Having pronounced the sentence of death on the girl (Jerusalem), God adds to her punishment by placing her in the power of her enemies. However, in view of the logical difficulty of the girl being stripped naked again in this verse when she already is naked, it may be better to understand verses 39-41 as adding some details on the punishment described in verse 37. Instead of God stripping and punishing her, he will allow her enemies to do so.

And I will give you into the hand of your lovers means God will hand the girl over into the power of those who had sex with her. For the figurative use of hand as “power” (Good News Translation), see the comments on 1.3.

And they shall throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your lofty places means the girl’s lovers will destroy her places of prostitution and false worship. Throw down and break down may be rendered “tear down” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). For vaulted chamber and lofty places, see verse 24.

They shall strip you of your clothes, as God promised to do in verse 37. The Hebrew verb rendered strip also has the meaning of making a quick raid as robbers do, so once again the terminology hints at the historical background.

And take your fair jewels: They will also take the precious ornaments that God had given the girl (see verses 11-13 and 17).

And leave you naked and bare: For the strong Hebrew words rendered naked and bare, see Ezek 16.7. Contemporary English Version renders this clause as “leaving you naked and empty-handed,” which means the girl will be physically naked and lose all her wealth. This rendering does not follow the Hebrew text. Better renderings are “and leave you completely naked” (Good News Translation) and “and leave you stark naked” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .