And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- KJV And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.
- NKJV And I will judge you as women who break wedlock or shed blood are judged; I will bring blood upon you in fury and jealousy.
- NASB So I will judge you as women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
- NLT I will punish you for your murder and adultery. I will cover you with blood in my jealous fury.
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
She will be sentenced as adulteresses and murderers are, bearing the blood of God's wrath and jealousy. Her crimes meet their just penalty.
Overview
The punishment fits the charges: judgment for adultery (her idolatry) and for shed blood (her child sacrifice). God's 'wrath and jealousy' are the response of a holy, covenant-keeping husband to betrayal. Divine jealousy here is righteous, the zeal of love wronged, not petty envy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Lev 20:10If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.
- Gen 9:6Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.
- Zeph 1:17I will bring such distress on mankind that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.
- Jer 18:21Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
- Ezek 16:20–21You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?
- Ezek 16:36This 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,
- Ezek 23:25And I will set My jealous rage against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your remnant will be consumed by fire.
- Ezek 16:40They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.
- Nah 1:2The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes and reserves wrath for His enemies.
- Gen 38:11Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
- Gen 38:24About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”
- Ps 79:3–5They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.
- Matt 1:18–19This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
- John 8:3–5The scribes and Pharisees, however, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before them
- Num 35:31You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death.
- Rev 16:6For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”
- Exod 21:12Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.
- Deut 22:22–24If a man is found lying with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
- Ezek 23:45–47But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of those who commit adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses with blood on their hands.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 16:38 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.