Ezekiel 22
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
A message from 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.
“So, son of man, are you ready to judge them? Are you ready to judge the people of this city that have caused so much bloodshed? Make them face all the disgusting things they've done,
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 tell them that this is what the Lord God says: You are a city who has caused your own doom by murdering people within your walls, and by making idols to worship that made you unclean.
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.
You are guilty of murder, and you have made yourself unclean by the idols you've made. You have shortened your lives—your time is up! That's why other people taunt you—everyone mocks you.
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.
People far and near will laugh at you, you corrupt city full of confusion!
6 See, the rulers of Israel, every one in his family, have been causing death in you.
Look at how all of your leaders in Israel use their power to murder.
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.
You despise your parents. You exploit the foreigners who live with you, and you mistreat orphans and widows.
8 You have made little of my holy things, and have made my Sabbaths unclean.
You detest my holy things and violate 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.
Living among you are people who falsely accuse others in order to put them to death. You also have those who eat religious meals at pagan shrines in the mountains, and commit immoral acts within the city.
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.
Some of those living in the city have sex with their father's wives or with women during their period.
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.
You're home to evil men. One does disgusting things with someone else's wife. Another seduces his daughter-in-law, while another rapes his sister, the daughter of his own 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.
Your people take money to murder others. You charge interest and make a profit on loans, and use extortion to get money from your neighbors. You have forgotten all about me, declares the Lord God.
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.
So watch out! I clap my hands in condemnation at your dishonest profiteering and at all your murders.
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.
Are you going to be so brave, and will you be strong enough to defend yourselves when it comes time for me to deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I'm going to act.
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.
I'm going to scatter you among the nations and the different countries. I will put a stop to your unclean acts.
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.
For when everyone else sees how you've made yourselves unclean, then you will acknowledge that I am the Lord.”
17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
A message from 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, the people of Israel have ended up like the impurities left over from refining metal. They're all like copper, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace—they are just the impurities left from refining silver.
19 For this cause the Lord has said: Because you have all become waste metal, see, I will get you together inside Jerusalem.
So this is what the Lord God says: Because all of you have ended up like impurities, watch as I collect you together in 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.
In the same way a refiner collects silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin and puts them in the blast furnace to melt them with fire, I'm going to collect you in my burning anger, and keep you there until I melt you.
21 Yes, I will take you, breathing on you the fire of my wrath, and you will become soft in it.
I'm going to collect you all together and blast you with the fire of my anger, and you'll be melted there in the city.
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.
Just as silver is melted in a furnace, so you'll be melted in the city. Then you will realize that I, the Lord, have made you experience my anger.”
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Another message from 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, tell the city of Jerusalem, at the time of punishment, you are a country that has not been made clean, a place where no rain has fallen,
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.
Her leaders conspire together and it's like watching a roaring lion ripping up its prey. They destroy the people, grab everything that's valuable, and make many more widows in the city.
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 pervert my law and make my holy things unclean. They don't distinguish between what is holy and what is ordinary, and they don't separate the clean from the unclean. They forget about my Sabbaths, and they lead people to treat me with no respect.
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 city officials are like wolves ripping up their prey, killing people, destroying lives so they can profit through fraud.
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.
Her prophets cover up what they do, using false visions as whitewash and prophecies that are lies, saying, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord hasn't said anything.
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 this country are extortioners and robbers. They mistreat the poor and those in need and exploit the foreigners, treating them totally unfairly.
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.
I tried to find one of them repair the wall and defend the gap so when I came I wouldn't destroy it—but I couldn't find anyone.
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 let them experience my hostility, burning them up with the fire of my anger. I have made sure they suffer the consequences of what they've done, declares the Lord God.”
