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Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous.
Ezekiel 16:52 · New Living Translation
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.
  • BSB 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.
  • 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.

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“Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged.
  • Jer 31:19Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck on my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
  • Luke 6:37Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Set free, and you will be set free.
  • Ezek 16:54that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them.
  • 1 Kgs 2:32Yahweh will return his blood on his own head, because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David didn’t know it: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.
  • Ezek 36:6–7Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations:
  • Ezek 36:15neither will I let you hear any more the shame of the nations, neither shall you bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more, says the Lord Yahweh.
  • Ezek 44:13They shall not come near to me, to execute the office of priest to me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.
  • Gen 38:26Judah acknowledged them, and said, “She is more righteous than I, because I didn’t give her to Shelah, my son.” He knew her again no more.
  • Rom 1:32who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
  • 1 Sam 24:17He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you.
  • Jer 51:51“We are confounded, because we have heard reproach. Confusion has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh’s house.”
  • Rom 2:10But glory, honor, and peace go to every man who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
  • Ezek 36:31–32Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
  • Rom 6:21What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
  • Ezek 16:56For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride,
  • Rom 2:26–27If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?
  • Ezek 16:63that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done,” says the Lord Yahweh.’”
  • Ezek 39:26They shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and no one shall make them afraid;
  • Hos 10:6It also will be carried to Assyria for a present to a great king. Ephraim will receive shame, and Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel.
  • Jer 23:40I will bring an everlasting reproach on you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”

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 16:52YouTube · 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 16:52 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

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.