Ezekiel 22
1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 And thou, son of man, wilt thou take to task, wilt thou take to task the city of blood? and wilt thou make her know 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 thou, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, O city that sheddeth blood in her midst, that her time [of sorrow] may come, and that hath made idols for herself to become unclean:
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 Through thy blood which thou hast shed, are thou become guilty; and through thy idols which thou hast made art thou become unclean; and thou hast caused thy days [of destruction] to draw near, and thou art come even unto thy years; therefore do I make thee a disgrace unto the nations, and a mocking to all the 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 who are near, and those who are far from thee, shall mock thee, O thou unclean in name, and great in confusion!
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 were each [ready] with his arm within thee, in order to shed blood.
Behold! The rulers of Israel, each one by his own power, have come to you to pour out blood.
7 Father and mother they esteemed lightly within thee, toward the stranger they acted with extortion in the midst of thee, the fatherless and the widow they oppressed within thee.
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 My holy things thou didst despise, and my sabbaths thou didst profane.
You have despised my holy things and have profaned my Sabbaths.
9 Tale-bearers [also] were within thee, in order to shed blood; and upon the mountains did they eat within thee; incest did they commit in the midst of thee.
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 Their father's nakedness they uncovered within thee; her that was unclean in her separation did they violate within thee.
Within you men uncover the nakedness of their father. Within you they have violated unclean women during their menstrual period.
11 And one with his neighbor's wife did commit abomination; and another did defile his daughter-in-law with incest; and another did violate his sister, the daughter of his father, within thee.
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 Bribes they took within thee, in order to shed blood; interest and increase didst thou take, and thou didst acquire gain off thy neighbors by extortion: and me thou didst forget, saith the Lord Eternal.
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 And behold, I have struck my hands together at thy wrongful gain which thou hast acquired, and at thy blood-guilt which hath been in the midst of thee.
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 Will thy courage endure, or will thy hands remain strong, on the days that I will deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken, 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 thee among the nations, and disperse thee in the countries, and I will entirely remove thy uncleanness out of thee.
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 thou shalt be degraded through thyself before the eyes of nations, and thou shalt 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 unto me, saying,
Next the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
18 Son of man, the house of Israel are become to me dross: they all are copper, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; the dross of silver are they become.
“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 hath said the Lord Eternal, Because ye are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst 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 silver, and copper, and iron, and lead, and tin are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it: so will I gather you in my anger and in my fury and I will lay you down 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 Yea, I will assemble you in a heap, and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst of it.
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 midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst of it: and ye shall know that I am the Lord who have poured out my fury over 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 unto me, saying,
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed; [and] which is not rained upon on 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 The banded troop of her prophets in the midst of her is like a roaring lion that teareth in pieces the prey: souls do they devour; wealth and precious things do they take away; the number of her widows do they increase in the midst of her.
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 violate my law, and profane my holy things: between the holy and profane do they make no distinction, and the difference between the unclean and the clean do they not make known, and from [the violation of] my sabbaths do they turn away their eyes, so that 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 her midst are like wolves that tear in pieces the prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, in order to obtain selfish 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 plastered for them with unadhesive mortar, foreseeing falsehood, and divining unto them lies, saying, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal; when the Lord had 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 are guilty of extortion, and practise robbery, and the poor and the needy they defraud: and they extort from the stranger with injustice.
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 seek now among them for a man, that could erect a fence, and stand in the breach before me in behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it; but I find 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 And I therefore pour out over them my indignation; with the fire of my wrath do I make an end of them: their own way do I bring upon their head, saith the Lord Eternal.
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.'”
