Ezekiel 16 Background Information with Maps and Images (Picture Study Bible - Ezekiel) Free Bible Online

Ezekiel 16

1 - Again The LORD's word came to me, saying,

2 - "Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations;

3 - and say, 'Thus says the Lord the LORD to Jerusalem: "Your origin and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite. An Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite.

4 - 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 swaddled at all.

5 - No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, because you were abhorred in the day that you were born.

6 - "'"When I passed by you, and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you, 'Though you are in your blood, live!' Yes, I said to you, 'Though you are in your blood, live!'

7 - I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament. Your breasts were formed, and your hair grew; yet you were naked and bare.

8 - "'"Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you," says the Lord God, "and you became mine.

9 - "'"Then washed I you with water. Yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.

10 - I clothed you also with embroidered work, and put sealskin shoes on you. I dressed you with fine linen and covered you with silk.

11 - I decked you with ornaments. put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck.

12 - I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.

13 - Thus you were decked with gold and silver. Your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered work. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate.

14 - Your renown went out among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you," says the Lord God.

15 - "'"But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by. It was his.

16 - You took some of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them. This shall not happen, neither shall it be.

17 - You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute with them.

18 - You took your embroidered garments, covered them, and set my oil and my incense before them.

19 - My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you even set it before them for a pleasant aroma; and so it was," says the Lord God.

20 - "'"Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter,

21 - that you have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them?

22 - In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were wallowing in your blood.

23 - "'"It has happened after all your wickedness. Woe, woe to you!" says the Lord God,

24 - "that you have built for yourselves a vaulted place, and have made yourselves a lofty place in every street.

25 - You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution.

26 - You have also committed sexual immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to anger.

27 - See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your portion, and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.

28 - You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren't satisfied.

29 - You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren't satisfied with this.

30 - "'"How weak is your heart," says the Lord God, "since you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute;

31 - 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 prostitute, in that you scorn pay.

32 - "'"A wife who commits adultery! Who takes strangers instead of her husband!

33 - People give gifts to all prostitutes; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution.

34 - You are different from other women in your prostitution, in that no one follows you to play the prostitute; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different."'

35 - "Therefore, prostitute, hear The LORD's word:

36 - 'Thus says the Lord God, "Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children, that you gave to them;

37 - therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have loved, with all those who you have hated. I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.

38 - I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.

39 - 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 naked and bare.

40 - They will also bring up a company against you, and they will stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords.

41 - They will burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women. I will cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you will also give no hire any more.

42 - So will I cause my wrath toward you to rest, and my jealousy will depart from you. I will be quiet, and will not be angry any more.

43 - "'"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," says the Lord God: "and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations.

44 - "'"Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb against you, saying, 'As is the mother, so is her daughter.'

45 - 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 Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

46 - Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sodom with her daughters.

47 - Yet you have not walked in their ways, nor done their abominations; but soon you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

48 - As I live," says the Lord God, "Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.

49 - "'"Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters. She also didn't strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

50 - They were haughty, and committed abomination before me. Therefore I took them away when I saw it.

51 - Samaria hasn't committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done.

52 - You also bear your own shame yourself, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous than you. Yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.

53 - "'"I will reverse their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives among them;

54 - that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them.

55 - Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, will return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters will return to their former estate; and you and your daughters will return to your former estate.

56 - For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride,

57 - before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all who are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who despise you all around.

58 - You have borne your lewdness and your abominations," says The LORD.

59 - "'For thus says the Lord God: "I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

60 - Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant.

61 - Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your sisters, your elder sisters and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.

62 - I will establish my covenant with you. Then you will know that I am The LORD;

63 - that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done," says the Lord God.'"

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Ezekiel Images and Notes

The Book of Ezekiel

Ezekiel 3:17-19 - Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Ezekiel 28:6-10 - Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of [them that are] slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I [am] God? but thou [shalt be] a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 43:1-4- Afterward he brought me to the gate, [even] the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice [was] like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. And [it was] according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, [even] according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions [were] like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect [is] toward the east.

The Old Testament - A Brief Overview

Bible Survey - Ezekiel
Hebrew Name - Yehezqel "God is strength"
Greek Name - Iezekiel (Greek form of the Hebrew)
Author - Ezekiel (According to Tradition)
Date - 595 BC Approximately
Theme - The final restoration of Israel
Types and Shadows - In Ezekiel Jesus is the son of man

Summary of The Book of Ezekiel

Ezekiel prophesied to the the Jewish captives in Babylon. The Babylonians had invaded Judah three times and each time they took prisoners back to Babylon. The first invasion was in 607 BC and Daniel was taken as a captive to Babylon. The second invasion was in 597 BC and Ezekiel was taken as a captive to Babylon, and in 586 BC Jerusalem was destroyed and all the survivors were taken as captives to Babylon. Ezekiel was married to a beautiful woman who was "the desire of his eyes" and God told him but his beloved wife was going to die on the very same day that Jerusalem was to be destroyed. As a sign to the Jews is a cure was commanded not to mourn his wife's death. He was to prepare himself as God had prepared himself for the death of his beloved city (Ezekiel 24:15-22). God spoke many prophecies through Ezekiel using words, parables, visions, and similitudes (strange things to point to something greater). Ezekiel also prophesied about the false shepherds in Jerusalem and God said that he will be the true Shepherd Messiah and there will be a future outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a re-gathering of Israel in the land. Ezekiel also predicted the downfall of those nations that were hostile to Judah. Ezekiel 16 is probably the most remarkable chapter concerning the love of God for his people in spite of their continuing idolatry. - The above text is � Rusty Russell - Bible History Online and must be sourced for use on a website.

"Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you," says the Lord GOD. "But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it." Ezekiel 16:14-15

The prophet Ezekiel taken captive during the time when the Babylonians began their captivity of Judah during the time of the reign of king Jehoichin, which was about 11 years before Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. Ezekiel was one of the Jewish captives who was brought to the land of Babylon and settled on the banks of the river Chebar. While he was by this river and the "land of the Chaldeans" he had a prophetic vision and received his call to be a prophet to the people in exile. This all happened in the fourth month of the "fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity" (595 BC). There is one interesting note that Ezekiel makes when he mentions that he married a woman in the land of Babylon and had a house, and that he lost his wife on the very day that the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem took place. Something else that is interesting is that the prophecies of Ezekiel address the Jews in Jerusalem and the events taking place over there, as though he was in Jerusalem, but he was actually in Babylon.

According to Jewish tradition Ezekiel was murdered in Babylon by a Jewish prince whom Ezekiel accused of idolatry, Ezekiel was supposedly buried on the banks of the Euphrates River.

The major divisions within the book of Ezekiel reveal the purpose of this ministry. In the first half of the book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1-33) Judah is accused of breaking all of God's commandments, and they are warned by God that they will be destroyed if they persist in their sins. After Ezekiel's announcement of Jerusalem's destruction the book of Ezekiel focuses on an entirely different subject, which is one of comfort and encouragement to the heartbroken Jews.

The contents of the book may be analyzed further as follows :

Outline of the Book of Ezekiel

I. Israel's sin and impending judgment, uttered before the final captivity (Ezekiel 1-24).

1) Biographical information concerning Ezekiel, including a note as to his personal situation and a description of his call to the prophetic ministry (Ezekiel 1-3 ).
2 ) The siege of Jerusalem portrayed in four symbolical acts (Ezekiel 4-7 ). In the first of these, Ezekiel evidently drew a picture of a city under siege, indicating that this was soon to be the condition of Jerusalem. After this, Ezekiel lay on his side for a great number of days, announcing that the nation was to be punished for its sins. By eating an inferior type of food which had been cooked on animal dung, Ezekiel predicted the famine which would accompany the siege. In the final act, Ezekiel shaved his head, burning his hair, striking it with a sword and scattering it to the winds, indicating the fate of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Ezekiel 6 and 7 contain additional oracles concerning Israel's sin and imminent doom.
3 ) Visions of idolatry in Jerusalem and the resultant judgment and destruction of that city (Ezekiel 8-11).
4 ) Further prophecies against Jerusalem (Ezekiel 12-24). This section contains a rebuke of false prophets and hypocrites (Ezekiel 12-14), a repeated emphasis on the certainty and necessity of punishment (Ezekiel 15-17), a discussion of retribution and responsibility and a reassertion of God's love toward sinners (Ezekiel 18), a lamentation or dirge over the rulers of Judah (Ezekiel 19) and final warnings before the complete destruction of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 20-24).

II. Prophecies against the nations of Am-mon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon and Egypt (Ezekiel 25-32).

III. Prophecies concerning the restoration of Israel, uttered after the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.

1 ) A discussion of the responsibility of the people to respond to the call of the prophet (Ezekiel 33: 1-20).
2 ) The announcement of the fall of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 33:21-33).
3 ) A contrast between the leadership of the faithless shepherds ( kings) of Judah and Israel and the true shepherd who was to come (Ezekiel 34).
4 ) The doom of Edom (Ezekiel 35).
5 ) The vision of the valley of dry bones, symbolizing the resurrection of the remnant of Israel (Ezekiel 36-37).
6 ) The prophecy of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38-39 ).
7 ) The rebuilt Temple (Ezekiel 40-48).

Ezekiel Resources

The Divided Kingdom
The Northern Kingdom of Israel
The Southern Kingdom of Judah
The Assyrian Captivity
The Babylonian Captivity
The Return From Babylon
The Prophets
The Messiah

The Book of Ezekiel

More About the Book of Ezekiel
Ezekiel in the Picture Study Bible
Timeline of the Ancient World
Back to the Old Testament
Back to Bible History Online

Bibliography Information

Free Bible Online - Picture Study Bible, King James Version. New York: American Bible Society: www.free-bible.com, 1995-2013. Bible History Picture Study Bible. Dec 22, 2024.

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