Ezekiel 16:15

Read in context

Ezekiel 16:13–17 · Berean Standard Bible

13 So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen.

14 Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect in the splendor I bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.

15 But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking.

16 You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!

17 You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself.

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Study Ezekiel 16:15

Read the commentary on Ezekiel 16

Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Ezekiel 33:13

If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but he then trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, then none of his righteous works will be remembered; he will die because of the iniquity he has committed.

Deuteronomy 32:15

But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked— becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

Isaiah 48:1

“Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth or righteousness—

Jeremiah 7:4

Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’

Micah 3:11

Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

Zephaniah 3:11

On that day you will not be put to shame for any of the deeds by which you have transgressed against Me. For then I will remove from among you those who rejoice in their pride, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain.

Matthew 3:9

And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

Ezekiel 20:8

But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.

Ezekiel 23:3

and they played in Egypt, prostituting themselves from their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin bosoms caressed.

Ezekiel 23:8

She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust upon her.

Ezekiel 23:11

Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister.

Ezekiel 23:12

She too lusted after the Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors dressed in splendor, horsemen riding on steeds, all desirable young men.

Ezekiel 23:13

And I saw that she too had defiled herself; both of them had taken the same path.

Ezekiel 23:14

But Oholibah carried her prostitution even further. She saw the men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion,

Ezekiel 23:15

wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like officers of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.

Ezekiel 23:16

At the sight of them, she lusted for them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

Ezekiel 23:17

Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. But after she had been defiled by them, she turned away in disgust.

Ezekiel 23:18

When Oholibah openly prostituted herself and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister.

Ezekiel 23:19

Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt

Ezekiel 23:20

and lusted after their lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions.

Ezekiel 23:21

So you revisited the indecency of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your bosom and pressed your young breasts.

Exodus 32:6

So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to indulge in revelry.

Exodus 32:7

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.

Exodus 32:8

How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”

Exodus 32:9

The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

Exodus 32:10

Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

Exodus 32:11

But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

Exodus 32:12

Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people.

Exodus 32:13

Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”

Exodus 32:14

So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.

Exodus 32:15

Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.

Exodus 32:16

The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

Exodus 32:17

When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “The sound of war is in the camp.”

Exodus 32:18

But Moses replied: “It is neither the cry of victory nor the cry of defeat; I hear the sound of singing!”

Exodus 32:19

As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.

Exodus 32:20

Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.

Exodus 32:21

“What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?”

Exodus 32:22

“Do not be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil.

Exodus 32:23

They told me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!’

Exodus 32:24

So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, let him take it off,’ and they gave it to me. And when I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!”

Exodus 32:25

Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a laughingstock to their enemies.

Exodus 32:26

So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.

Exodus 32:27

He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”

Exodus 32:28

The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people fell dead.

Exodus 32:29

Afterward, Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for service to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the LORD has bestowed a blessing on you this day.”

Exodus 32:30

The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

Exodus 32:31

So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves.

Exodus 32:32

Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”

Exodus 32:33

The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book.

Exodus 32:34

Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”

Exodus 32:35

And the LORD sent a plague on the people because of what they had done with the calf that Aaron had made.

Numbers 25:1

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,

Numbers 25:2

who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods.

Judges 2:12

Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger,

Judges 3:6

And they took the daughters of these people in marriage, gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

Judges 10:6

And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.

1 Kings 11:5

Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

1 Kings 12:28

After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

2 Kings 17:7

All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods

2 Kings 21:3

For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.

Psalms 106:35

but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.

Isaiah 1:21

See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!

Isaiah 57:8

Behind the door and doorpost you have set up your memorial. Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed; you climbed up and opened it wide. And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved; you have gazed upon their nakedness.

Jeremiah 2:20

“For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.

Jeremiah 3:1

“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Would not such a land be completely defiled? But you have played the harlot with many lovers— and you would return to Me?” declares the LORD.

Hosea 1:2

When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.”

Hosea 4:10

They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have stopped obeying the LORD.

Revelation 17:5

And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Ezekiel 16:25

At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by.

Ezekiel 16:36

This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them,

Ezekiel 16:37

therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked.