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Then the word of the LORD came to me:
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“Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations
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and say, Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
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And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.
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No eye had pity on you to do any of these things for you out of compassion for you; but you were cast out into the open field, because you were despised on the day of your birth.
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Then I passed by you and saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’
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and grow up like a plant of the field! You grew and became great and came to full maturity; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare.
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Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you had reached the time for love. I spread My garment over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became Mine.
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Then I washed you with water, cleansed your blood from you, and anointed you with oil.
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I clothed you with embroidered garments and gave you sandals of fine leather, a head covering of fine linen, and a veil of silk.
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I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck.
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I put a ring in your nose and earrings in your ears and a crown of beauty on your head.
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Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth; your food was fine flour, honey, and oil. You became exceedingly beautiful and fit to be a queen.
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And your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.”
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“But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passerby.
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You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful high places, and on them you played the harlot; such things should not have happened, and shall not happen again.
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You also took your beautiful ornaments made from My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images, and with them you played the harlot.
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You took your embroidered garments and covered them with them, and you set My oil and My incense before them.
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Also My food which I gave you — the fine flour, oil, and honey with which I fed you — you set before them as a pleasing offering. Thus says the Lord GOD.
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Moreover, you took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to Me and offered them to them to be devoured. Was your harlotry a small matter
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that you slaughtered My children and gave them up to them by causing them to pass through the fire as an offering?
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In all your abominations and your harlotries you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.
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And after all your wickedness — woe, woe to you! says the Lord GOD —
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you built for yourself a mound and made for yourself a high place in every open square.
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At every street corner you built your high place and made your beauty an abomination, spreading your legs for every passerby, and multiplying your harlotry.
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You also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your neighbors, men of large flesh, and multiplied your harlotry, to provoke Me to anger.
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See, therefore, I have stretched out My hand against you and diminished your portion, and given you over to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd conduct.
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You played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because you were not yet satisfied; yes, you played the harlot with them, but still you were not satisfied.
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You multiplied your harlotry with the land of trade, Chaldea; and even with this you were not satisfied.
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How weak your heart is, says the Lord GOD, seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot,
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who builds her mound at every street corner and makes her high place in every open square. Yet you were not like a common harlot, because you scorned payment.
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You adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her own husband.
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To all prostitutes a fee is given, but you are different: you give gifts as a bribe to all who love you, so that they may come to you from all around for your harlotry.
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So in your harlotry you are the opposite of other women; no one comes after you to commit harlotry, but you give payment for harlotry, and you receive nothing. Thus it is the opposite with you.
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Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!
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Thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have poured out your lust and your nakedness has been uncovered in your harlotry with those who loved you, and with your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children whom you gave to them,
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therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers, those who delighted your heart, both those whom you loved and those whom you hated; I will gather them from all around against you, and I will uncover your nakedness before them, so that they may see all your shame.
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I will judge you as women are judged who commit adultery and shed blood, and I will pour out upon you my wrath and jealousy.
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I will give you into their hands, and they shall tear down your high places and break down your mounds; they shall strip you, take away your ornaments, and leave you naked and bare.
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They shall bring up a crowd against you, who shall stone you and cut you down with their swords.
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They shall burn your houses with fire and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. Thus I will make you cease from harlotry, and you shall give no more payment for harlotry.
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So will I satisfy my wrath against you, and my jealousy shall turn away from you; then I will be at rest and no longer grieved.
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Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but have made me furious with all these things, behold, I also will bring your conduct upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness in addition to all your detestable deeds?
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Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will say this proverb about you: As the mother, so the daughter!
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You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her sons; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their sons. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.
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Your elder sister is Samaria, who with her daughters dwells to your north; and your younger sister is Sodom, who with her daughters dwells to your south.
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Did you not walk in their ways and do according to their abominations? In a little while you acted more wickedly than they in all your ways.
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As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely Sodom, your younger sister, with her daughters, did not do as you and your daughters have done.
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Behold, this was the guilt of Sodom, your younger sister: pride, fullness of bread, and ease of life were in her and in her daughters; yet she did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
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They became haughty and committed abominations before Me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.
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And Samaria did not commit even half of your sins; but you have done more abominations than they both, so that by all the abominations you have done, you have made your sisters appear righteous.
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Bear your shame, you who have brought judgment more lightly upon your sisters; because of your sins, more abominable than theirs, they are more righteous than you. Be ashamed, and bear your shame, because you have made your sisters appear righteous.”
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“But I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters; and I will also restore your fortunes in their midst,
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that you may bear your shame and be ashamed of all that you have done, and so become a comfort to them.
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As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall be restored to their former state; Samaria and her daughters shall also be restored to their former state; and you and your daughters shall likewise be restored to your former state.
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Was not Sodom, your younger sister, a byword in the days of your pride,
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before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the present time you are shamed by the daughters of Edom and all that are around her, and by the daughters of the Philistines, who despise you on every side?
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You must bear your lewdness and your abominations, says the LORD.
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For thus says the Lord GOD: I will deal with you as you have done, because you despised the oath by breaking the covenant.
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But I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.
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Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when I take your older sisters and your younger sisters and give them to you as daughters, though not because of your covenant.
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I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD,
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so that you may remember and be ashamed, and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, when I make atonement for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD.”
👶👗💔 Summary of Ezekiel 16 – The Tragic Story of Love Betrayed by Jerusalem
Ezekiel 16 is one of the most emotional and longest chapters in the Bible, where God describes Jerusalem as an abandoned baby who was raised and made into a queen, but then betrayed His love by becoming a spiritual harlot. This chapter is a symbolic allegory of God’s love, Israel’s sin, and the betrayal of His people. Yet at the end, God still declares a promise of restoration because of His everlasting love.
📌 1. From Abandoned Baby to Queen (verses 1–14)
➡️ Jerusalem is pictured as a baby girl cast out after birth, uncared for.
➡️ God saw her, washed and cared for her, until she grew into a beautiful young woman.
➡️ God made a covenant with her, adorning her with glory and beauty.
🎯 God’s love comes before human faithfulness.
📌 2. Turning Away and Spiritual Adultery (verses 15–34)
➡️ Jerusalem, after becoming beautiful and renowned, instead committed adultery with her wealth and splendor.
➡️ She offered the garments and ornaments from God to idols, even sacrificing her children.
➡️ She committed adultery worse than the other nations, even not being paid like a prostitute, but paying her lovers.
🎯 The worst spiritual sin is when God’s love is answered with rebellion.
📌 3. The Lord Will Punish Jerusalem (verses 35–43)
➡️ Because of that betrayal, the Lord will call her lovers to become destroying enemies.
➡️ Jerusalem will be shamed before the nations, stripped bare, and destroyed.
➡️ The Lord brings His wrath to an end, yet He does not forget their wrongdoing.
🎯 Spiritual betrayal cannot be ignored; it has severe consequences.
📌 4. A Comparison with Sodom and Samaria (verses 44–59)
➡️ The Lord calls Sodom and Samaria “Jerusalem’s sisters” — and, astonishingly, Jerusalem was more wicked than they!
➡️ Jerusalem thought herself better, but was more sinful and more shameless.
🎯 Spiritual pride makes a person blind to his own sin.
📌 5. A Wonderful Promise of Restoration (verses 60–63)
➡️ The Lord says that He will remember His everlasting covenant with Jerusalem.
➡️ He will establish a new covenant, and Jerusalem will be ashamed and repent.
➡️ Restoration will come not because of Jerusalem’s goodness, but because of the Lord’s grace.
🎯 The love of God is greater than humanity’s deepest sin.
📖 Main Teaching
- The Lord loved and built up His people from nothing, yet they often repaid Him with betrayal
- Spiritual sin is when we replace God with modern idols (money, ego, relationships, etc.)
- God’s love and faithfulness never fail, even though His wrath is just and real
- The Lord does not only punish, but also provides a way of restoration
✨ Spiritual Meaning (New Covenant)
📖 Ephesians 2:1–5
“You were once dead because of your trespasses… but God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ.”
➡️ The same picture as Ezekiel 16: from death to life because of love.
📖 Romans 5:8
“Christ died for us while we were still sinners.”
➡️ Like Jerusalem, which was not yet worthy, the Lord loved first.
📖 Revelation 3:17
“You say: I am rich… yet you are poor and blind.”
➡️ A picture of Jerusalem that forgot itself and thought itself prosperous.
📖 Ephesians 5:25–27
“Christ loved the church… to sanctify her… so that the church might be holy and without blemish.”
➡️ The Lord restores His people to become a worthy bride.
🕊️ “I passed by you and saw you… and you had grown up.” – Ezekiel 16:6–8
🕊️ “You used My gold and silver… to commit harlotry.” – Ezekiel 16:17
🕊️ “You are not like a prostitute, because you give payment.” – Ezekiel 16:34
🕊️ “Yet I will remember My covenant… and establish an everlasting covenant with you.” – Ezekiel 16:60
