Ezekiel 16 Comparison: King James Version vs Young's Literal Translation
Ezekiel 16
1Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3And say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.
4And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
5None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
6And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.
7I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.
8Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine.
9Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
10I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
11I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
12And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.
13Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
14And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.
15But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
16And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
17Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,
18And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.
19My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord God.
20Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
21That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?
22And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.
23And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord God;)
24That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.
25Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.
26Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.
27Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way.
28Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.
29Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
30How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;
31In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;
32But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!
33They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.
34And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.
35Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord:
36Thus saith the Lord God; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;
37Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.
38And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.
39And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.
40They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.
41And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.
42So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
43Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord God: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.
44Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
45Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
46And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
47Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.
48As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
49Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.
51Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
52Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.
53When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:
54That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
55When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.
56For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,
57Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about.
58Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the Lord.
59For thus saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
60Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
61Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
62And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord:
63That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.
Ezekiel 16
1And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,
2`Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, and thou hast said:
3Thus said the Lord Jehovah to Jerusalem: Thy birth and thy nativity Are of the land of the Canaanite, Thy father the Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.
4As to thy nativity, in the day thou wast born, Thouthy navel hath not been cut, And in water thou wast not washed for ease, And thou hast not been salted at all, And thou hast not been swaddled at all.
5No eye hath had pity on thee, to do to thee any of these, To have compassion on thee, And thou art cast on the face of the field, With loathing of thy person. In the day thou hast been bornthou!
6And I do pass over by thee, And I see thee trodden down in thy blood, And I say to thee in thy blood, Live, And I say to thee in thy blood, Live.
7A myriadas the shoot of the field I have made thee, And thou art multiplied, and art great, And comest in with an excellent adornment, Breasts have been formed, and thy hair hath grownAnd thou, naked and bare!
8And I pass over by thee, and I see thee, And lo, thy time is a time of loves, And I spread My skirt over thee, And I cover thy nakedness, And I swear to thee, and come in to a covenant with thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And thou dost become Mine.
9And I do wash thee with water, And I wash away thy blood from off thee, And I anoint thee with perfume.
10And I clothe thee with embroidery, And I shoe thee with badger's skin, And I gird thee with fine linen, And I cover thee with figured silk.
11And I adorn thee with adornments, And I give bracelets for thy hands, And a chain for thy neck.
12And I give a ring for thy nose, And rings for thine ears, And a crown of beauty on thy head.
13And thou dost put on gold and silver, And thy clothing is fine linen, And figured silk and embroidery, Fine flour, and honey, and oil thou hast eaten, And thou art very very beautiful, And dost go prosperously to the kingdom.
14And go forth doth thy name among nations, Because of thy beautyfor it is complete, In My honour that I have set upon thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
15And thou dost trust in thy beauty, And goest a-whoring because of thy renown, And dost pour out thy whoredoms On every passer byto him it is.
16And thou dost take of thy garments, And dost make to thee spotted high-places, And dost go a-whoring upon them, They are not coming innor shall it be!
17And thou dost take thy beauteous vessels Of My gold and My silver that I gave to thee, And dost make to thee images of a male, And dost go a-whoring with them,
18And dost take the garments of thy embroidery, And thou dost cover them, And My oil and My perfume thou hast set before them.
19And My bread, that I gave to thee, Fine flour, and oil, and honey, that I caused thee to eat. Thou hast even set it before them, For a sweet fragrancethus it is, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
20And thou dost take thy sons and thy daughters Whom thou hast born to Me, And dost sacrifice them to them for food. Is it a little thing because of thy whoredoms,
21That thou dost slaughter My sons, And dost give them up in causing them to pass over to them?
22And with all thine abominations and thy whoredoms, Thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, When thou wast naked and bare, Trodden down in thy blood thou wast!
23And it cometh to pass, after all thy wickedness, (Woe, woe, to theean affirmation of the Lord Jehovah),
24That thou dost build to thee an arch, And dost make to thee a high place in every broad place.
25At every head of the way thou hast built thy high place, And thou dost make thy beauty abominable, And dost open wide thy feet to every passer by, And dost multiply thy whoredoms,
26And dost go a-whoring unto sons of Egypt, Thy neighboursgreat of appetite! And thou dost multiply thy whoredoms, To provoke Me to anger.
27And lo, I have stretched out My hand against thee, And I diminish thy portion, And give thee to the desire of those hating thee, The daughters of the Philistines, Who are ashamed of thy wicked way.
28And thou goest a-whoring unto sons of Asshur, Without thy being satisfied, And thou dost go a-whoring with them, And alsothou hast not been satisfied.
29And thou dost multiply thy whoredoms On the land of Canaantoward Chaldea, And even with this thou hast not been satisfied.
30How weak is thy heart, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, In thy doing all these, The work of a domineering whorish woman.
31In thy building thine arch at the head of every way, Thy high place thou hast made in every broad place, Andhast not been as a whore deriding a gift.
32The wife who committeth adulteryUnder her husbanddoth receive strangers.
33To all whores they give a gift, Andthou hast given thy gifts to all thy lovers, And dost bribe them to come in unto thee, From round aboutin thy whoredoms.
34And the contrary is in thee from women in thy whoredoms, That after thee none doth go a-whoring; And in thy giving a gift, And a gift hath not been given to thee; And thou art become contrary.
35Therefore, O whore, hear a word of Jehovah,
36Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of thy brass being poured forth, And thy nakedness is revealed in thy whoredoms near thy lovers, And near all the idols of thy abominations, And according to the blood of thy sons, Whom thou hast given to them;
37Therefore, lo, I am assembling all thy lovers, To whom thou hast been sweet, And all whom thou hast loved, Besides all whom thou hast hated; And I have assembled them by thee round about, And have revealed thy nakedness to them, And they have seen all thy nakedness.
38And I have judged theejudgments of adulteresses, And of women shedding blood, And have given thee blood, fury, and jealousy.
39And I have given thee into their hand, And they have thrown down thine arch, And they have broken down thy high places, And they have stript thee of thy garments, And they have taken thy beauteous vessels, And they have left thee naked and bare.
40And have caused an assembly to come up against thee, And stoned thee with stones, And thrust thee through with their swords,
41And burnt thy houses with fire, And done in thee judgments before the eyes of many women, And I have caused thee to cease from going a-whoring, And also a gift thou givest no more.
42And I have caused My fury against thee to rest, And My jealousy hath turned aside from thee, And I have been quiet, and I am not angry any more.
43Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, And dost give trouble to Me in all these, Lo, even I also thy way at first gave up, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And I did not this thought for all thine abominations.
44Lo, every one using a simile, Doth use a simile concerning thee, saying: As the motherher daughter!
45Thy mother's daughter thou art , Loathing her husband and her sons, And thy sisters' sister thou art , Who loathed their husbands and their sons, Your mother is a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
46And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters, Who is dwelling at thy left hand, And thy younger sister, who is dwelling on thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
47Andin their ways thou hast not walked, And according to their abominations done, As a little thing it hath been loathed, And thou dost more corruptly than they in all thy ways.
48I livean affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Sodom thy sister hath not doneshe and her daughtersAs thou hast donethou and thy daughters.
49Lo, this hath been the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, Arrogancy, fulness of bread, and quiet ease, Have been to her and to her daughters, And the hand of the afflicted and needy She hath not strengthened.
50And they are haughty and do abomination before Me, And I turn them aside when I have seen.
51As to Samaria, as the half of thy sinsshe hath not sinned, And thou dost multiply thine abominations more than they, And dost justify thy sisters by all thy abominations that thou hast done.
52Thou alsobear thy shame, That thou hast adjudged to thy sisters, Because of thy sins that thou hast done more abominably than they, They are more righteous than thou, And thou, also, be ashamed and bear thy shame, In thy justifying thy sisters.
53And I have turned back to their captivity, The captivity of Sodom and her daughters, And the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, And the captivity of thy captives in their midst,
54So that thou dost bear thy shame, And hast been ashamed of all that thou hast done, In thy comforting them.
55And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, Do turn back to their former state, And Samaria and her daughters Do turn back to their former state, And thou and thy daughters do turn back to your former state.
56And thy sister Sodom hath not been for a report in thy mouth, In the day of thine arrogancy,
57Before thy wickedness is revealed, As at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Aram, And of all her neighbours, the daughters of the Philistines, Who are despising thee round about.
58Thy devices and thine abominations, Thou hast borne them, an affirmation of Jehovah.
59For thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have dealt with thee as thou hast done, In that thou hast despised an oathto break covenant.
60And II have remembered My covenant with thee, In the days of thy youth, And I have established for thee a covenant age-during.
61And thou hast remembered thy ways, And thou hast been ashamed, In thy receiving thy sistersThine elder with thy younger, And I have given them to thee for daughters, And not by thy covenant.
62And II have established My covenant with thee, And thou hast known that I am Jehovah.
63So that thou dost remember, And thou hast been ashamed, And there is not to thee any more an opening of the mouth because of thy shame, In My receiving atonement for thee, For all that thou hast done, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'
Understanding King James Version vs Young's Literal Translation in Ezekiel 16
King James Version (KJV)
The classic 1611 English translation known for its majestic prose and literary influence. Ideal for traditional study and memorization thanks to its formal style. A foundational English Bible used for centuries.
Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
An extremely literal, word-for-word translation that preserves original verb tenses and phrasing. Best for close study and comparing structures from the source languages. The English can feel rigid, but it’s very useful for detailed analysis.
You are viewing a side-by-side comparison of Ezekiel 16 in the King James Version and Young's Literal Translation. Comparing these two versions can help shed light on the nuances of the original text.
Key Comparison: Ezekiel 16:16
"And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so."
"And thou dost take of thy garments, And dost make to thee spotted high-places, And dost go a-whoring upon them, They are not coming innor shall it be!"
