Ezekiel 22
1 Moreover, the worde of the Lord came vnto me, saying,
Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
2 Now thou sonne of man, wilt thou iudge, wilt thou iudge this bloody citie? wilt thou shew her all her abominations?
“You human, are you ready to condemn the people of Jerusalem? It is [RHQ] a city full of murderers [MTY]. Remind them of all the detestable things that they have done.
3 Then say, Thus sayth the Lord God, The citie sheddeth blood in the middes of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against her selfe to pollute her selfe.
[Then] say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: By your murdering people and by (defiling yourselves/making yourselves unacceptable to God) by making idols, you people of this city [APO] have brought to yourselves the time when you [will be destroyed].
4 Thou hast offended in thy blood, that thou hast shed, and hast polluted thy selfe in thine idols, which thou hast made, and thou hast caused thy dayes to draw neere, and art come vnto thy terme: therefore haue I made thee a reproch to the heathen, and a mocking to all countreys.
You have become guilty by doing both of those things [DOU]. You have brought to an end your time [to remain alive] [DOU]. Therefore I will cause you to become a group whom the [people of other] nations will scorn; they will all laugh at you [DOU].
5 Those that be neere, and those that be farre from thee, shall mocke thee, which art vile in name and sore in affliction.
People in countries that are near you and people who live far from you will make fun of you, because your city is full of lawless people and full of confusion.
6 Beholde, the princes of Israel euery one in thee was ready to his power, to shed blood.
Think about how each of your Israeli kings have used their power to cause people to be murdered [MTY].
7 In thee haue they despised father and mother: in the middes of thee haue they oppressed the stranger: in thee haue they vexed the fatherlesse and the widowe.
Your people do not respect/honor their parents; they have oppressed foreigners; they mistreat orphans and widows.
8 Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast polluted my Sabbaths.
You despise my sacred places and (dishonor/do not respect) the Sabbath days.
9 In thee are men that cary tales to shed blood: in thee are they that eate vpon the mountaines: in ye mids of thee they comit abomination.
Among you are men who tell lies in order to cause others to be executed [MTY]. There are those who [food offered to idols] at the hilltop [shrines], and they perform disgusting sexual acts.
10 In thee haue they discouered their fathers shame: in thee haue they vexed her that was polluted in her floures.
There are men who have sex with their father’s wives [EUP], and men who have sex with women during their monthly menstrual periods.
11 And euery one hath committed abomination with his neighbours wife, and euery one hath wickedly defiled his daughter in lawe, and in thee hath euery man forced his owne sister, euen his fathers daughter.
There are men who have sex with someone else’s wife. Some men have sex with their daughters-in-law or with their sisters or half-sisters.
12 In thee haue they taken giftes to shed blood: thou hast taken vsurie and the encrease, and thou hast defrauded thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God.
There are among you men who accept bribes in order to cause someone to be executed [MTY]. You charge high interest when you lend people money. You become rich by forcing people to give you money. [the worst thing is that] you have forgotten me, Yahweh the Lord.
13 Beholde, therefore I haue smitten mine hands vpon thy couetousnesse, that thou hast vsed, and vpon the blood, which hath bene in the middes of thee.
So I will shake my fists at you to show that I am angry with you because of your stealing money from people and murdering [MTY] people who live among you.
14 Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the dayes that I shall haue to doe with thee? I the Lord haue spoken it, and will doe it.
When I [punishing] you, you will no longer [RHQ] be courageous/brave [DOU]. I, Yahweh, have said [what I will do to you], and I will do it.
15 And I wil scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countreys, and will cause thy filthines to cease from thee.
I will cause you to be scattered among many nations [DOU], and I will cause you to stop your sinful behavior.
16 And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thy selfe in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt knowe that I am the Lord.
When [the people of other] nations see that you have been humiliated, you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’”
17 And the worde of the Lord came vnto me, saying,
Yahweh [also] said to me,
18 Sonne of man, the house of Israel is vnto me as drosse: all they are brasse, and tinne, and yron, and leade in the mids of the fornace: they are euen the drosse of siluer.
“You human, your Israeli people [MTY] have [useless] to me. They are [like] [MET] dross/slag to me. They are like [SIM] [worthless] copper, tin, iron, and lead that remains after silver is melted in [very hot] furnace.
19 Therefore, thus sayth the Lord God, Because ye are all as drosse, beholde, therefore I will gather you in the middes of Ierusalem.
Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: Because you have all become [like] dross/slag, I will gather you in Jerusalem.
20 As they gather siluer and brasse, and yron, and leade, and tinne into the middes of the fornace, to blowe the fire vpon it to melt it, so wil I gather you in mine anger and in my wrath, and wil put you there and melt you.
People [ore containing] silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin in a [very hot] furnace and melt them in a blazing [to burn up the impurities]. Similarly [SIM], I will gather you [inside Jerusalem], and because I am very angry with you, [what I will do will be as though] I am melting you.
21 I wil gather you, I say, and blowe the fire of my wrath vpon you, and you shalbe melted in the mids thereof.
[It will be as though] I will blow on you with a hot breath that shows that I am very angry, [it will be as though] you will be melted,
22 As siluer is melted in the mids of the fornace, so shall ye be melted in the mids thereof, and ye shall knowe, that I the Lord haue powred out my wrath vpon you.
as though you will be melted like [SIM] silver is melted in a furnace, and then you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my punishment [MTY] on you.”
23 And the worde of the Lord came vnto me, saying,
Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
24 Sonne of man, say vnto her; Thou art the land, that is vncleane, and not rained vpon in the day of wrath.
“You human, say to the Israeli people, ‘[Yahweh] is angry with you, there has been no rain or showers in your country.’
25 There is a conspiracie of her prophets in the mids thereof like a roaring lyon, rauening the praye: they haue deuoured soules: they haue taken the riches and precious things: they haue made her many widowes in the mids thereof.
Your leaders are like [SIM] lions that tear apart the animals that they have killed. Your leaders destroy their people. They steal treasures and [other] valuable things from people, and they cause many women to become [by murdering their husbands].
26 Her Priests haue broken my Lawe, and haue defiled mine holy things: they haue put no difference betweene the holy and prophane, neither discerned betweene the vncleane, and the cleane, and haue hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am prophaned among them.
Their priests disobey my laws and disrespect my sacred things by saying that there is no difference between things that are sacred and those that are not sacred, and by ignoring my laws about honoring the Sabbath days. As a result, they no [longer] honor me.
27 Her princes in the mids thereof are like wolues, rauening the praye to shed blood, and to destroy soules for their owne couetous lucre.
Their officials are like [SIM] wolves that tear apart the animals that they have killed: They murder people [DOU] in order to get their money.
28 And her prophets haue dawbed them with vntempered morter, seeing vanities, and diuining lies vnto them, saying, Thus sayth the Lord God, when the Lord had not spoken.
Their prophets, by falsely saying they have received [from God], and by giving false messages, try to (cover up [MET]/say that it is all right to commit) those sins. They say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says,’ when I have said nothing to them.
29 The people of the land haue violently oppressed by spoyling and robbing, and haue vexed the poore and the needy: yea, they haue oppressed the stranger against right.
The Israeli people force others to give them money, and they rob people. They oppress poor [DOU] people, and they mistreat foreigners among them by not treating them [in the courts].
30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make vp the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
I looked among them to find a man who would cause the people of the city to repent [MET] so that I would not need to get rid of them. But I did not find anyone.
31 Therefore haue I powred out mine indignation vpon them, and consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their owne wayes haue I rendred vpon their heads, sayth the Lord God.
So because I am very angry with them, I will severely punish them [MTY] for [all] the wicked things that they have done. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh the Lord, have said it.”
