Ezekiel 22

¹And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²And you, son of man, will you be a judge, will you be a judge of the town of blood? then make clear to her all her disgusting ways.

³And you are to say, This is what the Lord has said: A town causing blood to be drained out in her streets so that her time may come, and making images in her to make her unclean!

⁴You are responsible for the blood drained out by you, and you are unclean through the images which you have made; and you have made your day come near, and the time of your judging has come; for this cause I have made you a name of shame to the nations and a cause of laughing to all countries.

⁵Those who are near and those who are far from you will make sport of you; your name is unclean, you are full of sounds of fear.

⁶See, the rulers of Israel, every one in his family, have been causing death in you.

⁷In you they have had no respect for father and mother; in you they have been cruel to the man from a strange land; in you they have done wrong to the child without a father and to the widow.

⁸You have made little of my holy things, and have made my Sabbaths unclean.

⁹In you there are men who say evil of others, causing death; in you they have taken the flesh with the blood for food; in your streets they have put evil designs into effect.

¹⁰In you they have let the shame of their fathers be seen; in you they have done wrong to a woman at the time when she was unclean.

¹¹And in you one man has done what was disgusting with his neighbour's wife; and another has made his daughter-in-law unclean; and another has done wrong to his sister, his father's daughter.

¹²In you they have taken rewards as the price of blood; you have taken interest and great profits, and you have taken away your neighbours' goods by force, and have not kept me in mind, says the Lord.

¹³See, then, I have made my hands come together in wrath against your taking of goods by force and against the blood which has been flowing in you.

¹⁴Will your heart be high or your hands strong in the days when I take you in hand? I the Lord have said it and will do it.

¹⁵And I will send you in flight among the nations and wandering among the countries; and I will completely take away out of you everything which is unclean.

¹⁶And you will be made low before the eyes of the nations; and it will be clear to you that I am the Lord.

¹⁷And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁸Son of man, the children of Israel have become like the poorest sort of waste metal to me: they are all silver and brass and tin and iron and lead mixed with waste.

¹⁹For this cause the Lord has said: Because you have all become waste metal, see, I will get you together inside Jerusalem.

²⁰As they put silver and brass and iron and lead and tin together inside the oven, heating up the fire on it to make it soft; so will I get you together in my wrath and in my passion, and, heating the fire with my breath, will make you soft.

²¹Yes, I will take you, breathing on you the fire of my wrath, and you will become soft in it.

²²As silver becomes soft in the oven, so you will become soft in it; and you will be certain that I the Lord have let loose my passion on you.

²³And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²⁴Son of man, say to her, You are a land on which no rain or thunderstorm has come in the day of wrath.

²⁵Her rulers in her are like a loud-voiced lion violently taking his food; they have made a meal of souls; they have taken wealth and valued property; they have made great the number of widows in her.

²⁶Her priests have been acting violently against my law; they have made my holy things unclean: they have made no division between what is holy and what is common, and they have not made it clear that the unclean is different from the clean, and their eyes have been shut to my Sabbaths, and I am not honoured among them.

²⁷Her rulers in her are like wolves violently taking their food; putting men to death and causing the destruction of souls, so that they may get their profit.

²⁸And her prophets have been using whitewash, seeing foolish visions and making false use of secret arts, saying, This is what the Lord has said, when the Lord has said nothing.

²⁹The people of the land have been acting cruelly, taking men's goods by force; they have been hard on the poor and those in need, and have done wrong to the man from a strange land.

³⁰And I was looking for a man among them who would make up the wall and take his station in the broken place before me for the land, so that I might not send destruction on it: but there was no one.

³¹And I let loose my passion on them, and have put an end to them in the fire of my wrath: I have made the punishment of their ways come on their heads, says the Lord.

Ezekiel 22

¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"You, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations.

³You shall say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her!

⁴You have become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and have come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.

⁵Those who are near, and those who are far from you, shall mock you, you infamous one and full of tumult.

⁶"'"Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.

⁷In you have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the foreigner; in you have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.

⁸You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths.

⁹Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst of you they have committed lewdness.

¹⁰In you have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity.

¹¹One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

¹²In you have they taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me,' says the Lord God.

¹³"'"Behold, therefore, I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the midst of you.

¹⁴Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken it, and will do it.

¹⁵I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries; and I will consume your filthiness out of you.

¹⁶You shall be profaned in yourself, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am the Lord."'"

¹⁷The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁸"Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

²⁰As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you.

²¹Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst.

²²As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so you will be melted in its midst; and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my wrath on you.'"

²³The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²⁴"Son of man, tell her, 'You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.'

²⁵There is a conspiracy of her prophets in its midst, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in its midst.

²⁶Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

²⁷Her princes in its midst are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.

²⁸Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord God,' when the Lord has not spoken.

²⁹The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.

³⁰"I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.

³¹Therefore have I poured out my indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought on their heads, says the Lord God."