“How degenerate is your heart!” says the Lord God, “seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘“How weak is your heart,” says the Lord Yahweh, “since you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute;
- KJV How weak is thine heart, saith the LORD GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;
- BSB How weak-willed is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, while you do all these things, the acts of a shameless prostitute!
- NASB “How feverish is your heart,” declares the Lord God, “while you do all these things, the action of a bold prostitute!
- NLT “What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign Lord, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God marvels at how morally weak ('sick') her heart is, acting like a brazen prostitute. Her depravity is astonishing.
Overview
The LORD expresses something like grieved amazement at the lovesick, willful corruption of her heart. The phrase paints her not as a victim of seduction but as the bold initiator of her own ruin. It exposes the inner spiritual sickness that lies beneath outward acts of unfaithfulness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Isa 1:3The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know, my people don’t consider.”
- Jer 3:3Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; yet you have a prostitute’s forehead. You refused to be ashamed.
- Prov 9:13The foolish woman is loud, undisciplined, and knows nothing.
- Jer 4:22“For my people are foolish, they don’t know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skillful in doing evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”
- Isa 3:9The look of their faces testify against them. They parade their sin like Sodom. They don’t hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought disaster upon themselves.
- Judg 16:15–16She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.”
- Prov 7:21With persuasive words, she led him astray. With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him.
- Rev 17:1–6One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,
- Jer 2:12–13“Be astonished, you heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate,” says Yahweh.
- Prov 7:11–13She is loud and defiant. Her feet don’t stay in her house.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 16:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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