World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Ezekiel 16
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1Again word came to me, saying, ", cause to know her ; and say, ' says to : "Your origin and your birth is of the land of the . An was your , and your mother was a . As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut. You weren't washed in water to cleanse you. You weren't salted at all, nor wrapped in blankets at all. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have on you; but you were cast out in the open field, because you were abhorred in the day that you were born. "'"When I passed by you, and saw you wallowing in your , I said to you, 'Though you are in your , live!' Yes, I said to you, 'Though you are in your , live!' I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent beauty. Your breasts were formed, and your hair grew; yet you were and . "'"Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my garment over you and covered your . Yes, I pledged myself to you and entered into a with you," , "and you became mine. "'"Then I washed you with water. Yes, I thoroughly washed away your from you, and I you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered work and put leather on you. I dressed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I decked you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands, and put a chain on your neck. I put a ring on your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful on your head. Thus you were decked with gold and silver. Your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered work. You ate , honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate. Your renown went out among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you," . "'"But you trusted in your beauty, and because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by. It was his. You took some of your garments, and made for yourselves decked with various colors, and on them. This shouldn't happen, neither shall it be. You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself of men, and with them. 18You took your embroidered garments, covered them, and set my oil and my before them. My bread also which I gave you, , oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you even set it before them for a pleasant aroma; and so it was," . "'"Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter, that you have slain my children and them up, in causing them to pass through the to them? In all your and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were and , and were wallowing in your . "'"It has happened after all your wickedness—woe, woe to you!" — "that you have built for yourselves a vaulted place, and have made yourselves a lofty place in every street. You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an , and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution. You have also committed sexual immorality with the , your neighbors, great of ; and have multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to . See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your , and you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the , who are of your lewd way. You have also with the , because you were insatiable; yes, you have with them, and yet you weren't satisfied. You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to ; and yet you weren't satisfied with this. "'"How weak is ," , "since you do all these things, the work of an impudent ; in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a , in that you scorn pay. "'"Adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband! People give gifts to all ; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution. 34You are different from other women in your prostitution, in that no one follows you to play the ; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different."' "Therefore, , hear word: ' says, "Because your filthiness was poured out, and your uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your , and for of your children, that you gave to them; therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those whom you have loved, with all those whom you have hated. I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your to them, that they may see all your . I will judge you as women who break wedlock and shed are judged; and I will bring on you of and . I will also give you into their hand, and they will throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places. They will strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewels. They will leave you and . They will also bring up a company against you, and they will stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their . They will burn your houses with , and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women. I will cause you to cease from playing the , and you will also give no hire any more. So I will cause my toward you to rest, and my will depart from you. I will be quiet, and will not be angry any more. "'"Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring your way on your head," : "and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your . "'"Behold, everyone who uses will use this against you, saying, 'As is the mother, so is her daughter.' You are the daughter of your mother, who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a , and your an . Your elder sister is , who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who dwells at your , is with her daughters. Yet you have not walked in their ways, nor done their ; but soon you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. As I live," , " your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters. "'"Behold, this was the of your sister : pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters. She also didn't strengthen the hand of and needy. They were arrogant and committed before me. Therefore I took them away when I saw it. hasn't committed half of your ; but you have multiplied your more than they, and have your sisters by all your which you have done. You also bear your own yourself, in that you have given for your sisters; through your that you have committed more than they, they are more than you. Yes, be also confounded, and bear your , in that you have your sisters. "'"I will reverse their , of and her daughters, and of and her daughters, and of your among them; that you may bear your own , and may be because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them. Your sisters, and her daughters, will return to their former estate; and and her daughters will return to their former estate; and you and your daughters will return to your former estate. For your sister was not mentioned by your in the day of your pride, before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the of the daughters of , and of all who are around her, the daughters of the , who despise you all around. You have borne your lewdness and your ," . "'For says: "I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the in breaking . Nevertheless I will remember my with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an with you. Then you will remember your ways and be when you receive your sisters, your elder sisters and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your . I will establish my with you. Then you will know that I am ; that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your any more because of your , when I have forgiven you all that you have done," .'"
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Babylon and the exile, 612 BC to 539 BC ›
Babylon replaces Assyria, Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed in 586 BC, and the leadership of Judah lives in Mesopotamia without a king, a temple, or a country.
- Babylon
- Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilds the city on a scale meant to be seen from a distance: the Ishtar Gate in glazed blue brick, the processional way, the ziggurat, and gardens later counted among the wonders of the world. Babylonian tablets record rations issued to the captive king Jehoiachin of Judah by name, which is one of the tidier points of contact between the Bible and the archives.
- Egypt
- Briefly resurgent. Pharaoh Neco marches north, kills King Josiah at Megiddo, and installs and deposes kings in Jerusalem, until Babylon beats him decisively at Carchemish in 605 BC. Jeremiah spends his career saying that betting on Egypt is suicide, and is proved right.
- Judah
- Deported in stages, then destroyed. The temple is burned, the walls broken, and the leadership marched to Mesopotamia. What happens next is one of the strangest survivals in history: a people keeps its identity without land, king, or sanctuary, and comes out of it with its scriptures more central than before.
- Further afield
- An extraordinary century for ideas everywhere at once. Thales and the first Greek philosophers, Solon's reforms at Athens, the Buddha in India, Confucius and Lao Tzu in China, and Zoroaster in Persia all fall within a few generations of the exile.
All of Ezekiel