Ezekiel 22

1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 'Now, thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations.

“And you, son of man, should you not judge, should you not judge the city of blood?

3 And thou shalt say: Thus saith the Lord GOD: O city that sheddest blood in the midst of thee, that thy time may come, and that makest idols unto thyself to defile thee;

And you shall reveal to her all her abominations. And you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: This is the city which sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and which has made idols against herself, so that she may be defiled.

4 thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years; therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking to all the countries!

You have offended by your blood, which you shed from yourself. And you have been defiled by your idols which you yourself made. And you have caused your days to approach, and you have brought on the time of your years. Because of this, I have made you a disgrace to the Gentiles, and a derision to all the lands.

5 Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, thou defiled of name and full of tumult.

Those that are near and those that are far from you will triumph over you. You are filthy, infamous, great in destruction.

6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his might, have been in thee to shed blood.

Behold, the leaders of Israel have each used his arm to shed blood within you.

7 In thee have they made light of father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.

They have abused father and mother within you. The new arrival has been oppressed in your midst. They have grieved the orphan and the widow among you.

8 Thou hast despised My holy things, and hast profaned My sabbaths.

You have spurned my sanctuaries, and you have defiled my Sabbaths.

9 In thee have been talebearers to shed blood; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains; in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness.

Maligning men were within you, in order to shed blood, and they have eaten upon the mountains within you. They have worked wickedness in your midst.

10 In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her impurity.

They have uncovered the nakedness of their father within you. They have debased the uncleanness of the menstruous woman within you.

11 And each hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and each hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and each in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

And each one has committed abomination with the wife of his neighbor. And the father-in-law has heinously defiled his daughter-in-law. The brother has oppressed his sister, the daughter of his father, within you.

12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by oppression, and hast forgotten Me, saith the Lord GOD.

They have accepted bribes among you to shed blood. You have received usury and superabundance, and in avarice you have oppressed your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, says the Lord God.

13 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.

Behold, I have clapped my hands over your avarice, which you have worked, and over the blood that has been shed in your midst.

14 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.

How can your heart endure, or your hands prevail, in the days that I will bring upon you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act.

15 And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries; and I will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

And I will disperse you among the nations, and I will scatter you among the lands, and I will cause your uncleanness to fade away from you.

16 And thou shalt be profaned in thyself, in the sight of the nations; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.'

And I will possess you in the sight of the Gentiles. And you shall know that I am the Lord.”

17 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

18 'Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross unto Me; all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

“Son of man, the house of Israel has become like dross to me. All these are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midst of the furnace; they have become like the dross of silver.

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because ye are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Since you have all turned into dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you together in the midst of Jerusalem,

20 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 Mine anger and in My fury, and I will cast you in, and melt you.

just as they gather silver, and brass, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midst of the furnace, so that I may kindle in it a fire to melt it. So will I gather you together in my fury and in my wrath, and I will be quieted, and I will melt you down.

21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you with the fire of My wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.

And I will gather you together, and I will burn you in the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in its midst.

22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out My fury upon you.'

Just as silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so will you be in its midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have poured out my indignation upon you.”

23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

24 'Son of man, say unto her: Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

“Son of man, say to her: You are a land unclean and not rained upon, in the day of fury.

25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls, they take treasure and precious things, they have made her widows many in the midst thereof.

There is a conspiracy of prophets in her midst. Like a lion, roaring and seizing the prey, they have devoured souls. They have taken riches and a price. They have multiplied widows in her midst.

26 Her priests have done violence to My law, and have profaned My holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and the common, neither have they taught difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

Her priests have despised my law, and they have defiled my sanctuaries. They have held no distinction between holy and profane. And they have not understood the difference between defiled and clean. And they have averted their eyes from my Sabbaths. And I was profaned in their midst.

27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey: to shed blood, and to destroy souls, so as to get dishonest gain.

Her leaders in her midst are like wolves seizing the prey: to shed blood, and to perish souls, and to continually pursue profit with avarice.

28 And her prophets have daubed for them with whited plaster, seeing falsehood, and divining lies unto them, saying: Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.

And her prophets have covered them without tempering the mortar, seeing emptiness, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken.

29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have wronged the poor and needy, and have oppressed the stranger unlawfully.

The people of the land have oppressed with slander and have seized with violence. They have afflicted the needy and the poor, and they have oppressed the new arrival by accusations without judgment.

30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.

And I sought among them for a man who might set up a hedge, and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I might not destroy it; and I found no one.

31 Therefore have I poured out Mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I brought upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.'

And so I poured out my indignation upon them; in the fire of my wrath I consumed them. I have rendered their own way upon their head, says the Lord God.”