put altars to idols in every town square. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>Then you added lustful Egypt to your lovers, provoking my anger with your increasing promiscuity. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>That is why I struck you with my fist and reduced your boundaries. I handed you over to your enemies, the Philistines, and even they were shocked by your lewd conduct. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>You have prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, too. It seems you can never find enough new lovers! And after your prostitution there, you still were not satisfied. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>You added to your lovers by embracing Babylonia,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> the land of merchants, but you still weren’t satisfied.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>“What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign LORD, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>You build your pagan shrines on every street corner and your altars to idols in every square. In fact, you have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even demanded payment. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>Prostitutes charge for their services—but not you! You give gifts to your lovers, bribing them to come and have sex with you. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>So you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay your lovers instead of their paying you!</p><p class="hdg">Judgment on Jerusalem’s Prostitution</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>“Therefore, you prostitute, listen to this message from the LORD! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you have poured out your lust and exposed yourself in prostitution to all your lovers, and because you have worshiped detestable idols,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> and because you have slaughtered your children as sacrifices to your gods, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>this is what I am going to do. I will gather together all your allies—the lovers with whom you have sinned, both those you loved and those you hated—and I will strip you naked in front of them so they can stare at you. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>I will punish you for your murder and adultery. I will cover you with blood in my jealous fury. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span>Then I will give you to these many nations who are your lovers, and they will destroy you. They will knock down your pagan shrines and the altars to your idols. They will strip you and take your beautiful jewels, leaving you stark naked. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-40.htm"><b>40</b></a></span>They will band together in a mob to stone you and cut you up with swords. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-41.htm"><b>41</b></a></span>They will burn your homes and punish you in front of many women. I will stop your prostitution and end your payments to your many lovers.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-42.htm"><b>42</b></a></span>“Then at last my fury against you will be spent, and my jealous anger will subside. I will be calm and will not be angry with you anymore. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-43.htm"><b>43</b></a></span>But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by doing all these evil things, I will fully repay you for all of your sins, says the Sovereign LORD. For you have added lewd acts to all your detestable sins. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-44.htm"><b>44</b></a></span>Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-45.htm"><b>45</b></a></span>For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and so do you. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-46.htm"><b>46</b></a></span>“Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-47.htm"><b>47</b></a></span>But you have not merely sinned as they did. You quickly surpassed them in corruption. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-48.htm"><b>48</b></a></span>As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-49.htm"><b>49</b></a></span>Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-50.htm"><b>50</b></a></span>She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a></p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-51.htm"><b>51</b></a></span>“Even Samaria did not commit half your sins. You have done far more detestable things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-52.htm"><b>52</b></a></span>Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-53.htm"><b>53</b></a></span>“But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-54.htm"><b>54</b></a></span>Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-55.htm"><b>55</b></a></span>Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-56.htm"><b>56</b></a></span>In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-57.htm"><b>57</b></a></span>But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned—by Edom<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a> and all her neighbors and by Philistia. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-58.htm"><b>58</b></a></span>This is your punishment for all your lewdness and detestable sins, says the LORD.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-59.htm"><b>59</b></a></span>“Now this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-60.htm"><b>60</b></a></span>Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-61.htm"><b>61</b></a></span>Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-62.htm"><b>62</b></a></span>And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/16-63.htm"><b>63</b></a></span>You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">16:29 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">Chaldea.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">16:36 </span><span class="ft">The Hebrew term (literally </span><span class="it">round things</span><span class="ft">) probably alludes to dung.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">16:50 </span><span class="ft">As in a few Hebrew manuscripts and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads </span><span class="it">as I have seen.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">16:57 </span><span class="ft">As in many Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac version; Masoretic Text reads </span><span class="it">Aram.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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