Ezekiel 22
1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 “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.
“As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations
3 [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].
and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself,
4 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].
you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.
5 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.
Those near and far will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil.
6 Think about how each of your Israeli kings have used their power to cause people to be murdered [MTY].
See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.
7 Your people do not respect/honor their parents; they have oppressed foreigners; they mistreat orphans and widows.
Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.
8 You despise my sacred places and (dishonor/do not respect) the Sabbath days.
You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
9 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.
Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.
10 There are men who have sex with their father’s wives [EUP], and men who have sex with women during their monthly menstrual periods.
In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity.
11 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.
One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.
12 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.
In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.
13 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.
Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.
14 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.
Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.
15 I will cause you to be scattered among many nations [DOU], and I will cause you to stop your sinful behavior.
I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness.
16 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].’”
And when you have defiled yourself in the eyes of the nations, then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
17 Yahweh [also] said to me,
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18 “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.
“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver.
19 Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: Because you have all become [like] dross/slag, I will gather you in Jerusalem.
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem.
20 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.
Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you.
21 [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,
Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city.
22 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.”
As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”
23 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
24 “You human, say to the Israeli people, ‘[Yahweh] is angry with you, there has been no rain or showers in your country.’
“Son of man, say to her, ‘In the day of indignation, you are a land that has not been cleansed, upon which no rain has fallen.’
25 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].
The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.
26 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.
Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
27 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.
Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.
28 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.
Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
29 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].
The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.
30 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.
I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.
31 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.”
So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
