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

And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? then cause her to know 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,

And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord GOD: A city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that maketh idols against herself to defile her!

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.

Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking to all the 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 thee, shall mock thee, thou infamous one [and] full of tumult.

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

Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been in thee 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 thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee, have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.

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

Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast 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.

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

In thee have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her separation.

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 hath committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath 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 thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith 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 thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.

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 thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? 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 thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries; and I will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

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

And thou shalt be profaned in thyself, in the sight of the nations; and thou shalt 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 become dross unto 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 this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because ye are all become dross, therefore behold, 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 lay 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 with the fire of my wrath, and ye shalt 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 ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye 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, thou art a 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 take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many 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 done violence to my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and the common, neither 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 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, that they may 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 for them with untempered [mortar], seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath 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; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and 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 fence, 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 brought upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.