Jezekiel 22

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

2 And you, son of man, will you judge the bloody city? yes, declare you to her all her iniquities.

3 And you shall say, Thus says the Lord God: O city that sheds blood in the midst of her, so that her time should come, and that forms devices against herself, to defile herself;

4 in their blood which you have shed, you have transgressed; and in your devices which you have formed, you have polluted yourself; and you have brought near your days, and have brought on the time of your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery to all the countries,

5 to those near you, and to those far distant from you; and they shall mock you, [you that are] notoriously unclean, and abundant in iniquities.

6 Behold, the princes of the house of Israel have conspired in you each one with his kindred, that they might shed blood.

7 In you they have reviled father and mother; and in you they have behaved unjustly toward the stranger: they have oppressed the orphan and widow.

8 And they have set at nothing my holy things, and in you they have profaned my sabbaths.

9 [There are] robbers in you, to shed blood in you; and in you they have eaten upon the mountains: they have wrought ungodliness in the midst of you.

10 In you they have uncovered the father's shame; and in you they have humbled her that was set apart for uncleanness.

11 They have dealt unlawfully each one with his neighbor's wife; and each one in ungodliness has defiled his daughter-in-law: and in you they have humbled each one his sister, the daughter of his father.

12 In you they have received gifts to shed blood; they have received in you interest and usurious increase; and by oppression you have brought your wickedness to the full, and have forgotten me, says the Lord.

13 And if I shall strike my hand at [your iniquities] which you have accomplished, which you have wrought, and at your blood that has been shed in the midst of you,

14 shall your heart endure? shall your hands be strong in the days which I bring upon you? I the Lord have spoken, and will do [it].

15 And I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you in the countries, and your uncleanness shall be removed out of you.

16 And I will give heritages in you in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

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

18 Son of man, behold, the house of Israel are all become to me [as it were] mixed with brass, and iron, and tin, and lead; they are mixed up in the midst of the silver.

19 Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God; Because you have become one mixture, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

20 As silver, and brass, and iron, and tin, and lead, are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow fire into it, that they may be melted: so will I take [you] in my wrath, and I will gather and melt you.

21 And I will blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst thereof.

22 As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in the midst thereof; and you shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.

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

24 Son of man, say to her, You are the land that is not rained upon, neither has rain come upon you in the day of wrath;

25 whose princes in the midst of her are as roaring lions seizing prey, devouring souls by oppression, and taking bribes; and your widows are multiplied in the midst of you.

26 Her priests also have set at nothing my law, and profaned my holy things: they have not distinguished between the holy and profane, nor have they distinguished between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them.

27 Her princes in the midst of her are as wolves ravening to shed blood, that they may get dishonest gain.

28 And her prophets that daub them shall fall, that see vanities, that prophesy falsehoods, saying, Thus says the Lord, when the Lord has not spoken.

29 That sorely oppress the people of the land with injustice, and commit robbery; oppressing the poor and needy, and not dealing justly with the stranger.

30 And I sought from among them a man behaving uprightly, and standing before me perfectly in the time of wrath, so that I should not utterly destroy her: but I found [him] not.

31 So I have poured out my wrath upon her in the fury of mine anger, to accomplish [it]. I have recompensed their ways on their own heads, says the Lord God.