Ezekiel 22

1 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

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

2 “And you, son of man, do you judge? Do you judge the city of blood? Then you have caused it to know all its abominations,

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

3 and you have said, Thus said Lord YHWH: The city is shedding blood in its midst, For the coming in of its time, And it has made idols on it for defilement.

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 You have been guilty by your blood that you have shed, And you have been defiled by your idols that you have made, And you cause your days to draw near, And have come to your years, Therefore I have given you [for] a reproach to nations, And a derision to all the lands.

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 The near and the far-off from you scoff at you, O defiled of name—abounding in trouble.

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

6 Behold, princes of Israel—each according to his arm Have been in you to shed blood.

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

7 They have made light of father and mother in you, They dealt oppressively to a sojourner in your midst, They oppressed fatherless and widow in you.

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 You have despised My holy things, And you have defiled My Sabbaths.

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

9 Men of slander have been in you to shed blood, And they have eaten on the mountains in you, They have done wickedness in your midst.

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 One has uncovered the nakedness of a father in you, They humbled the menstruous woman in you.

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

11 And each has done abomination with the wife of his neighbor, And each has defiled his daughter-in-law through wickedness, And each has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter, in you.

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 They have taken a bribe to shed blood in you, You have taken usury and increase, And cut off your neighbor by oppression, And you have forgotten Me, A declaration of Lord YHWH!

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 And behold, I have struck My hand, Because of your dishonest gain that you have gained, And for your blood that has been in your midst.

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 Does your heart stand—are your hands strong, For the days that I am dealing with you? I, YHWH, have spoken and have done [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 have scattered you among nations, And have spread you out among lands, And consumed your uncleanness out of you.

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 you have been defiled in yourself Before the eyes of nations, And you have known that I [am] YHWH.”

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

17 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

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

18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has been for dross to Me, All of them [are] bronze, and tin, and iron, and lead, In the midst of a furnace—silver has been dross,

“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 said Lord YHWH: Because you have all become dross, Therefore, behold, I am gathering 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 A gathering of silver, and bronze, and iron, and lead, and tin, Into the midst of a furnace—to blow fire on it, to melt it, So I gather in My anger and in My fury, And I have let rest, and have melted 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 And I have heaped you up, And blown on you in the fire of My wrath, And you have been melted in its midst.

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 the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, So you are melted in its midst, And you have known that I, YHWH, have poured out My fury on 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 there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

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

24 “Son of man, say to it, You [are] a land, It [is] not cleansed nor rained on in a day of indignation.

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

25 A conspiracy of its prophets [is] in its midst, As a roaring lion tearing prey; They have devoured the soul, They have taken wealth and glory, Its widows have multiplied in its midst.

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 Its priests have wronged My law, And they defile My holy things, They have not made separation between holy and common, And they have not made known [the difference] between the unclean and the clean, And they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, And I am pierced in their midst.

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 Its princes [are] as wolves in its midst, Tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, For the sake of gaining 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 its prophets have coated with chalk for them, Seeing a vain thing, and divining a lie for them, Saying, Thus said Lord YHWH, And YHWH has 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 have taken plunder away violently, And have oppressed humble and needy, And oppressed the sojourner without judgment.

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 seek from them a man making a wall, And standing in the breach before Me, In behalf of the land—not to destroy it, And I have 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 And I pour out My indignation on them, I have consumed them by [the] fire of My wrath, I have put their way on their own head, A declaration of Lord YHWH!”

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.”