Ezekiel 16:1-63 How the Lord First Found Jerusalem Like a Cast Away Infant

 

How the Lord First Found Jerusalem Like a Cast Away Infant

Ezekiel 16:1-63             The Book of Ezekiel [in Smaller Chunks]

Again, the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, [make] Jerusalem know her abominations. And say, The Lord God says [this] to Jerusalem. Canaan is your [native] land [of] your birth. Your father was an Amorite & your mother, a Hittite.

And as for your nativity, [on] the day you [were] born, your navel wasn't cut & neither [were] you washed in water to [cleanse] you. [Nor] was your [naval] salted, at all. Nor [were] you swaddled, [a.k.a wrapped,] at all. [No] eye pitied you, to do any of these to you, to have compassion upon you.

But you were cast out in the open field, [on] the day your [were] born & [you loathed yourself.] And when I passed by you & saw you [struggling] in your own blood, I said to you when you [were] in your blood, Live. [Yes,] I said [this] to you when you were in your blood, Live.

I have [made] you to multiply [like] the [buds] of the field & you have increased & [grown large.] [Since] you were naked & bare & you [have now] come & your breasts are [developed] & your hair [with its] excellent ornaments [has] grown.

Now, when I passed by you & looked down upon you, [I saw it] was your time [for] love & I spread the [skirt] [of] My [robe] over you & covered your nakedness. [Isaiah 61:10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord & my soul shall be joyful in my God.

For He has clothed me with the garments of Salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, [like] a bridegroom [decorates] himself with ornaments & [like] a bride adorns herself with her jewels.]

[Yes,] I [swore] to you & entered into a Covenant [contract] with you & you became Mine. [Exodus 24:5-8 And [Moses] sent young men of the children [people] of Israel [who] offered burnt offerings & sacrificed Peace Offerings of oxen to the Lord.

And Moses took half of the blood & put it in [basins] & half of the blood, he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the Covenant [contract] & read it in the audience of the people.

And they said, We will do all that the Lord has said & be obedient. And Moses took the blood & sprinkled it on the people & said, [Look,] the blood of the Covenant, [contract] which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.]

Then, I washed you with water. [Yes,] I thoroughly washed away your blood from you & I anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with [embroidered cloth] & [shoes of] badger's skin & I [surrounded] you with fine linen & I covered you with silk.

I also [decorated] you with ornaments & I put bracelets upon your hands & a chain on your neck. And I put a jewel on your forehead & earrings in your ears & a beautiful crown upon your head. You [were adorned like this,] with gold & silver &  your [clothing] was of fine linen, silk & [embroidered] work.

You [ate] fine flour; honey & oil. And you [were exceedingly] beautiful & you [prospered] [& grew] into a kingdom. And your [fame] went [out] among the heathen, [because of] your beauty. For it was perfect through My [splendor,] which I had put upon you, says the Lord God.

But you [trusted] in your own beauty & played the [unfaithful] harlot, because of your [fame] & poured out your [infidelities upon] everyone, [who] passed by & it was his. [Jeremiah 1:16 And I will [express] My judgments against them [about] all their wickedness. [Those,] who have [abandoned] Me & have burned incense to other gods & worshiped the works [made by] their own hands.]

And you [took] your garments & [decorated] your high place with [various] colors & played the [unfaithful] harlot [there.] [Similar] things shall not [happen] & neither shall it be so. [Jeremiah 7:30-31 For the children [people] of Judah have done evil in My sight, says the Lord.

They have [put] their abominations in the house, [that] is called by My Name, to [defile] it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons & daughters in the fire, which I [didn't] command them & neither [did] it come into My heart.]

You [have] also taken your [pretty] jewels [from] My gold & My silver, [that] I had given you & you made yourself images of men & committed with them [what is unfaithful harlotry.] And [you] took your [embroidered] garments & covered them. And you [have put My] oil & [My] incense [in front of] them.

Also, My [food, that] I gave you: fine flour; oil & honey, [with which] I fed you & you have even [put] it before them for a sweet [aroma.] It was [like this,] says the Lord God. [Hosea 2:7-8 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not [catch up with] them. And she shall seek them, but shall not find them.

Then, she shall say, I will go & return to my 1st husband; for then, it was better [for] me, than now. For she didn't know that I gave her [grain;] wine & oil & multiplied her silver & gold, [that] they prepared for Baal.]

[Also,] you have taken your sons & daughters, whom you [bore] to Me & you have sacrificed these to them, to be devoured. Is this a small matter [of] your [unfaithful harlotry,] that you have [killed] My children & delivered them to [make] them pass through the fire for [idols?]

[2 Kings 17:17-18 And they caused their sons & daughters to pass through the fire & used divination & enchantments & sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel & removed them out of His sight. There [were] none left, [except] only the tribe of Judah.]

And in all your abominations & your [unfaithful harlotry,] you haven't remembered the days of your youth, when you [were] naked & bare & [were defiled] in your blood.

[Hosea 11:1-2 When Israel was a child, then I loved him & called My son out of Egypt. As they called them, [the Israelites, also] went from them & they sacrificed to Baalim, [a.k.a. Baal,] & burned incense to [carved] images.]

And it [happened] after all your wickedness, (The Lord God says, woe & [distress] to you!) That you [have] also built [yourself] an eminent place, [a.k.a. a shrine,] & have made [yourself] a high place in every street. [Isaiah 57:4-5 Against Whom do you, yourselves [mock?]

Against Whom [do] you make a wide mouth & [stick out your] tongue? Aren't you children of [sinfulness,] a [descendant] of falsehood, [inflaming] yourselves with idols under every green tree, [killing] the children in the valleys under the [rocky] cliffs?]

You have built your high place at the [top] of every [road] & made your beauty to be [loathed.] And you opened your feet to everyone, [who] passed by & multiplied your [unfaithful harlotry.]

Also, you have committed [adultery] with the Egyptians, your neighbors, [greatly endowed] & have increased your [unfaithful harlotry] to provoke Me to anger. [Deuteronomy 31:20 For when I have brought them into the land, [that] I [swore] to their [forefathers,] that flows with milk & honey & they have eaten & [are full] & [grow] fat; then they will turn to other gods & serve them & provoke Me & break My Covenant [contract.]

Therefore, [watch,] I have stretched out My hand [against] you & have [reduced] your [normal] food & delivered you to the will of [those who] hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, [who] are ashamed of your lewd [ways.]

[2 Chronicles 21:16-17 [Also,] the Lord stirred up the spirit of the Philistines & the Arabians, [who] were near the Ethiopians, against Jehoram. And they came up into Judah & [broke] into it & carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house & also his: sons & wives; so that there was never a son left [to] him, [except] Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.]

You have also played the [unfaithful harlot] with the Assyrians, because you [weren't satisfied.] [Yes,] you have played the harlot with them & [still] couldn't be satisfied.

[Additionally,] you have multiplied your [acts of harlotry] in the land of Canaan, [all the way to Chaldea,] [a.k.a. Babylon] & [still] you [weren't] satisfied with [this.] The Lord God says, How weak is your heart, [since] you [do] all these things, the work of [a domineering adulterous] woman?

In that, you build your [shrine on] the [top] of every [road] & make your high [places on] every street & haven't been [like] a harlot, in that, you [look down on payment.] But [you are] [like] a wife, [who] commits adultery, [who] takes strangers instead of her husband!

They give gifts to all [unfaithful harlots,] but you give your gifts to all your lovers & [pay] them, [so] that they may come to you [from] every side, for your [acts of unfaithful harlotry.]

And [you do differently] from other women, with your [unfaithful harlotry, since no one entices] you to commit [unfaithful harlotry.] In that, you give a [payment] & no [payment] is given to you. Therefore, you are contrary. [For this reason,] O harlot, hear the Word of the Lord.

The Lord God says [this;] [It's] because your [filth] was poured out & your nakedness [uncovered] through your [acts of unfaithful harlotry] with your lovers & with all the idols of your abominations & by the [bloodshed] of your children, which you [gave] to them.

[Psalm 106:35-39 But [you] were [mixed] among the heathen & learned their works. And they served their idols which were a snare to them. [Yes,] they sacrificed their sons & daughters to [demons] & shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons & daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan & the land was [defiled] with blood. [Like this,] they were defiled with their own works & went [like an unfaithful harlot,] with their own inventions.]

Therefore, [watch,] I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure & all [those whom] you have loved, with all those you have hated & I will even gather them [all around] against you & will [uncover] your nakedness to them, [so] that they may all see all your nakedness.

[Jeremiah 16:10-11 And it shall [happen,] when you shall [declare to] this people all these Words & they shall say to you, [For what reason,] has the Lord pronounced all this great [disaster] against us? Or what is our iniquity?

Or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God? Then, you shall say to them, The Lord says, Because your fathers have [abandoned] Me, & have [followed] after other gods; served & worshiped them & have [abandoned] Me & haven't kept My Law.]

And I will judge you, [like] women, [who commit adultery] & [those who] shed blood are judged. And I will give you blood in fury & jealousy. [Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods & they provoked Him to anger with abominations.]

And I will also give you into their hand, [a.k.a. into their control.] And they shall throw down your [shrine] & shall break down your high places. They shall also strip you of your clothes & shall take your [beautiful] jewels & leave you naked & bare.

[Jeremiah 13:22 And if you say in your heart, Why [do] these things come upon me? Your skirts are [uncovered] & your heels are made bare: for the [immenseness] of your [sins.]

Also, they shall bring up a company against you & they shall stone you & shall [strike you down] with their swords. And they shall burn your houses with fire & [carry out] judgments upon you in the sight of many women.

And I will cause you to [stop] from playing the harlot & you shall [no longer] hire [lovers] anymore. [Ezekiel 22:15 And I will scatter you among the heathen & will disperse you in the countries & will [remove] your filthiness out of you.]

So, I will make My fury toward you to [pause] & My jealousy shall depart from you & I will be quiet & will no [longer] be angry. Because you haven't remembered the days of your youth, but have [worried] Me in all these things.

Therefore, [watch,] I will also [repay] [you for] your [ways] upon your head, says the Lord God. And you shall not commit this [wickedness] above all your abominations. [Ezekiel 11:21 But as for [those] whose heart [follows] after their detestable things & abominations, I will [repay] their [ways] upon their own heads, says the Lord God.]

[Look,] everyone, [who] uses proverbs, shall use this proverb against you, saying, As the mother is, so is her daughter. You are your mother's daughter, [who loathed] her husband & her children. And you are the sister of your sisters, [who loathed] their husbands & their children.

Your mother was a Hittite & your father an Amorite. And your elder sister is Samaria & she & her daughters, [who] dwell at your left hand [side,] & your younger sister is Sodom & her daughters, dwell at your right hand [side.]

[Still,] you haven't [followed] after their ways, nor done [according] to their abominations. But, as if [it] were a very little thing, you [were] corrupted [even] more than they [were] in all your ways. [2 Kings 16:3-4 But he [followed] in the [ways] of the kings of Israel.

[Yes,] & made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from [in front of] the children [people] of Israel. And he sacrificed & burnt incense in the high places; on the hills &   under every green tree.]

The Lord God says, As I Live, Sodom, your sister, nor her daughters haven't done [like] you & your daughters have done. [Revelation 18:3-5 For the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her [infidelities] & the kings of the earth have committed [adultery] with her. And the merchants of the earth [have grown] rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, [so] that you [don't become participants] of her sins & [so] you [don't] receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven & God has remembered her iniquities.]

[See,] this was the [sin] of your sister, Sodom, pride, [plentiful supply] of bread & abundance of idleness, [which were] in her & her daughters. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor & needy.

And they were [arrogant] & committed [what was an] abomination before Me.  Therefore, I took  them away, as I saw [best.] [Genesis 19:24 Then, the Lord rained brimstone & fire on Sodom & Gomorrah, from the Lord out of heaven.]

Neither has Samaria committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they [have] & have justified, [a.k.a. give an explanation for] your sisters, [by] all your abominations which you have done.

Also, you [who have] judged your sisters & [carry] your own shame for your sins that you have committed, [which were much] more abominable than [theirs.] [Jeremiah 11:11-13 Therefore, the Lord says [this, Watch,] I will bring [calamity] upon them, [so that] they shall not be able to escape.

And [although] they cry [out] to Me, I won't [pay attention] to them. Then, the cities of Judah & the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall go & cry [out] to the gods, to whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them, at all, in their time of trouble.

O Judah, for your gods were according to the number of your cities & you have [put] up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal, according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem.]

They are more righteous than you. [Yes,] you also [are disgraced] & bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters. When I shall bring [them] again [from] their captivity; the captivity of Sodom & Samaria & [their] daughters.

Then, I will bring [you] again [from your] captivity, in the midst of [those who had been] your captives. [Isaiah 1:9 [Unless] the Lord of Hosts had left to us a very small [amount remaining,] we should have been [like] Sodom & [similar] to Gomorrah.]

[So,] that you may [carry] your own shame & may be [disgraced by] all that you have done, in that you [were] a comfort to them. [Ezekiel 14:22-23 [Still, watch, some remaining] shall be brought [out,] both of sons & daughters. [Look,] they shall come [out] to you & you shall see their [ways] & [actions.]

And you shall be comforted [about] the [disaster] that I have brought upon Jerualem, even [about] all that I have brought upon it. And they shall comfort you, when you see their ways & [actions.] And you shall know that I haven't done [it] without a [reason, for] all that I have done in it, says the Lord God.]

When your sisters, Sodom & her daughters, shall return to their [previous state,] then you & your daughters shall return to your [previous state.] For [on] the day of your pride, your sister, Sodom, wasn't mentioned by your mouth, before your wickedness was [uncovered.]

[Like] the time of your [disgrace, like] the daughters of Syria & the Philistines, [all around you, who] despise you. You have [carried] your lewdness & your abominations, says the Lord. [Ezekiel 23:49 And they shall [repay you for] your lewdness & you shall [carry] the sins of your idols. And you shall know that I Am the Lord God.]

For the Lord God says [this;] I will even deal with you, [like] you have done. [You,] [who] has despised the oath [by] breaking the Covenant [contract.] [Deuteronomy 29:12-13 That you should enter into [a] Covenant with the Lord your God, & into this oath, which the Lord your God makes with you this day.

[So,] that He may establish you today for a people to Himself, & that He may be a God to you, [like] He said to you & He has sworn to your [forefathers:] Abraham; Isaac & to Jacob.]

[Still,] I will remember My Covenant with you, [during] the days of your youth. And I will establish an everlasting Covenant  [with] you. [Isaiah 55:3 [Lean] your ear & come to Me. Hear & your soul shall live & I will make an everlasting Covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.]

Then, you shall remember your ways & be ashamed, when you shall receive your elder & younger sisters. And I will give them to you for daughters, but not [through] the Covenant.

[Ezekiel 6:9-10 And [those] of you [who] escape shall remember Me among the nations, [where] they shall be carried [away as] captives, because I Am broken with their [unfaithful adulterous] heart, which has [left] from Me & with their eyes, [that] go [like unfaithful harlots] after their idols.

And they shall loathe themselves for the evils, [that] they have committed [by] all their abominations. And they shall know that I Am the Lord & that I haven't said in vain that I would do this [calamity] to them.]

And I will establish My Covenant with you & you shall know that I Am the Lord, [so] that you may remember & be [disgraced] & never open your mouth anymore, because of your shame, [after] I Am [calmed down] toward you for all that you have done, says the Lord God.

[Hosea 14:1-4 O Israel, return to the Lord your God; for you have fallen, [because of] your [sinfulness.] Take [your] words & return to the Lord & say to Him, Take away all [our] [sins] & receive us graciously. So, we will [give] our lips [like the sacrifice of] the calves.

Asshur, [a.k.a. Assyria] shall not save us & we won't ride upon horses. Neither will we any [longer] say to the work [made by] our hands, You are our gods; for in You the fatherless find mercy. I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely. For [My] anger [has] turned away from [them.]