Jezekiel 22

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

Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

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

“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 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;

[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 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,

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 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.

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

Think about how each of your Israeli kings have used their power to cause people to be murdered [MTY].

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.

Your people do not respect/honor their parents; they have oppressed foreigners; they mistreat orphans and widows.

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

You despise my sacred places and (dishonor/do not respect) the Sabbath days.

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.

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

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 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.

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 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.

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 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,

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 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].

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

I will cause you to be scattered among many nations [DOU], and I will cause you to stop your sinful behavior.

16 And I will give heritages in you in the sight of the nations, and you shall know 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 word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Yahweh [also] said to me,

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.

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

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 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.

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

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 word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

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;

“You human, say to the Israeli people, ‘[Yahweh] is angry with you, there has been no rain or showers in your country.’

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.

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 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.

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 midst of her are as wolves ravening to shed blood, that they may get dishonest gain.

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 that daub them shall fall, that see vanities, that prophesy falsehoods, saying, Thus says the Lord, when the Lord has 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.”