Ezekiel 22

1 Moreover the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

2 And thou, son of man, will thou judge, will thou judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations.

3 And thou shall say, Thus says the lord Jehovah: A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and who makes idols against herself to defile her!

4 Thou have become guilty in thy blood that thou have shed, and are defiled in thine idols which thou have made. And thou have caused thy days to draw near, and have come even to thy years. Therefore I have made thee a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.

5 Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, thou infamous one, full of tumult.

6 Behold, the rulers of Israel, each one according to his power, have been in thee to shed blood.

7 In thee they have made light of father and mother. In the midst of thee they have dealt with the sojourner by oppression. In thee they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.

8 Thou have despised my holy things, and have profaned my sabbaths.

9 Slanderous men have been in thee to shed blood, and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains. In the midst of thee they have committed lewdness.

10 In thee they have uncovered their fathers' nakedness. In thee they have humbled her who was unclean in her impurity.

11 And one has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife, and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law, and another in thee has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

12 In thee they have taken bribes to shed blood. Thou have taken interest and increase. And thou have greedily gained from thy neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me, says the lord Jehovah.

13 Behold, therefore, I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou have made, and at thy blood which has been in the midst of thee.

14 Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and will do it.

15 And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries, and I will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

16 And thou shall be profaned in thyself, in the sight of the nations. And thou shall know that I am Jehovah.

17 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

18 Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace. They are the dross of silver.

19 Therefore thus says the lord Jehovah: Because ye have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem

20 as they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it. So I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you.

21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst of it.

22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so ye shall be melted in the midst of it. And ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have poured out my wrath upon you.

23 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

24 Son of man, say to her, Thou are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

25 There is a conspiracy by her prophets in the midst of it, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. They have devoured souls. They take treasure and precious things. They have made her widows many in the midst thereof.

26 Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, nor have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

27 Her rulers in the midst of it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.

28 And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the lord Jehovah, when Jehovah has not spoken.

29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery. Yea, they have vexed the poor and needy man, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.

30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.

31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have brought their own way upon their heads, says the lord Jehovah.