Ezekiel 22

1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 “As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations

Now, you son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? yea, you shall show her all her abominations.

3 and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself,

Then say you, Thus says the Lord GOD, The city sheds blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and makes idols against herself to defile herself.

4 you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.

You are become guilty in your blood that you have shed; and have defiled yourself in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and are come even unto your years: therefore have I made you a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.

5 Those near and far will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil.

Those that be near, and those that be far from you, shall mock you, which are ill repute and much vexed.

6 See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.

Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in you to their power to shed blood.

7 Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.

In you have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in you have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.

8 You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.

You have despised mine holy things, and have profaned my sabbaths.

9 Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.

In you are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in you they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of you they commit lewdness.

10 In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity.

In you have they discovered their fathers' nakedness: in you have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.

11 One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.

And one has committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

12 In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

In you have they taken gifts to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbours by extortion, and have forgotten me, says the Lord GOD.

13 Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.

Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the midst of you.

14 Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.

Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.

15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness.

And I will scatter you among the heathen, and disperse you in the countries, and will consume your filthiness out of you.

16 And when you have defiled yourself in the eyes of the nations, then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

And you shall take your inheritance in yourself in the sight of the heathen, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

17 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver.

Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.

19 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Because all of you are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

20 Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you.

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 will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.

21 Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city.

Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and all of you shall be melted in the midst thereof.

22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”

As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall all of you be melted in the midst thereof; and all of you shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.

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

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘In the day of indignation, you are a land that has not been cleansed, upon which no rain has fallen.’

Son of man, say unto her, You are the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

25 The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

26 Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.

Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.

And her prophets have daubed them with plaster, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus says the Lord GOD, when the LORD has not spoken.

29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.

The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

30 I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

31 So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, says the Lord GOD.