Ezekiel 22
1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
And there is a word of YHWH 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.
“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,
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 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.
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 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.
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.
The near and the far-off from you scoff at you, O defiled of name—abounding in trouble.
6 Think about how each of your Israeli kings have used their power to cause people to be murdered [MTY].
Behold, princes of Israel—each according to his arm Have been in you to shed blood.
7 Your people do not respect/honor their parents; they have oppressed foreigners; they mistreat orphans and widows.
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.
8 You despise my sacred places and (dishonor/do not respect) the Sabbath days.
You have despised My holy things, And you have defiled 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.
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.
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.
One has uncovered the nakedness of a father in you, They humbled the menstruous woman in you.
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 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.
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.
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!
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 hand, Because of your dishonest gain that you have gained, And for your blood that has been 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.
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].
15 I will cause you to be scattered among many nations [DOU], and I will cause you to stop your sinful behavior.
And I have scattered you among nations, And have spread you out among lands, And consumed your uncleanness out of you.
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 you have been defiled in yourself Before the eyes of nations, And you have known that I [am] YHWH.”
17 Yahweh [also] said to me,
And there is a word of YHWH 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 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,
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 said Lord YHWH: Because you have all become dross, Therefore, behold, I am gathering 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.
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.
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,
And I have heaped you up, And blown on you in the fire of My wrath, And you have been melted in its midst.
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 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.”
23 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
And there is a word of YHWH 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 it, You [are] a land, It [is] not cleansed nor rained on in a 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].
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.
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.
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.
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.
Its princes [are] as wolves in its midst, Tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, For the sake of gaining 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.
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.
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 used oppression, And have taken plunder away violently, And have oppressed humble and needy, And oppressed the sojourner without judgment.
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 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.
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 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!”
