< Jezekiel 22 >

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 And you, son of man, will you judge the bloody city? yes, declare you to her all her iniquities.
And thou son of man, dost thou not judge, dost thou not judge the city of blood?
3 And you shall say, Thus says 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;
And thou shalt shew her all her abominations, and shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God: This is the city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her, that her time may come: and that hath made idols against herself, to defile herself.
4 in their blood which you have shed, you have transgressed; and in your devices which you have formed, you have polluted yourself; and you have brought near your days, and have brought on the time of your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery to all the countries,
Thou art become guilty in thy blood which thou hast shed: and thou art defiled in thy idols which thou hast made: and thou hast made thy days to draw near, and hast brought on the time of thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery to all countries.
5 to those near you, and to those far distant from you; and they shall mock you, [you that are] notoriously unclean, and abundant in iniquities.
Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall triumph over thee: thou filthy one, infamous, great in destruction.
6 Behold, the princes of the house of Israel have conspired in you each one with his kindred, that they might shed blood.
Behold the princes of Israel, every one hath employed his arm in thee to shed blood.
7 In you they have reviled father and mother; and in you they have behaved unjustly toward the stranger: they have oppressed the orphan and widow.
They have abused father and mother in thee, they have oppressed the stranger in the midst of thee, they have grieved the fatherless and widow in thee.
8 And they have set at nothing my holy things, and in you they have profaned my sabbaths.
Thou hast despised my sanctuaries, and profaned my sabbaths.
9 [There are] robbers in you, to shed blood in you; and in you they have eaten upon the mountains: they have wrought ungodliness in the midst of you.
Slanderers have been in thee to shed blood, and they have eaten upon the mountains in thee, they have committed wickedness in the midst of thee.
10 In you they have uncovered the father's shame; and in you they have humbled her that was set apart for uncleanness.
They have discovered the nakedness of their father in thee, they have humbled the uncleanness of the menstruous woman in thee.
11 They have dealt unlawfully each one with his neighbor's wife; and each one in ungodliness has defiled his daughter-in-law: and in you they have humbled each one his sister, the daughter of his father.
And every one hath committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife, and the father in law hath wickedly defiled his daughter in law, the brother hath oppressed his sister the daughter of his father in thee.
12 In you they have received gifts to shed blood; they have received in you interest and usurious increase; and by oppression you have brought your wickedness to the full, and have forgotten me, says the Lord.
They have taken gifts in thee to shed blood: thou hast taken usury and increase, and hast covetously oppressed thy neighbours: and then hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God.
13 And if I shall strike my hand at [your iniquities] which you have accomplished, which you have wrought, and at your blood that has been shed in the midst of you,
Behold, I have clapped my hands at thy covetousness, which thou hast exercised and at the blood that hath been shed: In the midst of thee.
14 shall your heart endure? shall your hands be strong in the days which I bring upon you? I the Lord have spoken, and will do [it].
Shall thy heart endure, or shall thy hands prevail ill the days which I will bring upon thee: I the Lord have spoken, and will do it.
15 And I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you in the countries, and your uncleanness shall be removed out of you.
And I will disperse thee in the nations, and will scatter thee among the countries, and I will put an end to thy uncleanness in thee.
16 And I will give heritages in you in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
And I will possess thee in the sight of the Gentiles, and thou shalt 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, 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.
Son of man, the house of Israel is become dress to me: all these are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace: they are become the dress of silver.
19 Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God; Because you have become one mixture, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because you are all turned into dress, therefore behold I will gather you together in the midst of Jerusalem.
20 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.
As they gather silver, and brass, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midst of the furnace: that I may kindle a fire in it to melt it: so will I gather you together in my fury and in my wrath, and will take my rest, and I will melt you down.
21 And I will blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst thereof.
And I will gather you together, and will burn you in the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst thereof.
22 As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in the midst thereof; and you shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.
As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall you be in the midst thereof: and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have poured out my indignation 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 rained upon, neither has rain come upon you in the day of wrath;
Son of man, say to her: Thou art a land that is unclean, and not rained upon in the day of wrath.
25 whose princes in the midst of her are as roaring lions seizing prey, devouring souls by oppression, and taking bribes; and your widows are multiplied in the midst of you.
There is a conspiracy of prophets in the midst thereof: like a lion that roareth and catcheth the prey, they have devoured souls, they have taken riches and hire, they have made many widows in the midst thereof.
26 Her priests also have set at nothing 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.
Her priests have despised my law, and have defiled my sanctuaries: they have put no difference between holy and profane: nor have distinguished between the polluted and the clean: and they have turned away their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them.
27 Her princes in the midst of her are as wolves ravening to shed blood, that they may get dishonest gain.
Her princes in the midst of her, are like wolves ravening the prey to shed blood, and to destroy souls, and to run after gains through covetousness.
28 And her prophets that daub them shall fall, that see vanities, that prophesy falsehoods, saying, Thus says the Lord, when the Lord has not spoken.
And her prophets have daubed them without tempering the mortar, seeing vain things, and divining lies unto them, saying: Thus saith the Lord God: when the Lord hath not spoken.
29 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.
The people of the land have used oppression, and committed robbery: they afflicted the needy and poor, and they oppressed the stranger by calumny without judgment.
30 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.
And I sought among them for a man that might set up a hedge, and stand in the gap before me in favour of the land, that I might not destroy it: and I found none.
31 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, says the Lord God.
And I poured out my indignation upon them, in the fire of my wrath I consumed them: I have rendered their way upon their own head, saith the Lord God.

< Jezekiel 22 >