Ezekiel 22
1 A message from the Lord came to me, saying,
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 “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,
Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yes, thou shalt show her all her abominations.
3 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.
Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.
4 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.
Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself by thy idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come [even] to thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.
5 People far and near will laugh at you, you corrupt city full of confusion!
[Those that are] near, and [those that are] far from thee, shall mock thee, [who art] infamous [and] much troubled.
6 Look at how all of your leaders in Israel use their power to murder.
Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.
7 You despise your parents. You exploit the foreigners who live with you, and you mistreat orphans and widows.
In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they oppressed the fatherless and the widow.
8 You detest my holy things and violate my Sabbaths.
Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.
9 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.
In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.
10 Some of those living in the city have sex with their father's wives or with women during their period.
In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.
11 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.
And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
12 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.
In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained from thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.
13 So watch out! I clap my hands in condemnation at your dishonest profiteering and at all your murders.
Behold, therefore I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
14 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.
Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken [it], and will do [it].
15 I'm going to scatter you among the nations and the different countries. I will put a stop to your unclean acts.
And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
16 For when everyone else sees how you've made yourselves unclean, then you will acknowledge that I am the Lord.”
And thou shalt take thy inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD.
17 A message from the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18 “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.
Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they [are] brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are [even] the dross of silver.
19 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.
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20 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.
[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 will I gather [you] in my anger and in my fury, and I will leave [you there], and melt you.
21 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.
Yes, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst of it.
22 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.”
As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst of it; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you.
23 Another message from the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
24 “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,
Son of man, say to her, Thou [art] the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
25 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.
[There is] a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst of her, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst of her.
26 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.
Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shown [difference] between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 Her city officials are like wolves ripping up their prey, killing people, destroying lives so they can profit through fraud.
Her princes in the midst of her [are] like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, [and] to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
28 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.
And her prophets have daubed them with untempered [mortar], seeing vanity, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
29 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.
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have oppressed the poor and needy: yes, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
30 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.
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
31 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.”
Therefore have I poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
