"On the day you were born, no one cared about you. No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die.
"And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' I made you thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful. And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you," says the Sovereign LORD, "and you became mine."
"Then I bathed you and washed off your blood... I gave you lovely jewellery, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. You ate the finest foods- choice flour, honey, and olive oil- and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendour and perfected your beauty," says the Sovereign LORD.
"But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking. You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols...In all your years of adultery and detestable sin, you have not once remembered the days long ago when you lay naked in a field, kicking about in your own blood.
"In fact, you have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even demanded payment. Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband. Prostitutes charge for their services- but not you! You give gifts to your lovers, bribing them to come and have sex with you.
"Because you have poured out your lust and exposed yourself in prostitution to all your lovers...I will give you to these many nations who are your lovers, and they will destroy you... They will strip you and take your beautiful jewels, leaving you stark naked.
"I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you."
Verses taken from portions of Ezekiel 16. Everything's from the NLT except verses 6 and 7, which were taken from the NKJV.
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