So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must bear your shame and disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.
Parallel translations
- WEB You also, bear your own shame yourself, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that you. Yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.
- KJV Thou 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.
- NKJV You who judged your sisters, bear your own shame also, because the sins which you committed were more abominable than theirs; they are more righteous than you. Yes, be disgraced also, and bear your own shame, because you justified your sisters.
- NASB Also, bear your disgrace in that you have made judgment favorable for your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. Yes, be also ashamed and bear your disgrace, in that you made your sisters appear innocent.
- NLT Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous.
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
Jerusalem must bear her own shame, for by her worse sins she made her sisters appear more righteous. Her self-righteous judgment of others recoils on herself.
Overview
Having once judged Sodom and Samaria, Jerusalem must now be 'confounded' and carry her own disgrace, since her sins are more abominable than theirs. The passage humbles every claim of superior standing and exposes self-righteousness. Such thorough conviction of sin is the soil in which the promise of undeserved restoration, which follows later in the chapter, becomes truly amazing grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- Matt 7:1–5“Do not judge, or you will be judged.
- Jer 31:19After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
- Luke 6:37Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
- Ezek 16:54So you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did to comfort them.
- 1 Kgs 2:32The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.
- Ezek 36:6–7Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel and tell the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I have spoken in My burning zeal because you have endured the reproach of the nations.
- Ezek 36:15I will no longer allow the taunts of the nations to be heard against you, and you will no longer endure the reproach of the peoples or cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Ezek 44:13They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed.
- Gen 38:26Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.
- Rom 1:32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
- 1 Sam 24:17and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil.
- Jer 51:51“We are ashamed because we have heard reproach; disgrace has covered our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD’s house.”
- Rom 2:10but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Greek.
- Ezek 36:31–32Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations.
- Rom 6:21What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
- Ezek 16:56Did you not treat your sister Sodom as an object of scorn in the day of your pride,
- Rom 2:26–27If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
- Ezek 16:63so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Ezek 39:26They will forget their disgrace and all the treachery they committed against Me, when they dwell securely in their land, with no one to frighten them.
- Hos 10:6Yes, it will be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim will be seized with shame; Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols.
- Jer 23:40And I will bring upon you everlasting shame and perpetual humiliation that will never be forgotten.”
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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 16:52 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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