Ezekiel 22
1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
And the word of Yahweh 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
Thou therefore son of man, Wilt thou judge wilt thou judge the city of bloodshed; and 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,
Thou shalt say then Thus saith My Lord. Yahweh, A city shedding blood in her own midst That her time might come, Therefore hath she been making manufactured gods for herself, to be defiled.
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.
Because of the blood which thou hast shed, hast thou become guilty. And with the manufactured gods which thou hast made, hast thou defiled thyself, Thus hast thou brought near thy days, And hast come unto thy years, — For this cause, have I delivered thee As a reproach to the nations, And as a derision to all the lands.
5 Those near and far will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil.
They who are near and they who are far off from thee shall shew themselves derisive over thee, — O thou of impure name, abounding in confusion!
6 See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.
Lo! the princes of Israel, every man for his own arm, have they been in thee, For the sake of shedding blood.
7 Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.
Father and mother, have they despised in thee, To the sojourner, have they dealt with oppression in the midst of thee, — The fatherless and the widow, have they maltreated in thee:
8 You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
My holy things, hast thou despised, - And my sabbaths, hast thou profaned:
9 Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.
Slanders, have arisen in thee For the sake of shedding blood, - And unto the mountains, have they eaten in thee, Lewdness, have they practised in the midst of thee:
10 In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity.
A father’s shame hath been uncovered in thee, Her that was unclean in her removal, have they humbled in thee;
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 man, with the wife of his neighbour, hath wrought abomination, And another, hath defiled, his daughter-in-law, by shameful deed, — And another, his own sister daughter of his own father, hath humbled in thee:
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.
Bribes, have they accepted in thee, For the sake of shedding blood, -Interest and increase, hast thou accepted And thou hast overreached thy neighbour by oppression, And me, hast thou forgotten, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.
13 Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.
Lo! therefore I have smitten my hand, At thine unjust gain which thou hast made— And over thy bloodshed, which they have caused in thy midst.
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 thy heart endure or can thy hands be strong in the days when I am dealing with thee? I. Yahweh have spoken and will perform.
15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness.
Therefore will I disperse thee among the nations, And scatter thee throughout the lands, — And will cause to cease thine impurity 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.’”
So shalt thou be profaned in thyself, before the eyes of nations, Thus shalt thou know that, I, am Yahweh.
17 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Then came the word of Yahweh 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 hath become to me, dross, — They all are copper and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace, The dross of silver, have they become.
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 My Lord Yahweh, Because ye all are become dross, Therefore, behold me! gathering 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 copper and iron and lead and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow upon it the fire to melt it, So, will I gather in mine anger and in mine indignation, and will let be and will 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 together, and blow upon you, with the fire of my wrath, — And ye 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 he midst of a furnace, So, shall ye be melted in the midst thereof, — Then shall ye know that, I Yahweh, have poured out mine indignation upon you.
23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
And the word of Yahweh 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 to her. Thou, art a land, that is not to be rained upon, nor to receive fruitful showers, 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.
Because her princes in her midst are like a roaring lion rending prey, — Life, have they devoured Wealth and precious things, have they been wont to take, Her widows, have they multiplied in her midst.
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 my holy things, Between the hallowed and the common, have they put no difference, And between the unclean and clean, have they not taught men to discern, - And from my sabbaths, have they hid their eyes, So that I have been profaned in their midst.
27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.
Her rulers within her have been like wolves, rending prey, - In shedding blood In destroying lives, For the sake of getting 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 coated it for them with whitewash, Seeing visions of falsehood And divining for them lies, Saying, Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, when Yahweh, 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 exacted oppression, and seized plunder, - Even the afflicted and the needy, have they maltreated, And the sojourner have they oppressed without justice.
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.
Then sought I from among them, a man Who could build up a wall And stand in the breach before me in behalf of the land So that I might not destroy her, — 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 upon them mine indignation, In the fire of mine outburst, have I consumed them, — Their way, upon their own head, have I placed Declareth, My Lord Yahweh.
