Ezekiel 16 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

The word of Yahweh came to me:

"Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her disgusting practices

and say: This is what Yahweh, the Sovereign God, says to Jerusalem — Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother was a Hittite.

As for what happened when you were born — on the day you were delivered, your cord was not cut, you were not washed clean with water, you were not rubbed with salt, and you were not wrapped in cloths.

No eye pitied you enough to do any of these things for you out of compassion. Instead, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were despised on the day you were born.

Then I passed by you and saw you kicking around in your own blood, and I said to you there in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you there in your blood, 'Live!'

I made you flourish like a plant in the field. You grew up and matured and became stunningly beautiful. Your breasts developed and your hair grew full, but you were still naked and bare.

Then I passed by you again and looked at you, and you had reached the age for love. So I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I made a solemn vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares Yahweh, the Sovereign God, and you became mine.

I bathed you with water, washed the blood off you, and anointed you with oil.

I dressed you in embroidered cloth, gave you sandals of fine leather, wrapped you in linen, and covered you in silk.

I adorned you with jewelry: bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck.

I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.

So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate the finest flour, honey, and olive oil. You became extraordinarily beautiful and rose to be a queen.

Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because it was perfect — owing to the splendor I had bestowed on you, declares Yahweh, the Sovereign God.

But you trusted in your beauty and traded on your fame to give yourself to every passerby as a prostitute. It was theirs for the taking.

You took some of your garments and made yourself colorful shrines on the high places, and you prostituted yourself on them. This should never have happened — it should never exist.

You also took the beautiful jewelry made of my gold and my silver, which I had given you, and you made for yourself male images and prostituted yourself with them.

You took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set my oil and my incense before them.

And the food I had given you — the fine flour, oil, and honey I fed you — you set it before them as a pleasing aroma. That is exactly what happened, declares Yahweh, the Sovereign God.

And you took your sons and daughters — the children you had borne to me — and sacrificed them to these idols to be devoured. Was your prostitution not enough?

You slaughtered my children and handed them over by making them pass through the fire.

And through all your disgusting practices and your prostitution, you never once remembered the days of your youth — when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your own blood.

Then — what sorrow awaits you, what sorrow! declares Yahweh, the Sovereign God — after all your wickedness,

you built yourself a mound and made yourself a raised platform in every public square.

At the head of every street you built your raised platform and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs to every passerby, multiplying your prostitution.

You gave yourself to the Egyptians, your oversized neighbors, and multiplied your prostitution to provoke me to anger.

So I stretched out my hand against you, reduced your territory, and handed you over to the will of those who hate you — the Philistine women, who were shocked by your shameless conduct.

Then you gave yourself to the Assyrians because you still were not satisfied — you gave yourself to them and still were not satisfied.

You multiplied your prostitution even further, reaching out to the land of merchants, to Babylonia — and even then you were not satisfied.

How sick is your heart, declares Yahweh, the Sovereign God, that you do all these things — the acts of a brazen prostitute!

When you built your mound at the head of every street and made your raised platform in every public square, you were not even like a real prostitute — because you refused payment!

You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers over your own husband!

Every prostitute receives payment — but you! You gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every direction for your acts of prostitution.

You are the opposite of other prostitutes: no one solicited you, and instead of receiving payment, you gave payment. You are the reverse of the norm.

Therefore, prostitute — hear the word of Yahweh!

This is what Yahweh, the Sovereign God, says: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your nakedness through your prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your disgusting idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them —

therefore I am going to gather all the lovers you found so pleasurable — all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every direction and strip you naked in front of them, and they will see you completely exposed.

I will sentence you to the punishment that adulteresses and murderers receive. I will bring on you the bloodshed of fury and jealousy.

I will hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and demolish your raised platforms. They will strip you of your clothes, take your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.

They will bring a mob against you, stone you, and hack you to pieces with their swords.

They will burn your houses and execute judgment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers.

Then my fury against you will subside, and my jealousy will turn away from you. I will be calm and no longer angry.

Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will bring down on your own head what you have done, declares Yahweh, the Sovereign God. Did you not add obscenity to all your other disgusting practices?

Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this one about you: 'Like mother, like daughter.'

You are truly your mother's daughter — she despised her husband and her children. You are truly your sisters' sister — they despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father was an Amorite.

Your older sister is Samaria, who lives to your north with her daughters. Your younger sister is Sodom, who lives to your south with her daughters.

You did not merely walk in their ways and copy their disgusting practices. No — as if that were too little — you acted more corruptly than they did in everything you did.

As I live, declares Yahweh, the Sovereign God, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.

Now this was the failure of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and comfortable complacency, but she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

They became arrogant and committed disgusting acts before me. So I removed them when I saw it.