Ezekiel 22
1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 'And thou, son of man, dost thou judge? dost thou judge the city of blood? then thou hast caused it to know all its abominations,
“Now you, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the city of blood? Make her know all her abominations.
3 and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The city is shedding blood in its midst, For the coming in of its time, And it hath made idols on it for defilement.
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 By thy blood that thou hast shed thou hast been guilty, And by thine idols that thou hast made thou hast been defiled, And thou causest thy days to draw near, And art come in unto thine years, Therefore I have given thee a reproach to nations, And a derision to all the lands.
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 The near and the far-off from thee scoff at thee, O defiled of name — abounding in trouble.
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 Lo, princes of Israel — each according to his arm Have been in thee 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 made light of in thee, To a sojourner they dealt oppressively in thy midst, Fatherless and widow they oppressed in 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 hast despised, And My sabbaths thou hast polluted.
You have despised my holy things and have profaned my Sabbaths.
9 Men of slander have been in thee to shed blood, And on the mountains they have eaten in thee, Wickedness they have done in thy midst.
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 The nakedness of a father hath one uncovered in thee, The defiled of impurity they humbled in thee.
Within you men uncover the nakedness of their father. Within you they have violated unclean women during their menstrual period.
11 And each with the wife of his neighbour hath done abomination, And each his daughter-in-law hath defiled through wickedness, And each his sister, his father's daughter, hath humbled in 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 A bribe they have taken in thee to shed blood, Usury and increase thou hast taken, And cuttest off thy neighbour by oppression, And Me thou hast forgotten, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!
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 lo, I have smitten My hand, Because of thy dishonest gain that thou hast gained, And for thy blood that hath been in thy midst.
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 Doth thy heart stand — are thy hands strong, For the days that I am dealing with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done [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 have scattered thee among nations, And have spread thee out among lands, And consumed 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 hast been polluted in thyself Before the eyes of nations, And thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah.'
So you will become unclean in the eyes of the nations. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.'”
17 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 'Son of man,
Next the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
18 The house of Israel hath been to Me for dross, All of them [are] brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, In the midst of a furnace — dross hath silver been,
“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 said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your all becoming dross, Therefore, lo, I am gathering you unto 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 A gathering of silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, Unto the midst of a furnace — to blow on it fire, to melt it, So do I gather in Mine anger and in My fury, And I have let rest, and have melted 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 And I have heaped you up, And blown on you in the fire of My wrath, And ye have been melted in its midst.
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 the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, So are ye melted in its midst, And ye have known that I, Jehovah, I have poured out My fury upon 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 there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
24 'Son of man, say to it, Thou [art] a land, It [is] not cleansed nor rained on in a 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 A conspiracy of its prophets [is] in its midst, as a roaring lion tearing prey; The soul they have devoured, Wealth and glory they have taken, Its widows have multiplied in its midst.
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 Its priests have wronged My law, And they pollute My holy things, Between holy and common they have not made separation, And between the unclean and the clean they have not made known, And from my sabbaths they have hidden their eyes, And I am pierced in their midst.
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 Its princes in its midst [are] as wolves, Tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, For the sake of gaining dishonest 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 its prophets have daubed for them with chalk, Seeing a vain thing, and divining for them a lie, Saying, 'Thus said the Lord Jehovah:' And Jehovah hath 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 have used oppression, And have taken plunder violently away, And humble and needy have oppressed, And the sojourner oppressed — without judgment.
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 of them a man making a fence, And standing in the breach before Me, In behalf of the land — not to destroy it, And I have not found.
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 pour out on them mine indignation, By fire of My wrath I have consumed them, Their way on their own head I have put, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'
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.'”
