Limitless Word
Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but enraged Me with all these things, I will surely bring your deeds down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness on top of all your other abominations?
Ezekiel 16:43 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “‘“Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring your way on your head,” says the Lord Yahweh: “and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations.
  • KJV Because 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.
  • NKJV Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but agitated Me with all these things, surely I will also recompense your deeds on your own head,” says the Lord God. “And you shall not commit lewdness in addition to all your abominations.
  • NASB Since you have not remembered the days of your youth but have caused Me unrest by all these things, behold, I in turn will bring your conduct down on your own head,” declares the Lord God, “so that you will not commit this outrageous sin in addition to all your other abominations.
  • NLT But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by doing all these evil things, I will fully repay you for all of your sins, says the Sovereign Lord. For you have added lewd acts to all your detestable sins.

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

Because she forgot the days of her youth and raged against God, He will repay her conduct on her own head. Forgetting grace brings just recompense.

Overview

God names the root again: she 'did not remember the days of her youth,' her rescue from helplessness, and instead provoked Him. Therefore He returns her deeds upon her. The verse ties the whole indictment together, with forgetfulness of grace producing rebellion, and rebellion producing judgment.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 18

  • Ezek 16:22And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.
  • Ezek 11:21But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
  • Ezek 22:31So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
  • Ps 78:42They did not remember His power—the day He redeemed them from the adversary,
  • Ps 106:13Yet they soon forgot His works and failed to wait for His counsel.
  • Ezek 6:9Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that lusted after idols. So they will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their abominations.
  • Isa 63:10But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
  • Amos 2:13Behold, I am about to crush you in your place as with a cart full of grain.
  • Acts 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
  • Eph 4:30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
  • Ezek 7:8–9Very soon I will pour out My wrath upon you and vent My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and repay you for all your abominations.
  • Deut 32:21They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.
  • Ps 78:40How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!
  • Rom 2:8–9But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
  • Ezek 7:3–4The end is now upon you, and I will unleash My anger against you. I will judge you according to your ways and repay you for all your abominations.
  • Ezek 9:10But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”
  • Jer 2:32Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
  • Ps 95:10For forty years I was angry with that generation, and I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known My ways.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Ezekiel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Ezekiel 16:43YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on EzekielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 16:43 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.