God’s Covenant Grace to Unfaithful and Rebellious Israel

16 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,a 2 “Son of man,b make known to Jerusalem its detestable things, 3 and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites,c your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 And as for your birth, ⌊on the day you were born⌋d your umbilical cord was not cut, and ⌊you were not thoroughly washed clean with water⌋,e and ⌊you were not thoroughly rubbed with salt⌋,f and ⌊you were not carefully wrapped in strips of cloth⌋.g 5 ⌊No eye took pity on you⌋h to do to you one of these things to show compassion for you, and you were thrown ⌊into the open field⌋i in their despising of you ⌊on the day you were born⌋.j

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;k I will make you like a plant of the field.” And you grew up, and you became tall and ⌊reached full womanhood⌋.l Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked and bare.

8 “ ‘And I passed by you, and I saw you, and look, ⌊your time of lovemaking had come⌋,m and so I spread out my hem over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore to you, and I entered inton a covenant with you,’ ⌊declares⌋o the Lord Yahweh, ‘and ⌊you became mine⌋.p 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,q and I put a bracelet on your arms and a necklace on your neck. 12 And I put an ornamental ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a ⌊beautiful crown⌋r on your head. 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⌋.s 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⌋t the Lord Yahweh. 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 colorfulu shrines, and you prostituted on them; ⌊this had not happened before⌋,v and it ⌊will not continue to happen⌋.w 17 And you took ⌊your beautiful jewelry⌋x made from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself ⌊male images⌋,y and you prostituted with them. 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⌋.z 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⌋a as a ⌊pleasing odor⌋,b and so it was,’ ⌊declares⌋c the Lord Yahweh. 20 ‘And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten,d ⌊as if your whorings were not enough⌋.e 21 And you slaughtered my children, and you gave them ⌊to be sacrificed to them⌋.f 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⌋,g when you were kicking about in your blood.

23 “ ‘And then after all of your evil! Woe, woe, to you!’ ⌊declares⌋h the Lord Yahweh. 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⌋,i your neighbors ⌊who were sexually aroused⌋,j and you increased your fornication to provoke me. 27 And look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I reduced your portion, and I gave you intok the desire of your haters, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed because of your lewd ⌊conduct⌋.l 28 And you prostituted with the ⌊Assyrians⌋m on account of ⌊your insatiable lust⌋,n and you prostituted with them, and still you were not satisfied. 29 And you increased your fornication to the land of traders,o to Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied. 30 How hot with fever was your heart!’ ⌊declares⌋p the Lord Yahweh. ‘⌊When you did⌋q all of these actions ⌊of a headstrong female prostitute⌋,r