Ezekiel 22

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Moreover the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

2 And you, son of man, will you be a judge, will you be a judge of the town of blood? then make clear to her all her disgusting ways.

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

3 And you are to say, This is what the Lord has said: A town causing blood to be drained out in her streets so that her time may come, and making images in her to make her unclean!

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 You are responsible for the blood drained out by you, and you are unclean through the images which you have made; and you have made your day come near, and the time of your judging has come; for this cause I have made you a name of shame to the nations and a cause of laughing to all countries.

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 who are near and those who are far from you will make sport of you; your name is unclean, you are full of sounds of fear.

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

6 See, the rulers of Israel, every one in his family, have been causing death in you.

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

7 In you they have had no respect for father and mother; in you they have been cruel to the man from a strange land; in you they have done wrong to the child without a father and to the widow.

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 You have made little of my holy things, and have made my Sabbaths unclean.

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

9 In you there are men who say evil of others, causing death; in you they have taken the flesh with the blood for food; in your streets they have put evil designs into effect.

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 let the shame of their fathers be seen; in you they have done wrong to a woman at the time when she was unclean.

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

11 And in you one man has done what was disgusting with his neighbour's wife; and another has made his daughter-in-law unclean; and another has done wrong to his sister, his father's daughter.

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 you they have taken rewards as the price of blood; you have taken interest and great profits, and you have taken away your neighbours' goods by force, and have not kept me in mind, says the Lord.

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 See, then, I have made my hands come together in wrath against your taking of goods by force and against the blood which has been flowing in you.

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 Will your heart be high or your hands strong in the days when I take you in hand? I the Lord have said it and will do it.

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 send you in flight among the nations and wandering among the countries; and I will completely take away out of you everything which is unclean.

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 you will be made low before the eyes of the nations; and it will be clear to you that I am the Lord.

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 the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

18 Son of man, the children of Israel have become like the poorest sort of waste metal to me: they are all silver and brass and tin and iron and lead mixed with waste.

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 For this cause the Lord has said: Because you have all become waste metal, see, I will get you together inside Jerusalem.

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 put silver and brass and iron and lead and tin together inside the oven, heating up the fire on it to make it soft; so will I get you together in my wrath and in my passion, and, heating the fire with my breath, will make you soft.

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 Yes, I will take you, breathing on you the fire of my wrath, and you will become soft in it.

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 becomes soft in the oven, so you will become soft in it; and you will be certain that I the Lord have let loose my passion on you.

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 the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

24 Son of man, say to her, You are a land on which no rain or thunderstorm has come in the day of wrath.

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

25 Her rulers in her are like a loud-voiced lion violently taking his food; they have made a meal of souls; they have taken wealth and valued property; they have made great the number of widows in her.

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 been acting violently against my law; they have made my holy things unclean: they have made no division between what is holy and what is common, and they have not made it clear that the unclean is different from the clean, and their eyes have been shut to my Sabbaths, and I am not honoured among them.

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 her are like wolves violently taking their food; putting men to death and causing the destruction of souls, so that they may get their profit.

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 been using whitewash, seeing foolish visions and making false use of secret arts, saying, This is what the Lord has said, when the Lord has said nothing.

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 been acting cruelly, taking men's goods by force; they have been hard on the poor and those in need, and have done wrong to the man from a strange land.

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 was looking for a man among them who would make up the wall and take his station in the broken place before me for the land, so that I might not send destruction on it: but there was no one.

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 And I let loose my passion on them, and have put an end to them in the fire of my wrath: I have made the punishment of their ways come on their heads, says the Lord.

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.