Ezekiel 22

1 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

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

2 And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? Yea, cause her to know all her abominations,

And 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.

3 and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A city that sheddeth blood in her midst, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.

And 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!

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

You 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.

5 Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, who art infamous [and] full of tumult.

Those 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.

6 Behold, the princes of Israel have been in thee to shed blood, each according to his power.

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

7 In thee have they made light of 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.

In 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.

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

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

9 In thee there have been slanderous men to shed blood; and in thee have they eaten upon the mountains; in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness;

In 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.

10 in thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her separation.

In 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.

11 And 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.

And 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.

12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast overreached thy neighbours by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.

In 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.

13 And behold, I have smitten mine hand at thine overreaching which thou hast done, and at thy bloodshed which hath been in the midst of thee.

See, 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.

14 Shall thy heart endure, shall thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I Jehovah have spoken, and will do [it].

Will 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.

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

And 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.

16 And thou shalt be polluted through thyself in the sight of the nations, and thou shalt know that I [am] Jehovah.

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

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

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

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

Son 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.

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye are all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

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

20 [As] they gather silver, and copper, 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 lay you on and melt you.

As 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.

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

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

22 As 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.

As 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.

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

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

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

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

25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst of her like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they devour souls; they take away treasure and precious things; they increase her widows in the midst of her;

Her 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.

26 her priests do violence to my law, and profane my holy things: they put no difference between the holy and profane, neither do they make known [the difference] between the unclean and the clean, and they hide their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

Her 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.

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

Her 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.

28 And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered [mortar], seeing vanity and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah! and Jehovah hath not spoken.

And 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.

29 The people of the land use oppression and practise robbery; and they vex the poor and needy, and oppress the stranger wrongfully.

The 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.

30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the fence, and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.

And 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.

31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon them; I will consume them in the fire of my wrath: their own way will I recompense upon their head, saith the Lord Jehovah.

And 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.