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 thou son of man, dost thou not judge, dost thou not judge the city of blood?

“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 thou shalt shew her all her abominations, and shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God: This is the city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her, that her time may come: and that hath made idols against herself, to defile herself.

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 Thou art become guilty in thy blood which thou hast shed: and thou art defiled in thy idols which thou hast made: and thou hast made thy days to draw near, and hast brought on the time of thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery 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 that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall triumph over thee: thou filthy one, infamous, great in destruction.

The near and the far-off from you scoff at you, O defiled of name—abounding in trouble.

6 Behold the princes of Israel, every one hath employed his arm in thee to shed blood.

Behold, princes of Israel—each according to his arm Have been in you to shed blood.

7 They have abused father and mother in thee, they have oppressed the stranger in the midst of thee, they have grieved the fatherless and widow in thee.

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 Thou hast despised my sanctuaries, and profaned my sabbaths.

You have despised My holy things, And you have defiled My Sabbaths.

9 Slanderers have been in thee to shed blood, and they have eaten upon the mountains in thee, they have committed wickedness in the midst of thee.

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 They have discovered the nakedness of their father in thee, they have humbled the uncleanness of the menstruous woman in thee.

One has uncovered the nakedness of a father in you, They humbled the menstruous woman in you.

11 And every one hath committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife, and the father in law hath wickedly defiled his daughter in law, the brother hath oppressed his sister the daughter of his father in thee.

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 They have taken gifts in thee to shed blood: thou hast taken usury and increase, and hast covetously oppressed thy neighbours: and then hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God.

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 Behold, I have clapped my hands at thy covetousness, which thou hast exercised and at the blood that hath been shed: In the midst of thee.

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 Shall thy heart endure, or shall thy hands prevail ill the days which I will bring upon thee: I the Lord have spoken, 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 disperse thee in the nations, and will scatter thee among the countries, and I will put an end to thy uncleanness in thee.

And I have scattered you among nations, And have spread you out among lands, And consumed your uncleanness out of you.

16 And I will possess thee in the sight of the Gentiles, and thou shalt know 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 house of Israel is become dress to me: all these are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace: they are become the dress of silver.

“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 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because you are all turned into dress, therefore behold I will gather you together in the midst of 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 gather silver, and brass, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midst of the furnace: that I may kindle a fire in it to melt it: so will I gather you together in my fury and in my wrath, and will take my rest, and I will melt you down.

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 And I will gather you together, and will burn you in the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst thereof.

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 is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be in the midst thereof: and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have poured out my indignation upon 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: Thou art a land that is unclean, and not rained upon 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 There is a conspiracy of prophets in the midst thereof: like a lion that roareth and catcheth the prey, they have devoured souls, they have taken riches and hire, they have made many widows in the midst thereof.

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 despised my law, and have defiled my sanctuaries: they have put no difference between holy and profane: nor have distinguished between the polluted and the clean: and they have turned away their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of 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 princes in the midst of her, are like wolves ravening the prey to shed blood, and to destroy souls, and to run after gains through covetousness.

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 daubed them without tempering the mortar, seeing vain things, and divining lies unto them, saying: Thus saith the Lord God: when the Lord hath not spoken.

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 used oppression, and committed robbery: they afflicted the needy and poor, and they oppressed the stranger by calumny without judgment.

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 sought among them for a man that might set up a hedge, and stand in the gap before me in favour of the land, that I might not destroy it: and I found none.

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 poured out my indignation upon them, in the fire of my wrath I consumed them: I have rendered their way upon their own head, saith the Lord God.

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!”