Ezekiel 22
1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
And the word of the Lord came unto 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.
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?
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].
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:
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].
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.
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 who are near, and those who are far from thee, shall mock thee, O thou unclean in name, and great in confusion!
6 Think about how each of your Israeli kings have used their power to cause people to be murdered [MTY].
Behold, the princes of Israel were each [ready] with his arm within thee, in order to shed blood.
7 Your people do not respect/honor their parents; they have oppressed foreigners; they mistreat orphans and widows.
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.
8 You despise my sacred places and (dishonor/do not respect) the Sabbath days.
My holy things thou didst despise, and my sabbaths thou didst profane.
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.
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.
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.
Their father's nakedness they uncovered within thee; her that was unclean in her separation did they violate within thee.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
15 I will cause you to be scattered among many nations [DOU], and I will cause you to stop your sinful behavior.
And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee in the countries, and I will entirely remove thy uncleanness out of thee.
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 thou shalt be degraded through thyself before the eyes of nations, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
17 Yahweh [also] said to me,
And the word of the Lord came unto 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 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.
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 thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Because ye are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of 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.
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.
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,
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.
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 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.
23 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
And the word of the Lord came unto 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 unto her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed; [and] which is not rained upon on the day of indignation.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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 are guilty of extortion, and practise robbery, and the poor and the needy they defraud: and they extort from the stranger with injustice.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
