Ezekiel 22

1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

2 Now, you son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? yes, you shall show her all her abominations.

“Now you, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the city of blood? Make her know all her abominations.

3 Then say you, Thus says the Lord GOD, The city sheds blood in the middle of it, that her time may come, and makes idols against herself to defile herself.

You must say, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: This is a city that pours out blood in her midst so that her time may come; a city that makes idols to make herself unclean.

4 You are become guilty in your blood that you have shed; and have defiled yourself in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and are come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.

You have become guilty by the blood that you have poured out, and you have become unclean by the idols that you have made. You have drawn your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you a reproach to the nations and a laughingstock to all the lands.

5 Those that be near, and those that be far from you, shall mock you, which are infamous and much vexed.

Both those who are near and those who are far away from you will mock you—you unclean city—with the reputation known everywhere as being full of confusion.

6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in you to their power to shed blood.

Behold! The rulers of Israel, each one by his own power, have come to you to pour out blood.

7 In you have they set light by father and mother: in the middle of you have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in you have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.

They have dishonored fathers and mothers within you, and they have performed oppression on the foreigners in your midst. They have mistreated the orphans and the widows within you.

8 You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my sabbaths.

You have despised my holy things and have profaned my Sabbaths.

9 In you are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in you they eat on the mountains: in the middle of you they commit lewdness.

Slanderous men have come within you in order to pour out blood, and they eat on the mountains. They perform wickedness in your midst.

10 In you have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness: in you have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.

Within you men uncover the nakedness of their father. Within you they have violated unclean women during their menstrual period.

11 And one has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.

Men who commit abominations with their neighbors' wives, and men who make their own daughters-in-law shamefully unclean; men who abuse their own sisters—daughters of their own fathers—all these are done within you.

12 In you have they taken gifts to shed blood; you have taken usury and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten me, says the Lord GOD.

These men take bribes within you in order to pour out blood and you have taken interest and gained too much profit, and you have damaged your neighbors through oppression, and you have forgotten me—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

13 Behold, therefore I have smitten my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the middle of you.

See! With my hand I have struck the dishonest gain that you have made, and the bloodshed that is done in the midst of you.

14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.

Will your heart stand, will your hands be strong on the days when I myself will deal with you? I, Yahweh, am declaring this, and I will do it.

15 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and disperse you in the countries, and will consume your filthiness out of you.

So I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the lands. In this way, I will purge your uncleanness from you.

16 And you shall take your inheritance in yourself in the sight of the heathen, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

So you will become unclean in the eyes of the nations. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.'”

17 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Next the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the middle of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.

“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are the leftovers of bronze and tin, and iron and lead in the midst of you. They will be like the dross of silver in your furnace.

19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Because you are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the middle of Jerusalem.

Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, 'Because all of you have become like dross, therefore, behold! I am about to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the middle of the furnace, to blow the fire on 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.

As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead and tin and put it inside a furnace to melt it, and they blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and my wrath, and I will put you there and melt you.

21 Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you in the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the middle therof.

I will gather you and blow on you the fire of my wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it.

22 As silver is melted in the middle of the furnace, so shall you be melted in the middle thereof; and you shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury on you.

As silver is melted in a furnace, you will be melted in it, and you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath on you!'”

23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

24 Son of man, say to her, You are the land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.

“Son of man, say to her, 'You are a land that has not been cleansed. There is no rain on the day of wrath!

25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the middle thereof, 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 middle thereof.

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing apart a victim. They consume life and take precious wealth; they make many widows within her!

26 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 showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

Her priests do violence to my law, and they profane my holy things. They do not distinguish between holy things and profane things, and do not teach the difference between the unclean and the clean. They hide their eyes from my Sabbaths so that I am profaned in their midst.

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

Her princes within her are like wolves tearing apart their victims. They pour out blood and destroy life, to make a profit dishonestly.

28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord GOD, when the LORD has not spoken.

Her prophets have painted them over with whitewash; they see false visions and predict falsehoods to them. They say “The Lord Yahweh says this” when Yahweh has not spoken.

29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yes, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

The people of the land have oppressed through extortion and plundered through robbery, and they mistreat the poor and needy, and oppress the foreigner without justice.

30 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.

So I searched for a man from them who would build up a wall and who would stand before me in its breach for the land so I would not destroy it, but I found no one.

31 Therefore have I poured out my indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed on their heads, says the Lord GOD.

So I will pour out my indignation upon them. I will finish them with the fire of my indignation and set their way on their own heads—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.'”