< Ezekiel 22 >

1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Now, you son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? yes, you shall show her all her abominations.
And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, declare thou to her all her iniquities.
3 Then say you, Thus says the Lord GOD, The city sheds blood in the middle of it, that her time may come, and makes idols against herself to defile herself.
And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord God: O city that sheds blood in the midst of her, so that her time should come, and that forms devices against herself, to defile herself;
4 You are become guilty in your blood that you have shed; and have defiled yourself in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and are come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.
in their blood which thou hast shed, thou hast transgressed; and in thy devices which thou hast formed, thou hast polluted thyself; and thou hast brought nigh thy days, and hast brought on the time of thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery to all the countries,
5 Those that be near, and those that be far from you, shall mock you, which are infamous and much vexed.
to those near thee, and to those far distant from thee; and they shall mock thee, [thou that art] notoriously unclean, and abundant in iniquities.
6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in you to their power to shed blood.
Behold, the princes of the house of Israel have conspired in thee each one with his kindred, that they might shed blood.
7 In you have they set light by father and mother: in the middle of you have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in you have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
In thee they have reviled father and mother; and in thee they have behaved unjustly toward the stranger: they have oppressed the orphan and widow.
8 You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my sabbaths.
And they have set at nought my holy things, and in thee they have profaned my sabbaths.
9 In you are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in you they eat on the mountains: in the middle of you they commit lewdness.
[There are] robbers in thee, to shed blood in thee; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: they have wrought ungodliness in the midst of thee.
10 In you have they discovered their fathers’ nakedness: in you have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution.
In thee they have uncovered the father's shame; and in thee they have humbled her that was set apart for uncleanness.
11 And one 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.
They have dealt unlawfully each one with his neighbor's wife; and each one in ungodliness has defiled his daughter-in-law: and in thee they have humbled each one his sister, the daughter of his father.
12 In you have they taken gifts to shed blood; you have taken usury and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten me, says the Lord GOD.
In thee they have received gifts to shed blood; they have received in thee interest and usurious increase; and by oppression thou hast brought thy wickedness to the full, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord.
13 Behold, therefore I have smitten my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the middle of you.
And if I shall smite my hand at [thine iniquities] which thou hast accomplished, which thou hast wrought, and at thy blood that has been shed in the midst of thee,
14 Can 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.
shall thy heart endure? shall thine hands be strong in the days which I bring upon thee? I the Lord have spoken, and will do [it].
15 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and disperse you in the countries, and will consume your filthiness out of you.
And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee in the countries, and thy uncleanness shall be removed out of thee.
16 And you shall take your inheritance in yourself in the sight of the heathen, and you shall know that I am the LORD.
And I will give heritages in thee in the sight of the nations, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
17 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the middle of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.
Son of man, behold, the house of Israel are all become to me [as it were] mixed with brass, and iron, and tin, and lead; they are mixed up in the midst of the silver.
19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Because you are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the middle of Jerusalem.
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have become one mixture, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the middle of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.
As silver, and brass, and iron, and tin, and lead, are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow fire into it, that they may be melted: so will I take [you] in my wrath, and I will gather and melt you.
21 Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you in the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the middle therof.
And I will blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
22 As silver is melted in the middle of the furnace, so shall you be melted in the middle thereof; and you shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury on you.
As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.
23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
24 Son of man, say to her, You are the land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.
Son of man, say to her, Thou art the land that is not rained upon, neither has rain come upon thee in the day of wrath;
25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the middle 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 middle thereof.
whose princes in the midst of her are as roaring lions seizing prey, devouring souls by oppression, and taking bribes; and thy widows are multiplied in the midst of thee.
26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Her priests also have set at nought my law, and profaned my holy things: they have not distinguished between the holy and profane, nor have they distinguished between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them.
27 Her princes in the middle thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
Her princes in the midst of her are as wolves ravening to shed blood, that they may get dishonest gain.
28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord GOD, when the LORD has not spoken.
And her prophets that daub them shall fall, that see vanities, that prophesy falsehoods, saying, Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord has not spoken.
29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yes, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
That sorely oppress the people of the land with injustice, and commit robbery; oppressing the poor and needy, and not dealing justly with the stranger.
30 And 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.
And I sought from among them a man behaving uprightly, and standing before me perfectly in the time of wrath, so that I should not utterly destroy her: but I found [him] not.
31 Therefore have I poured out my indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed on their heads, says the Lord GOD.
So I have poured out my wrath upon her in the fury of mine anger, to accomplish [it]. I have recompensed their ways on their own heads, saith the Lord God.

< Ezekiel 22 >