Ezekiel 16:4-8

⁴On the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, you weren''t bathed and cleaned up, you weren''t rubbed with salt, you weren''t wrapped in a baby blanket.

⁵No one cared a fig for you. No one did one thing to care for you tenderly in these ways. You were thrown out into a vacant lot and left there, dirty and unwashed--a newborn nobody wanted.

⁶And then I came by. I saw you all miserable and bloody. Yes, I said to you, lying there helpless and filthy, "Live!a

⁷Grow up like a plant in the field!" And you did. You grew up. You grew tall and matured as a woman, full-breasted, with flowing hair. But you were naked and vulnerable, fragile and exposed.

⁸I came by again and saw you, saw that you were ready for love and a lover. I took care of you, dressed you and protected you. I promised you my love and entered the covenant of marriage with you. I, GOD, the Master, gave my word. You became mine.b