Ezekiel 22

¹And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:

²Punish, punish, son of man, the city of blood, and show her all her abominations, and say,

³Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: O city that sheddest blood in the midst of thee, that thy time may come, and makest idols to defile thyself!

⁴Through the blood which thou sheddest thou bringest guilt upon thyself, and through the idols which thou makest thou pollutest thyself, and thou causest thy days to draw near, and comest to thy years. Therefore do I make thee a reproach to the nations, and a derision to all countries.

⁵Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee as infamous, full of confusion.

⁶Behold the princes of Israel are engaged every one according to his strength within thee to shed blood.

⁷In thee they set light by father and mother; in thee are they guilty of oppression to the stranger; in thee do they oppress the fatherless and the widow.

⁸Thou hast despised my holy things, and profaned my sabbaths.

⁹In thee are men who carry tales, that they may shed blood; in thee do they eat upon the mountains; in the midst of thee do they commit lewdness.

¹⁰In thee doth the son uncover the father’s nakedness; in thee do they lie with a woman in her uncleanness.

¹¹And one committeth abomination with his neighbor’s wife; and another, with incestuous lewdness, defileth his daughter-in-law; and in thee another lieth with his sister, his father’s daughter.

¹²In thee do they take a reward to shed blood. Thou takest usury and increase, and thou hast enriched thyself from thy neighbor by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹³Therefore, behold, I have smitten my hands together at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at the blood which hath been shed in the midst of thee.

¹⁴Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the day when I shall deal with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and will do it.

¹⁵I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thine impurity out of thee;

¹⁶and thou shalt through thyself be profaned before the eyes of the nations, and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.

¹⁷And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:

¹⁸Son of man, the house of Israel is 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 saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye are all of you become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

²⁰As men gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, 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 place you there and melt you.

²¹Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.

²²As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have poured out my fury upon you.

²³And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:

²⁴Son of man, say to her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

²⁵There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst of her; like a roaring lion tearing the prey, they devour the lives of men; they take possession of treasures, and precious things, and make many widows in the midst of her.

²⁶Her priests violate my law, and profane my holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and profane, and show not the difference between the clean and the unclean; and they hide their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

²⁷Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves tearing the prey. They shed blood, they destroy life, that they may get gain.

²⁸Her prophets daub for them with untempered mortar, seeing falsehood, and divining to them, saying, "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah," when Jehovah hath not spoken.

²⁹The people of the land are guilty of oppression, and practise robbery, and distress the poor and needy; yea, they oppress the stranger, and have no justice.

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

³¹Therefore will I pour out my indignation upon them; I will consume them with the fire of my wrath; I will bring their way upon their heads, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Ezekiel 22

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

²Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.

³Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord God, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.

⁴Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.

⁵Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.

⁶Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.

⁷In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.

⁸Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.

⁹In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.

¹⁰In thee have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness: in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.

¹¹And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.

¹²In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God.

¹³Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.

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

¹⁵And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

¹⁶And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

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

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

¹⁹Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore 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 upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.

²¹Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.

²²As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you.

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

²⁴Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

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

²⁶Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

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

²⁸And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.

²⁹The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

³⁰And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, 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 mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.