An illustration about Jerusalem being unfaithful

1Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

2“You human, cause the people of Jerusalem to think about their detestable behavior.

3Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says to you people of Jerusalem: It is as though you are a woman who [MET] was born in the country where the Canaan people-group lived. It is as though [MET] your father belonged to the Amor people-group and your mother belonged to the Heth people-group.

4It is as though [MET] on the day that you were born, your umbilical cord was not cut, and your body was not washed in water, and it was not rubbed with salt or wrapped in strips of cloth, like Israeli babies always are.

5No one pitied you or acted kindly toward you by doing those things for you. Instead, it was as though [MET] you were thrown into a field, because on the day that you were born, you were despised {everyone despised you}.

6Then it was as though [MET] I passed by and saw you lying in your own blood and kicking. And while you lay there kicking in your own blood, I said to you, “I want you to remain alive!”

7It was as though I caused you to grow up, like plants in the field grow; you grew up and became tall and became like [MET] a very beautiful jewel. It was as though [MET] your breasts ◄formed/became large►, and your hair became long, although you were still naked [DOU].

8When I saw you several years later, it was as though [MET] I saw that you were old enough to have sex [EUP]. So it was as though [MET] I spread the corner of my robe over youto symbolize that I would marry you, with the result that you were no longer naked. I solemnly promised that I would marry you and made a marriage agreement with you, and you became my wife. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say.

9And then it was as though [MET] I bathed you and washed the blood from you and put ointment on your body.

10It was as though [MET] I put a fine linen robe on you and gave you other expensive clothes. I put an embroidered dress on you and put leather sandals on your feet.

11It was as though [MET] I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck. Those things all had nice jewels fastened to them.

12I put a gold ring in your nose and fastened earrings to your ears and put a beautiful crown on your head.

13So it was as though you wore gold and silver ornaments. You had clothes made from fine ◄linen/white cloth► and other expensive embroidered material/cloth. You ate bread made from fine flour, honey, and olive oil. You became very beautiful, like [MET] a queen.

14You were very beautiful, with the result that people in other nations heard about you, because they knew that I, Yahweh the Lord, am the one who had caused you to become very beautiful.

15But it was as though [MET] you realized that because people knew that you were very beautiful, you could earn a lot of money by becoming a prostitute. It was as though you had sex with [EUP] every man who came along, and they all enjoyed your beauty.

16It was as though you took some of your clothes to make beautifully decorated shrines, and that is where you had sex with those men. Those things should certainly never occur!

17You took the fine gold and silver jewelry that I gave you, and you made male idols for yourself, in order to have sex with them.

18You took some of your embroidered clothes to put on those idols, and you burned oil and incense in front of them to honor them.

19And the bread that was made from fine flour and the olive oil and honey that I gave to you to eat, you offered to be a fragrant sacrifice to those idols. I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that is what happened.

20And you even took your sons and daughters who were as though they were [MET] my children, and sacrificed them to be food for the idols. That was much worse [RHQ] than your becoming a prostitute.

21You slaughtered those who were like [MET] my children, and offered them to be sacrifices to the gods!

22All during the time when you were acting like a prostitute and doing other detestable things, you did not think about the time when it was as though you were very young, naked [DOU], lying in your own blood and kicking.

23So I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that terrible things will happen to you. In addition to all the other wicked things that you did,

24you built a shrine to worship idols in every city square/plaza.

25At the beginning of every street you built a shrine, and showed people your beautiful body, offering it to have sex with every man who walked by, becoming a better known prostitute every day.

26It was as though [MET] you had sex with men from Egypt who were eager to have sex with you, men who lived near to Israel. You caused me to become very angry because you became more eager to have sex with more and more of them.

27So I punished [IDM] you and caused your enemies to capture some of your country. I enabled your greedy enemies from Philistia to defeat you; and even they were shocked because of your disgraceful behavior.

28It was as though you had sex with soldiers from Assyria, too, because you always wanted more sex. And after that, you still were not satisfied.

29So you also had sex with soldiers from Babylonia, a country full of merchants/businessmen, but even that did not satisfy you.

30I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that when you did all those things, acting like [MET] a bold prostitute, you were showing that you were ready to do anything that you wanted to [IDM].

31When you built shrines to worship idols on every street corner and in every city square/plaza, you were not like a prostitute: Prostitutes charge money, but you refused to take money for what you did.

32You are like [MET] a woman who commits adultery: You prefer to have sex with strangers rather than with your husband.

33Prostitutes are paid, but it is as though you give gifts to all your lovers; you bribe them to come to you from everywhere to have sex with you.

34So although you act like [MET] a prostitute, you are not like other prostitutes: No one needs to request you to have sex [EUP] with them. You are the opposite of other prostitutes; instead of them giving any money to you, you give men money to have sex with you.

35Therefore, you people of Jerusalem, who are like a prostitute [MET], listen to what I, Yahweh the Lord, am saying about you!

36I say that what you have done is as though [MET] you took off your clothes and acted like a prostitute and had sex with men who are not your husband. What I mean is that you have been worshiping detestable idols, and you have murdered [MTY] your own children to be sacrifices to them.

37So what I am going to do is as though I will gather those who you think have loved you and those whom you hated. I will gather them around you to attack you, and what I will do is as though I will strip your clothes off you, and they will see you when you are completely naked.

38I will punish you like women who commit adultery and who murder people [MTY] are punished. I will get revenge on you and get rid of you because I am extremely angry with you.

39I will allow your enemies who you thought loved you [IRO] to defeat you, and they will tear down your shrines. It will be as though they will strip off your fancy clothes and take away your fine jewelry and cause you to be completely naked [DOU].

40They will bring a mob to attack you, and that mob will throw stones at you and cut you to pieces with their swords.

41They will burn down your houses and punish you while many women are watching. I will cause your acting like a prostitute and paying your lovers to have sex with you to end.

42Then I will no longer be angry [DOU] with you. I will stop being jealous because of your worshiping gods other than me only.

43You have forgotten the wonderful things that I did for you in previous years [MET]. You have caused me to become extremely angry because of all the evil things that you have done. In addition to all the other detestable things that you did, you committed many sexual sins. So I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that I will punish you [IDM] for doing those things.

44People who like to quote proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Daughtersbehave like their mothers behave.”

45You are like your mother; it was as though she detested her husband and her children. You are like your sisters, who also despised their husbands and their children. It was as though [MET] your father belonged to the Amor people-group and your mother belonged to the Heth people-group.

46And it was as though [MET] your older sister was Samaria, and she and her daughters lived to the north of you, and it was as though your younger sister was Sodom, and she and her daughters lived to the south of you.

47You not only imitated all [DOU] their detestable behavior, but you quickly became more sinful than they were.

48I, Yahweh the Lord, solemnly declare that as surely as I am alive, the people who lived in [MTY] Sodom and other nearby cities never did the detestable things that you people in Jerusalem and other places in Judah have done.

49These are the sins ofthe people who lived in Sodom, who were like your sister [MET]: The people who lived there and in nearby cities were arrogant. In spite of having more food to eat than they needed, they refused to help the poor and needy [DOU] people among them.

50The people of Sodom and nearby cities [MET] were proud and did detestable things in my presence, so I got rid of them when I saw what they had been doing.

51Also, the people of Samaria did not commit half as many sins as you have committed. You have done more disgusting things than they have done. You cause the people of Samaria to appear to be good, compared to you.

52Your sins are worse than their sins, so they seem to be less wicked than you are. So I will punish you more than I punished them. As a result, you will be ashamed and disgraced [DOU].

53However, some day I will causethe people of Sodom and Samaria and the cities near to them [MET] to prosper again. And I will cause you to prosper again, too.

54You will be very ashamed [DOU] of the wicked things that you have done, and that will cause the people of those cities to be encouraged.

55The people of Sodom and Samaria will prosper again, and you and the people in nearby cities will prosper also.

56You ◄sneered at/despised► the people of Sodom when you were proud,

57before it was revealed that you were very wicked. And now the people of Edom and the people of Philistia all insult you and despise you.

58And you are being punished for all your immoral behavior and other detestable things that you do.

59This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: I will continue to punish you like you deserve to be punished, because by rejecting the agreement that I made with you, you have despised that solemn agreement that you promised to obey.

60But I will not forget the agreement that I made with you long ago [MET], and I will make an agreement with you that will endure forever.

61Then you will think about what you have done, and you will be ashamed about those things when you welcome the people of Sodom and Samaria, cities which are like [MET] older and younger sisters to you people of Jerusalem. I will put them under your control by causing them to become like [MET] your daughters, but they will not have the same agreement that I will make with you.

62I will establish my agreement with you, and you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.

63Then when I have forgiven you for all your sins, you will think about all the sins that you committed and you will be ashamed, and you will never again boast about them, because you will be humiliated.’”