Ezekiel 22
1 A message from the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 “So, son of man, are you ready to judge them? Are you ready to judge the people of this city that have caused so much bloodshed? Make them face all the disgusting things they've done,
“And you, son of man, should you not judge, should you not judge the city of blood?
3 and tell them that this is what the Lord God says: You are a city who has caused your own doom by murdering people within your walls, and by making idols to worship that made you unclean.
And you shall reveal to her all her abominations. And you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: This is the city which sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and which has made idols against herself, so that she may be defiled.
4 You are guilty of murder, and you have made yourself unclean by the idols you've made. You have shortened your lives—your time is up! That's why other people taunt you—everyone mocks you.
You have offended by your blood, which you shed from yourself. And you have been defiled by your idols which you yourself made. And you have caused your days to approach, and you have brought on the time of your years. Because of this, I have made you a disgrace to the Gentiles, and a derision to all the lands.
5 People far and near will laugh at you, you corrupt city full of confusion!
Those that are near and those that are far from you will triumph over you. You are filthy, infamous, great in destruction.
6 Look at how all of your leaders in Israel use their power to murder.
Behold, the leaders of Israel have each used his arm to shed blood within you.
7 You despise your parents. You exploit the foreigners who live with you, and you mistreat orphans and widows.
They have abused father and mother within you. The new arrival has been oppressed in your midst. They have grieved the orphan and the widow among you.
8 You detest my holy things and violate my Sabbaths.
You have spurned my sanctuaries, and you have defiled my Sabbaths.
9 Living among you are people who falsely accuse others in order to put them to death. You also have those who eat religious meals at pagan shrines in the mountains, and commit immoral acts within the city.
Maligning men were within you, in order to shed blood, and they have eaten upon the mountains within you. They have worked wickedness in your midst.
10 Some of those living in the city have sex with their father's wives or with women during their period.
They have uncovered the nakedness of their father within you. They have debased the uncleanness of the menstruous woman within you.
11 You're home to evil men. One does disgusting things with someone else's wife. Another seduces his daughter-in-law, while another rapes his sister, the daughter of his own father.
And each one has committed abomination with the wife of his neighbor. And the father-in-law has heinously defiled his daughter-in-law. The brother has oppressed his sister, the daughter of his father, within you.
12 Your people take money to murder others. You charge interest and make a profit on loans, and use extortion to get money from your neighbors. You have forgotten all about me, declares the Lord God.
They have accepted bribes among you to shed blood. You have received usury and superabundance, and in avarice you have oppressed your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, says the Lord God.
13 So watch out! I clap my hands in condemnation at your dishonest profiteering and at all your murders.
Behold, I have clapped my hands over your avarice, which you have worked, and over the blood that has been shed in your midst.
14 Are you going to be so brave, and will you be strong enough to defend yourselves when it comes time for me to deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I'm going to act.
How can your heart endure, or your hands prevail, in the days that I will bring upon you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act.
15 I'm going to scatter you among the nations and the different countries. I will put a stop to your unclean acts.
And I will disperse you among the nations, and I will scatter you among the lands, and I will cause your uncleanness to fade away from you.
16 For when everyone else sees how you've made yourselves unclean, then you will acknowledge that I am the Lord.”
And I will possess you in the sight of the Gentiles. And you shall know that I am the Lord.”
17 A message from the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
18 “Son of man, the people of Israel have ended up like the impurities left over from refining metal. They're all like copper, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace—they are just the impurities left from refining silver.
“Son of man, the house of Israel has become like dross to me. All these are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midst of the furnace; they have become like the dross of silver.
19 So this is what the Lord God says: Because all of you have ended up like impurities, watch as I collect you together in Jerusalem.
Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Since you have all turned into dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you together in the midst of Jerusalem,
20 In the same way a refiner collects silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin and puts them in the blast furnace to melt them with fire, I'm going to collect you in my burning anger, and keep you there until I melt you.
just as they gather silver, and brass, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midst of the furnace, so that I may kindle in it a fire to melt it. So will I gather you together in my fury and in my wrath, and I will be quieted, and I will melt you down.
21 I'm going to collect you all together and blast you with the fire of my anger, and you'll be melted there in the city.
And I will gather you together, and I will burn you in the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in its midst.
22 Just as silver is melted in a furnace, so you'll be melted in the city. Then you will realize that I, the Lord, have made you experience my anger.”
Just as silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so will you be in its midst. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have poured out my indignation upon you.”
23 Another message from the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
24 “Son of man, tell the city of Jerusalem, at the time of punishment, you are a country that has not been made clean, a place where no rain has fallen,
“Son of man, say to her: You are a land unclean and not rained upon, in the day of fury.
25 Her leaders conspire together and it's like watching a roaring lion ripping up its prey. They destroy the people, grab everything that's valuable, and make many more widows in the city.
There is a conspiracy of prophets in her midst. Like a lion, roaring and seizing the prey, they have devoured souls. They have taken riches and a price. They have multiplied widows in her midst.
26 Her priests pervert my law and make my holy things unclean. They don't distinguish between what is holy and what is ordinary, and they don't separate the clean from the unclean. They forget about my Sabbaths, and they lead people to treat me with no respect.
Her priests have despised my law, and they have defiled my sanctuaries. They have held no distinction between holy and profane. And they have not understood the difference between defiled and clean. And they have averted their eyes from my Sabbaths. And I was profaned in their midst.
27 Her city officials are like wolves ripping up their prey, killing people, destroying lives so they can profit through fraud.
Her leaders in her midst are like wolves seizing the prey: to shed blood, and to perish souls, and to continually pursue profit with avarice.
28 Her prophets cover up what they do, using false visions as whitewash and prophecies that are lies, saying, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord hasn't said anything.
And her prophets have covered them without tempering the mortar, seeing emptiness, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken.
29 The people of this country are extortioners and robbers. They mistreat the poor and those in need and exploit the foreigners, treating them totally unfairly.
The people of the land have oppressed with slander and have seized with violence. They have afflicted the needy and the poor, and they have oppressed the new arrival by accusations without judgment.
30 I tried to find one of them repair the wall and defend the gap so when I came I wouldn't destroy it—but I couldn't find anyone.
And I sought among them for a man who might set up a hedge, and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I might not destroy it; and I found no one.
31 So I have let them experience my hostility, burning them up with the fire of my anger. I have made sure they suffer the consequences of what they've done, declares the Lord God.”
And so I poured out my indignation upon them; in the fire of my wrath I consumed them. I have rendered their own way upon their head, says the Lord God.”
