Ezekiel 22
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And there is a word of YHWH 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 you, son of man, do you judge? Do you judge the city of blood? Then you have caused it to know all its 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 you have said, Thus said Lord YHWH: The city is shedding blood in its midst, For the coming in of its time, And it has made idols on it for defilement.
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 have been guilty by your blood that you have shed, And you have been defiled by your idols that you have made, And you cause your days to draw near, And have come to your years, Therefore I have given you [for] a reproach to nations, And a derision to all the lands.
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.
The near and the far-off from you scoff at you, O defiled of name—abounding in trouble.
6 See, the rulers of Israel, every one in his family, have been causing death in you.
Behold, princes of Israel—each according to his arm Have been in you 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.
They have made light of father and mother in you, They dealt oppressively to a sojourner in your midst, They oppressed fatherless and widow in you.
8 You have made little of my holy things, and have made my Sabbaths unclean.
You have despised My holy things, And you have defiled 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.
Men of slander have been in you to shed blood, And they have eaten on the mountains in you, They have done wickedness in your midst.
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.
One has uncovered the nakedness of a father in you, They humbled the menstruous woman in you.
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 each has done abomination with the wife of his neighbor, And each has defiled his daughter-in-law through wickedness, And each has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter, in you.
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.
They have taken a bribe to shed blood in you, You have taken usury and increase, And cut off your neighbor by oppression, And you have forgotten Me, A declaration of Lord YHWH!
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 behold, I have struck My hand, Because of your dishonest gain that you have gained, And for your blood that has been in your midst.
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.
Does your heart stand—are your hands strong, For the days that I am dealing with you? I, YHWH, have spoken and have done [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 have scattered you among nations, And have spread you out among lands, And consumed your uncleanness out of you.
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 you have been defiled in yourself Before the eyes of nations, And you have known that I [am] YHWH.”
17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And there is a word of YHWH 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 been for dross to Me, All of them [are] bronze, and tin, and iron, and lead, In the midst of a furnace—silver has been dross,
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 said Lord YHWH: Because you have all become dross, Therefore, behold, I am gathering 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.
A gathering of silver, and bronze, and iron, and lead, and tin, Into the midst of a furnace—to blow fire on it, to melt it, So I gather in My anger and in My fury, And I have let rest, and have melted you.
21 Yes, I will take you, breathing on you the fire of my wrath, and you will become soft in it.
And I have heaped you up, And blown on you in the fire of My wrath, And you have been melted in its midst.
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 the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, So you are melted in its midst, And you have known that I, YHWH, have poured out My fury on you.”
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And there is a word of YHWH 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 it, You [are] a land, It [is] not cleansed nor rained on in a 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.
A conspiracy of its prophets [is] in its midst, As a roaring lion tearing prey; They have devoured the soul, They have taken wealth and glory, Its widows have multiplied in its midst.
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.
Its priests have wronged My law, And they defile My holy things, They have not made separation between holy and common, And they have not made known [the difference] between the unclean and the clean, And they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, And I am pierced in their midst.
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.
Its princes [are] as wolves in its midst, Tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, For the sake of gaining 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 its prophets have coated with chalk for them, Seeing a vain thing, and divining a lie for them, Saying, Thus said Lord YHWH, And YHWH 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 have taken plunder away violently, And have oppressed humble and needy, And oppressed the sojourner without judgment.
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 seek from them a man making a wall, And standing in the breach before Me, In behalf of the land—not to destroy it, And I have 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.
And I pour out My indignation on them, I have consumed them by [the] fire of My wrath, I have put their way on their own head, A declaration of Lord YHWH!”
