Ezekiel 22

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

And the word of the Lord 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, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, declare thou to her all her iniquities.

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 shalt say, Thus saith the Lord God: O city that sheds blood in the midst of her, so that her time should come, and that forms devices against herself, to defile herself;

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.

in their blood which thou hast shed, thou hast transgressed; and in thy devices which thou hast formed, thou hast polluted thyself; and thou hast brought nigh thy days, and hast brought on the time of thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery 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.

to those near thee, and to those far distant from thee; and they shall mock thee, [thou that art] notoriously unclean, and abundant in iniquities.

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

Behold, the princes of the house of Israel have conspired in thee each one with his kindred, that they might 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 reviled father and mother; and in thee they have behaved unjustly toward the stranger: they have oppressed the orphan and widow.

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

And they have set at nought my holy things, and in thee they 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.

[There are] robbers in thee, to shed blood in thee; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: they have wrought ungodliness in the midst of thee.

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 the father's shame; and in thee they have humbled her that was set apart for uncleanness.

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.

They have dealt unlawfully each one with his neighbor's wife; and each one in ungodliness has defiled his daughter-in-law: and in thee they have humbled each one his sister, the daughter of his father.

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 received gifts to shed blood; they have received in thee interest and usurious increase; and by oppression thou hast brought thy wickedness to the full, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord.

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.

And if I shall smite my hand at [thine iniquities] which thou hast accomplished, which thou hast wrought, and at thy blood that has been shed 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.

shall thy heart endure? shall thine hands be strong in the days which I bring upon thee? I the Lord have spoken, 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 in the countries, and thy uncleanness shall be removed 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 I will give heritages in thee in the sight of the nations, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

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

And the word of the Lord 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, behold, the house of Israel are all become to me [as it were] mixed with brass, and iron, and tin, and lead; they are mixed up in the midst of the 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 say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have become one mixture, therefore 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 silver, and brass, and iron, and tin, and lead, are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow fire into it, that they may be melted: so will I take [you] in my wrath, and I will gather and melt you.

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

And I will blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.

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 a furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.

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

And the word of the Lord 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 art the land that is not rained upon, neither has rain come upon thee in the day of wrath;

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.

whose princes in the midst of her are as roaring lions seizing prey, devouring souls by oppression, and taking bribes; and thy widows are multiplied in the midst of thee.

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 also have set at nought my law, and profaned my holy things: they have not distinguished between the holy and profane, nor have they distinguished between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of 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 princes in the midst of her are as wolves ravening to shed blood, 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 that daub them shall fall, that see vanities, that prophesy falsehoods, saying, Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord 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.

That sorely oppress the people of the land with injustice, and commit robbery; oppressing the poor and needy, and not dealing justly with the stranger.

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 from among them a man behaving uprightly, and standing before me perfectly in the time of wrath, so that I should not utterly destroy her: but I found [him] not.

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.

So I have poured out my wrath upon her in the fury of mine anger, to accomplish [it]. I have recompensed their ways on their own heads, saith the Lord God.