| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Then another message came to me from the LORD: | 1Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, |
| 2“Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins. | 2“Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominations |
| 3Give her this message from the Sovereign LORD: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. | 3and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. |
| 4On 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. | 4On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. |
| 5No 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. | 5No one cared enough for you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. Instead, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were despised on the day of your birth. |
| 6“But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ | 6Then I passed by and saw you wallowing in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ There I said to you, ‘Live!’ |
| 7And 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. | 7I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare. |
| 8And 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. | 8Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD. |
| 9“Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. | 9Then I bathed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and anointed you with oil. |
| 10I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. | 10I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. |
| 11I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, | 11I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck. |
| 12a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. | 12I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. |
| 13And 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! | 13So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen. |
| 14Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign LORD. | 14Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect in the splendor I bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD. |
| 15“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. | 15But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking. |
| 16You 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? | 16You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred! |
| 17You 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! | 17You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself. |
| 18You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them. | 18You took your embroidered garments to cover them, and you set My oil and incense before them. |
| 19Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign LORD. | 19And you set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I had given you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I had fed you. That is what happened, declares the Lord GOD. |
| 20“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? | 20You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough? |
| 21Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols? | 21You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols. |
| 22In 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. | 22And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood. |
| 23“What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your other wickedness, | 23Woe! Woe to you, declares the Lord GOD. And in addition to all your other wickedness, |
| 24you built a pagan shrine and put altars to idols in every town square. | 24you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square. |
| 25On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution. | 25At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by. |
| 26Then you added lustful Egypt to your lovers, provoking my anger with your increasing promiscuity. | 26You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger. |
| 27That 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. | 27Therefore I stretched out My hand against you and reduced your portion. I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd conduct. |
| 28You 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. | 28Then you prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, because you were not yet satisfied. Even after that, you were still not satisfied. |
| 29You added to your lovers by embracing Babylonia, the land of merchants, but you still weren’t satisfied. | 29So you extended your promiscuity to Chaldea, the land of merchants—but even with this you were not satisfied! |
| 30“What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign LORD, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute. | 30How weak-willed is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, while you do all these things, the acts of a shameless prostitute! |
| 31You 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. | 31But when you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, because you scorned payment. |
| 32Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband. | 32You adulterous wife! You receive strangers instead of your own husband! |
| 33Prostitutes charge for their services—but not you! You give gifts to your lovers, bribing them to come and have sex with you. | 33Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. |
| 34So you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay your lovers instead of their paying you! Judgment on Jerusalem’s Prostitution | 34So your prostitution is the opposite of that of other women: No one solicited your favors, and you paid a fee instead of receiving one; so you are the very opposite! |
| 35“Therefore, you prostitute, listen to this message from the LORD! | 35Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD! |
| 36This 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, and because you have slaughtered your children as sacrifices to your gods, | 36This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them, |
| 37this 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. | 37therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked. |
| 38I will punish you for your murder and adultery. I will cover you with blood in my jealous fury. | 38And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy. |
| 39Then 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. | 39Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you naked and bare. |
| 40They will band together in a mob to stone you and cut you up with swords. | 40They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. |
| 41They 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. | 41Then they will burn down your houses and execute judgment against you in the sight of many women. I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will never again pay your lovers. |
| 42“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. | 42So I will lay to rest My wrath against you, and My jealousy will turn away from you. Then I will be calm and no longer angry. |
| 43But 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. | 43Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but enraged Me with all these things, I will surely bring your deeds down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness on top of all your other abominations? |
| 44Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ | 44Behold, all who speak in proverbs will quote this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ |
| 45For 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. | 45You are the daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and children. You are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. |
| 46“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. | 46Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to your north; and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to your south. |
| 47But you have not merely sinned as they did. You quickly surpassed them in corruption. | 47And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were. |
| 48As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. | 48As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did as you and your daughters have done. |
| 49Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. | 49Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy. |
| 50She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen. | 50Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen. |
| 51“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. | 51Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have multiplied your abominations beyond theirs, and all the abominations you have committed have made your sisters appear righteous. |
| 52Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous. | 52So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must bear your shame and disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous. |
| 53“But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too. | 53But I will restore Sodom and her daughters from captivity, as well as Samaria and her daughters. And I will restore you along with them. |
| 54Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison. | 54So you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did to comfort them. |
| 55Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored. | 55And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state. You and your daughters will also return to your former state. |
| 56In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt. | 56Did you not treat your sister Sodom as an object of scorn in the day of your pride, |
| 57But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned—by Edom and all her neighbors and by Philistia. | 57before your wickedness was uncovered? Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all those around her, and by the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you. |
| 58This is your punishment for all your lewdness and detestable sins, says the LORD. | 58You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD. |
| 59“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. | 59For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant. |
| 60Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. | 60But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. |
| 61Then 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. | 61Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you. |
| 62And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD. | 62So I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD, |
| 63You 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!” | 63so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.” |
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