God’s Covenant Grace to Unfaithful and Rebellious Israel

¹ And the word of Yahweh ⌞came⌟¹ to me, ⌞saying⌟,²

1. Literally “was”
2. Literally “to say”

² “Son of man,¹ make known to Jerusalem its detestable things,

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”

³ and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites,¹ your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.

1. Hebrew “Canaanite”

⁴ And as for your birth, ⌞on the day you were born⌟¹ your umbilical cord was not cut, and ⌞you were not thoroughly washed clean with water⌟,² and ⌞you were not thoroughly rubbed with salt⌟,³ and ⌞you were not carefully wrapped in strips of cloth⌟.⁴

1. Literally “on the day of being born you”
2. Literally “with water not you were cleansed for cleansing”
3. Literally “being rubbed with salt you were not rubbed with salt”
4. Literally “being wrapped in strips of cloth not you were wrapped in strips of cloth”

⁵ ⌞No eye took pity on you⌟¹ to do to you one of these things to show compassion for you, and you were thrown ⌞into the open field⌟² in their despising of you ⌞on the day you were born⌟.³

1. Literally “not took pity on you an eye”
2. Literally “to the face of the field”
3. Literally “on the day of being born you”

⁶ “ ‘And I passed by you, and I saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, “Live!

⁷ Grow up;¹ I will make you like a plant of the field.” And you grew up, and you became tall and ⌞reached full womanhood⌟.² Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked and bare.

1. Or “A myriad I have made you”
2. Literally “ornament of ornaments”

⁸ “ ‘And I passed by you, and I saw you, and look, ⌞your time of lovemaking had come⌟,¹ and so I spread out my hem over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore to you, and I entered into² a covenant with you,’ ⌞declares⌟³ the Lord Yahweh, ‘and ⌞you became mine⌟.⁴

1. Literally “your time was the time of lovemaking”
2. Hebrew “in”
3. Literally “declaration of”
4. Literally “and you were to me”

⁹ And I washed you with water, and I rinsed off your blood from on you, and I anointed you with oil.

¹⁰ And I clothed you with beautiful finished cloth, and I put sandals on you of fine leather, and I bound you in fine linen, and I covered you with costly fabric.

¹¹ And I adorned you with ornaments,¹ and I put a bracelet on your arms and a necklace on your neck.

1. Hebrew “ornament”

¹² And I put an ornamental ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a ⌞beautiful crown⌟¹ on your head.

1. Literally “a crown of splendor”

¹³ And you adorned yourself with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen and costly fabric and beautiful finished cloth; you ate finely milled flour and honey and olive oil, and you became exceedingly beautiful; ⌞you were fit to be a queen⌟.¹

1. Literally “you could succeed to queenship”

¹⁴ And a name went out for you among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my majesty that I bestowed on you,’ ⌞declares⌟¹ the Lord Yahweh.

1. Literally “declaration of”

¹⁵ ‘And you trusted in your beauty, and you prostituted on account of your name, and you poured out your fornication on every one passing by, saying, “Let it be his.”

¹⁶ And you took from your clothes and you made for yourself colorful¹ shrines, and you prostituted on them; ⌞this had not happened before⌟,² and it ⌞will not continue to happen⌟.³

1. Or “gaudy”
2. Literally “Not were happening”
3. Literally “and not it will be”; Hebrew text unclear

¹⁷ And you took ⌞your beautiful jewelry⌟¹ made from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself ⌞male images⌟,² and you prostituted with them.

1. Literally “the jewelry of splendor”
2. Literally “images of a male”

¹⁸ And you took the clothes of your beautiful finished cloth, and you covered them and my oil and my incense you set ⌞before them⌟.¹

1. Literally “to the face of them”

¹⁹ And my bread that I gave to you, finely milled flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, then you set it ⌞before them⌟¹ as a ⌞pleasing odor⌟,² and so it was,’ ⌞declares⌟³ the Lord Yahweh.

1. Literally “to the face of them”
2. Literally “a scent of an incense”
3. Literally “declaration of”

²⁰ ‘And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten,¹ ⌞as if your whorings were not enough⌟.²

1. Or “consumed”
2. Literally “it was too little from your whorings”

²¹ And you slaughtered my children, and you gave them ⌞to be sacrificed to them⌟.¹

1. Literally “to cause them to cross over to them”

²² And in all of your detestable things and your fornication you did not remember the days of your childhood ⌞when you were naked and bare⌟,¹ when you were kicking about in your blood.

1. Literally “at your being naked and bare”

²³ “ ‘And then after all of your evil! Woe, woe, to you!’ ⌞declares⌟¹ the Lord Yahweh.

1. Literally “declaration of”

²⁴ ‘And then you built for yourself a mound, and you made for yourself a high place in every public square.

²⁵ At the head of every street you built your high place and you disgraced your beauty and you spread your feet for every passerby, and you increased your whoring.

²⁶ And you prostituted with the ⌞Egyptians⌟,¹ your neighbors ⌞who were sexually aroused⌟,² and you increased your fornication to provoke me.

1. Literally “sons/children of Egypt”
2. Literally “those being great of flesh”

²⁷ And look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I reduced your portion, and I gave you into¹ the desire of your haters, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed because of your lewd ⌞conduct⌟.²

1. Hebrew “in”
2. Literally “your way of life”

²⁸ And you prostituted with the ⌞Assyrians⌟¹ on account of ⌞your insatiable lust⌟,² and you prostituted with them, and still you were not satisfied.

1. Literally “sons/children of Assyria”
2. Literally “of no your satisfaction”

²⁹ And you increased your fornication to the land of traders,¹ to Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.

1. Hebrew “trader”

³⁰ How hot with fever was your heart!’ ⌞declares⌟¹ the Lord Yahweh. ‘⌞When you did⌟² all of these actions ⌞of a headstrong female prostitute⌟,³

1. Literally “declaration of”
2. Literally “at/in you to do”
3. Literally “deeds of a woman prostituting domineering”

³¹ ⌞when you built⌟¹ your mound at the head of every street and your high place you made on every street, yet² you were³ not like a prostitute, as you were scorning your harlot’s wages.

1. Literally “at/in building your”
2. Hebrew “and”
3. According to the reading tradition (Qere)

³² O, adulterous woman! In the place of her husband she received strangers.

³³ To all prostitutes they give a fee, but you, you gave your gifts to all of your lovers, and you bribed them to come to you from all around in your whorings!

³⁴ And it was the opposite with you from the other women in your whorings; ⌞no one solicited you as a prostitute⌟.¹ ⌞You gave⌟² a harlot’s wages, and a harlot’s wages were not given to you, and so it was just the opposite.

1. Literally “and after you not he solicited a prostitute”
2. Literally “And at your giving”

³⁵ “ ‘Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of Yahweh.

³⁶ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of the pouring out of your shame and because your nakedness was revealed in your whoring with your lovers, and on account of all of the idols of your detestable things, and according to the blood of your children whom you gave to them,

³⁷ therefore, look! I am gathering all of your lovers ⌞whom you were pleased about⌟,¹ and all of whom you loved in addition to all of whom you hated, and I will gather them against you from ⌞everywhere⌟,² and I will uncover your nakedness to them, and they will see all of your nakedness.

1. Literally “whom you were pleased about them”
2. Literally “all around”

³⁸ And I will judge you with the judgment of women committing adultery and shedding blood, and I will give you the blood of rage and jealousy.

³⁹ And I will give you into their hand, and they will demolish your mound, and they will break down your high places, and they will strip you of your clothes, and they will take ⌞your beautiful jewelry⌟,¹ and they will leave you naked and bare.

1. Literally “the objects of your splendor”

⁴⁰ And they will bring up against you a crowd, and they will stone you with stones,¹ and they will cut you to pieces with their swords.

1. Hebrew “stone”

⁴¹ And they will burn your houses with fire, and they will execute against you judgments ⌞before⌟¹ many women, and I will stop you from prostitution, and also a harlot’s wages you will not give² again.

1. Literally “to the eyes of”
2. Or “pay”

⁴² And I will satisfy my rage on you, and my jealousy will turn away from you, and I will be calm, and I will not be angry any longer.

⁴³ ⌞Because⌟¹ you did not remember² the days of your childhood and you made me angry with all of these. And in turn I, look, I will return your way upon your head,’ ⌞declares⌟³ the Lord Yahweh, ‘and did⁴ you not do wickedness⁵ in addition to all of your detestable things?

1. Literally “because that”
2. According to the reading tradition (Qere) with BHS
3. Literally “declaration of”
4. According to the reading tradition (Qere); cf. BHS
5. Literally “the wickedness”

⁴⁴ Look! Everyone quoting a proverb¹ against you, he will quote, ⌞saying⌟,² ‘Like her mother is her daughter!’

1. Literally “proverbing a proverb”
2. Literally “to say”

⁴⁵ You are a daughter of your mother who abhorred her husband and her children, and you are a sister of your sisters who abhorred their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite.