Jezekiel 22

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

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

2 And you, son of man, will you judge the bloody city? yes, declare you to her all her iniquities.

'Now, thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations.

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 say: Thus saith the Lord GOD: O city that sheddest blood in the midst of thee, that thy time may come, and that makest idols unto thyself to defile thee;

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 that thou hast shed, and art defiled 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 nations, and a mocking to all the 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 mock thee, thou defiled of name and full of tumult.

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 according to his might, have been 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.

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 wronged the fatherless and the widow.

8 And they have set at nothing my holy things, and in you they have profaned my sabbaths.

Thou hast despised My holy things, and hast 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.

In thee have been talebearers to shed blood; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains; in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness.

10 In you they have uncovered the father's shame; and in you they have humbled her that was set apart for uncleanness.

In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her impurity.

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 each hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and each hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and each in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

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.

In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by oppression, and 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, therefore, I have smitten My hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been 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].

Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, 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 scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries; and I will consume thy filthiness out of 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 thou shalt be profaned in thyself, in the sight of the nations; 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 unto 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 dross unto Me; all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross 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 ye are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into 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 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 cast you in, and melt you.

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

Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you with the fire of My wrath, and ye 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 ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out My fury upon you.'

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

And the word of the LORD came unto 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 unto her: Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

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 her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls, they take treasure and precious things, they have made her widows many 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 done violence to My law, and have profaned My holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and the common, neither have they taught difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among 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 thereof are like wolves ravening the prey: to shed blood, and to destroy souls, so as to get dishonest gain.

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 for them with whited plaster, seeing falsehood, 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 exercised robbery, and have wronged the poor and needy, and have oppressed the stranger unlawfully.

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 for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but 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.

Therefore have I poured out Mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I brought upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.'