1 Again the word
of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth
and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an
Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.
4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel
was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee;
thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have
compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field,
to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine
own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live;
yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.
7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and
thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent
ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown,
whereas thou wast naked and bare.
8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy
time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee,
and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest
mine.
9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away
thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with
badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and
I covered thee with silk.
11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon
thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine
ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.
13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment
was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst
eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding
beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty:
for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon
thee, saith the Lord GOD.
15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the
harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications
on every one that passed by; his it was.
16 And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high
places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon:
the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my
silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images
of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,
18 And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and
thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.
19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and
honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them
for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.
20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom
thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto
them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause
them to pass through the fire for them?
22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast
not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and
bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.
23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto
thee! saith the Lord GOD;)
24 That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and
hast made thee an high place in every street.
25 Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way,
and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy
feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.
26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy
neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms,
to provoke me to anger.
27 Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee,
and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee
unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines,
which are ashamed of thy lewd way.
28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because
thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with
them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.
29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land
of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou
doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;
31 In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of
every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and
hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;
32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers
instead of her husband!
33 They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts
to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto
thee on every side for thy whoredom.
34 And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms,
whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that
thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore
thou art contrary.
35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:
36 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured
out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with
thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and
by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;
37 Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom
thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved,
with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them
round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto
them, that they may see all thy nakedness.
38 And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed
blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.
39 And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall
throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high
places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall
take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.
40 They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they
shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their
swords.
41 And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments
upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee
to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no
hire any more.
42 So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy
shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no
more angry.
43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but
hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also
will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD:
and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.
44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb
against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
45 Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband
and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which
lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an
Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters
that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth
at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after
their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing,
thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.
48 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not
done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy
daughters.
49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride,
fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in
her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor
and needy.
50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me:
therefore I took them away as I saw good.
51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou
hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast
justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast
done.
52 Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own
shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable
than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded
also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.
53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of
Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her
daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives
in the midst of them:
54 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded
in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto
them.
55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to
their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return
to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return
to your former estate.
56 For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the
day of thy pride,
57 Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy
reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about
her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round
about.
58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith
the LORD.
59 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as
thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the
covenant.
60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the
days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting
covenant.
61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou
shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and
I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt
know that I am the LORD:
63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open
thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified
toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.
Chapter 17
1 And the word
of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the
house of Israel;
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great
wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours,
came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it
into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a
fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as
a willow tree.
6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose
branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under
him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot
forth sprigs.
7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many
feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him,
and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water
it by the furrows of her plantation.
8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might
bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it
might be a goodly vine.
9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall
he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof,
that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring,
even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the
roots thereof.
10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not
utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither
in the furrows where it grew.
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things
mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem,
and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and
led them with him to Babylon;
13 And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with
him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty
of the land:
14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself
up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.
15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into
Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall
he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall
he break the covenant, and be delivered?
16 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where
the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised,
and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon
he shall die.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company
make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building
forts, to cut off many persons:
18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when,
lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he
shall not escape.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine
oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken,
even it will I recompense upon his own head.
20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken
in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead
with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against
me.
21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the
sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds:
and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it.
22 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest
branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from
the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon
an high mountain and eminent:
23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it:
and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly
cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the
shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD
have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree,
have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to
flourish: I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted
the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the
dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.
Chapter 18
1 The word of the
LORD came unto me again, saying,
2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land
of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the
children's teeth are set on edge?
3 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion
any more to use this proverb in Israel.
4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so
also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it
shall die.
5 But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,
6 And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted
up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath
defiled his neighbour's wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous
woman,
7 And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor
his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread
to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
8 He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken
any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath
executed true judgment between man and man,
9 Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to
deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord
GOD.
10 If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and
that doeth the like to any one of these things,
11 And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten
upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife,
12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence,
hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to
the idols, hath committed abomination,
13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall
he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations;
he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
14 Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins
which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like,
15 That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted
up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled
his neighbour's wife,
16 Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge,
neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to
the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment,
17 That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not
received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath
walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of
his father, he shall surely live.
18 As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled
his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among
his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.
19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the
father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right,
and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall
surely live.
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear
the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the
iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall
be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon
him.
21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath
committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful
and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall
not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath
done he shall live.
23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith
the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and
live?
24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness,
and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations
that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness
that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that
he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them
shall he die.
25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O
house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness,
and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity
that he hath done shall he die.
27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness
that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right,
he shall save his soul alive.
28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions
that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
29 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not
equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your
ways unequal?
30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one
according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn
yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not
be your ruin.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have
transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for
why will ye die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith
the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. |