PARABLE OF GOD’S ADULTEROUS WIFE

16 The word of the Lord came to me again: 2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices.a 3 You are to say, ‘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 Hethite.b 4 As for your birth, your umbilical cord wasn’t cut on the day you were born,c and you weren’t washed cleanA with water. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.d 5 No one cared enough about you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. But you were thrown out into the open field because you were despised on the day you were born.

6 “ ‘I passed by you and saw you thrashing around in your blood, and I said to you as you lay in your blood, “Live!” Yes, I said to you as you lay in your blood, “Live!”B 7 I made you thriveC like plants of the field.e You grew up and matured and became very beautiful.D Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were stark naked.

8 “ ‘Then I passed by you and saw you, and you were indeed at the age for love. So I spread the edge of my garment over you and covered your nakedness.f I pledged myself to you,g entered into a covenant with you—this is the declaration of the Lord God—and you became mine.h