Ezekiel 23:29 kjv
And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
Ezekiel 23:29 nkjv
They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry.
Ezekiel 23:29 niv
They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything you have worked for. They will leave you stark naked, and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your lewdness and promiscuity
Ezekiel 23:29 esv
and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring
Ezekiel 23:29 nlt
They will treat you with hatred and rob you of all you own, leaving you stark naked. The shame of your prostitution will be exposed to all the world.
Ezekiel 23 29 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isa 20:4 | "so the king of Assyria will lead away the Egyptian captives...naked and barefoot..." | Assyria strips Egypt (shame of conquest) |
| Jer 13:26 | "I myself will lift your skirts over your face so that your shame may be seen." | Lord exposes Judah's shame |
| Lam 1:8 | "Jerusalem has sinned greatly... all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness." | Jerusalem's exposed shame |
| Hos 2:3 | "otherwise I will strip her naked and make her like a desert..." | Judgment of spiritual harlot |
| Hos 2:10 | "Now I will expose her lewdness before the eyes of her lovers..." | Exposure of spiritual infidelity |
| Hos 4:12 | "My people consult a wooden idol, and their diviner’s rod gives them guidance. For a spirit of prostitution has led them astray." | Spirit of prostitution (idolatry) |
| Nah 3:5 | "I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness..." | Nineveh's nakedness exposed |
| Jer 2:20 | "Long ago you broke off your yoke...you said, ‘I will not serve you!’ Indeed, on every high hill...you engaged in prostitution." | Breaking covenant (spiritual harlotry) |
| Jer 3:6 | "Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and committed adultery there." | Israel's spiritual adultery |
| Ezek 16:26 | "You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians... and aroused my anger with all your idolatries." | Prostitution with foreign nations |
| Ezek 20:30 | "Will you defile yourselves the way your ancestors did and go running after their detestable idols?" | Defilement through idols |
| Deut 28:33 | "A people you do not know will eat what your land and labor have produced..." | Foreigners consume their wealth |
| Deut 28:50-51 | "...a fierce-looking nation...they will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land..." | Destruction by ruthless foe |
| Isa 10:5-6 | "Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger...I send him against a godless nation..." | God uses nations as judgment's instrument |
| Jer 5:15-17 | "I am bringing a distant nation against you...They will devour your harvest and food; they will devour your sons and daughters." | Foreign nation bringing ruin |
| Jer 8:10 | "Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their fields to new masters. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain..." | Loss of possessions, avarice |
| Hab 1:6-7 | "I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people... They are a law to themselves..." | God uses Babylonians as instruments |
| Zeph 1:13 | "Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. Though they build houses, they will not live in them..." | Plunder and loss of property |
| Mic 1:11 | "Go away stripped naked, you who live in Zaanan. The people of Bethezel are in mourning..." | Stripping for humiliation |
| Rev 17:16 | "The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked..." | Hatred and stripping of spiritual harlot |
| Rom 1:24 | "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." | Consequence of degrading desires |
| Eph 5:6 | "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient." | God's wrath on disobedience |
Ezekiel 23 verses
Ezekiel 23 29 Meaning
Ezekiel 23:29 declares a harsh divine judgment upon Judah (personified as Oholibah), using the very foreign nations she illicitly sought out as her lovers. These nations, once desired for their alliances and idolatry, will turn hostile. They will relentlessly strip Judah of all accumulated wealth and possessions, reducing her to destitution. This act of being "stripped naked" signifies ultimate public humiliation, the complete loss of honor and defense, and a full exposure of the vile nature of her spiritual prostitution (idolatry and unfaithfulness to God). It is a graphic depiction of shame justly incurred by her persistent covenant disloyalty.
Ezekiel 23 29 Context
Ezekiel 23 details the allegorical account of two sisters, Oholah (Samaria, representing the Northern Kingdom of Israel) and Oholibah (Jerusalem, representing the Southern Kingdom of Judah). Both sisters, despite being chosen by Yahweh, committed spiritual prostitution by engaging in idolatry and seeking political alliances with pagan nations like Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon, thereby breaking their covenant with God. The chapter vividly portrays their "lust" for these foreign entities and their "lewd" spiritual infidelity. Verse 29 specifically focuses on Oholibah, announcing that the very nations with whom she "played the harlot" will become instruments of divine judgment against her. Historically, this refers to the Babylonian conquest and the subsequent exile, where Judah was overthrown and subjected to harsh treatment by the nations she had previously courted. The graphic language emphasizes the total degradation and ruin awaiting unfaithful Judah.
Ezekiel 23 29 Word analysis
- They: Refers to the foreign nations with whom Oholibah (Judah) sought alliances and committed spiritual harlotry, particularly the Babylonians (Chaldeans) as described earlier in the chapter (Ezek 23:22-23). These were her "lovers" turned executioners of divine judgment.
- will deal: The Hebrew verb ʿāśāh (עָשָׂה), means "to do" or "to act." Here, it implies active, deliberate, and forceful punitive action.
- with you: Referring to Oholibah, personifying Judah/Jerusalem, the unfaithful covenant people.
- in hatred: Hebrew bəśinʾâ (בְּשִׂנְאָה). This is crucial. It underscores the intense, malevolent animosity the nations will harbor. It stands in stark contrast to the "lust" (תַּאֲוָה) Judah had for these nations. The once desired partners become bitter foes, implementing God's wrath with cruelty.
- and will take away: Hebrew vəlāqḥû (וְלָקְחוּ) from lāqaḥ, meaning "to seize," "to capture," or "to acquire by force." Signifies plunder and confiscation.
- all your hard-earned wealth: Hebrew kāl-yəgîʿēḵ (כָּל-יְגִיעֵךְ). Yəgîʿ (יְגִיעַ) refers to "labor," "toil," "gain from labor," or "produce." This signifies all accumulated possessions, property, and resources that Judah gained, perhaps through their own efforts or, more accurately, as blessings from God that they then misappropriated for their idolatrous pursuits and alliances. This will be completely looted.
- and leave you stripped naked: Hebrew vəhišʾîrûk ʿêrōm (וְהִשְׁאִירֻךְ עֵירֹם). ʿêrōm (עֵירֹם) means "naked." This is a powerful image of utter destitution, public humiliation, shame, and vulnerability. In ancient cultures, public stripping of women, especially in conquest, symbolized ultimate degradation, loss of honor, and defenselessness.
- The nakedness: Hebrew ʿerwaṯ (עֵרְוַת) from ʿerwāh (עֶרְוָה), means "nakedness," "shame," "indecency." Here it's linked to the previous phrase but specifies the nature of the nakedness.
- of your prostitution: Hebrew zənûṯēḵ (זְנוּתֵךְ) from zənûṯ (זְנוּת), referring to "harlotry," "fornication," often used metaphorically for spiritual infidelity and idolatry. It explicitly identifies the sin causing the shame.
- will be exposed: Hebrew vəniḡlâ (וְנִגְלָה) from nāglâ, meaning "to be uncovered," "revealed," "laid bare." This emphasizes the public display and revelation of Judah's disgraceful behavior to all. Not only will she be physically stripped, but the moral truth of her extensive sin will be unveiled.
Ezekiel 23 29 Bonus section
The prophecy in Ezekiel often employs shock value and graphic imagery (like chapter 16 and 23) to forcefully convey the severity of Judah's spiritual offenses and the equally severe divine response. This wasn't merely metaphorical; the physical devastation of Jerusalem and the brutal treatment of its inhabitants by the Babylonians indeed mirrored the described "stripping naked" and plunder. The psychological impact of being thus humiliated and divested of all property would have been immense for the exiles reading or hearing Ezekiel's words, serving both as a validation of their suffering (it was a just consequence) and a call to repentance. This concept of the divine use of ungodly nations to punish His own people is a recurrent theme in prophetic literature, showcasing God's sovereignty over all human powers and His commitment to covenant righteousness.
Ezekiel 23 29 Commentary
Ezekiel 23:29 vividly portrays the terrifying culmination of Judah's unfaithfulness. The Lord, through His prophet, reveals the inevitable consequence of forsaking the divine covenant for idolatrous foreign alliances. The irony is potent: the "lovers" Judah passionately pursued will turn into cruel oppressors, acting as agents of God's righteous judgment. The complete plunder of her "hard-earned wealth" signifies not merely economic ruin but the divine withdrawal of blessings previously enjoyed. More graphically, the "stripped naked" imagery encapsulates the profound public shame, vulnerability, and total loss of dignity. It means her spiritual prostitution, once clandestine or rationalized, will be openly exposed for all its vile reality. This verse stands as a stark warning against spiritual infidelity, emphasizing that while God is patient, His justice is unyielding and public when His people repeatedly defile their sacred covenant.