Ezekiel 22
1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 “You human, are you ready to condemn the people of Jerusalem? It is [RHQ] a city full of murderers [MTY]. Remind them of all the detestable things that they have done.
“Now you, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the city of blood? Make her know all her abominations.
3 [Then] say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: By your murdering people and by (defiling yourselves/making yourselves unacceptable to God) by making idols, you people of this city [APO] have brought to yourselves the time when you [will be destroyed].
You must say, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: This is a city that pours out blood in her midst so that her time may come; a city that makes idols to make herself unclean.
4 You have become guilty by doing both of those things [DOU]. You have brought to an end your time [to remain alive] [DOU]. Therefore I will cause you to become a group whom the [people of other] nations will scorn; they will all laugh at you [DOU].
You have become guilty by the blood that you have poured out, and you have become unclean by the idols that you have made. You have drawn your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you a reproach to the nations and a laughingstock to all the lands.
5 People in countries that are near you and people who live far from you will make fun of you, because your city is full of lawless people and full of confusion.
Both those who are near and those who are far away from you will mock you—you unclean city—with the reputation known everywhere as being full of confusion.
6 Think about how each of your Israeli kings have used their power to cause people to be murdered [MTY].
Behold! The rulers of Israel, each one by his own power, have come to you to pour out blood.
7 Your people do not respect/honor their parents; they have oppressed foreigners; they mistreat orphans and widows.
They have dishonored fathers and mothers within you, and they have performed oppression on the foreigners in your midst. They have mistreated the orphans and the widows within you.
8 You despise my sacred places and (dishonor/do not respect) the Sabbath days.
You have despised my holy things and have profaned my Sabbaths.
9 Among you are men who tell lies in order to cause others to be executed [MTY]. There are those who [food offered to idols] at the hilltop [shrines], and they perform disgusting sexual acts.
Slanderous men have come within you in order to pour out blood, and they eat on the mountains. They perform wickedness in your midst.
10 There are men who have sex with their father’s wives [EUP], and men who have sex with women during their monthly menstrual periods.
Within you men uncover the nakedness of their father. Within you they have violated unclean women during their menstrual period.
11 There are men who have sex with someone else’s wife. Some men have sex with their daughters-in-law or with their sisters or half-sisters.
Men who commit abominations with their neighbors' wives, and men who make their own daughters-in-law shamefully unclean; men who abuse their own sisters—daughters of their own fathers—all these are done within you.
12 There are among you men who accept bribes in order to cause someone to be executed [MTY]. You charge high interest when you lend people money. You become rich by forcing people to give you money. [the worst thing is that] you have forgotten me, Yahweh the Lord.
These men take bribes within you in order to pour out blood and you have taken interest and gained too much profit, and you have damaged your neighbors through oppression, and you have forgotten me—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.
13 So I will shake my fists at you to show that I am angry with you because of your stealing money from people and murdering [MTY] people who live among you.
See! With my hand I have struck the dishonest gain that you have made, and the bloodshed that is done in the midst of you.
14 When I [punishing] you, you will no longer [RHQ] be courageous/brave [DOU]. I, Yahweh, have said [what I will do to you], and I will do it.
Will your heart stand, will your hands be strong on the days when I myself will deal with you? I, Yahweh, am declaring this, and I will do it.
15 I will cause you to be scattered among many nations [DOU], and I will cause you to stop your sinful behavior.
So I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the lands. In this way, I will purge your uncleanness from you.
16 When [the people of other] nations see that you have been humiliated, you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’”
So you will become unclean in the eyes of the nations. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.'”
17 Yahweh [also] said to me,
Next the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
18 “You human, your Israeli people [MTY] have [useless] to me. They are [like] [MET] dross/slag to me. They are like [SIM] [worthless] copper, tin, iron, and lead that remains after silver is melted in [very hot] furnace.
“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are the leftovers of bronze and tin, and iron and lead in the midst of you. They will be like the dross of silver in your furnace.
19 Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: Because you have all become [like] dross/slag, I will gather you in Jerusalem.
Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, 'Because all of you have become like dross, therefore, behold! I am about to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20 People [ore containing] silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin in a [very hot] furnace and melt them in a blazing [to burn up the impurities]. Similarly [SIM], I will gather you [inside Jerusalem], and because I am very angry with you, [what I will do will be as though] I am melting you.
As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead and tin and put it inside a furnace to melt it, and they blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and my wrath, and I will put you there and melt you.
21 [It will be as though] I will blow on you with a hot breath that shows that I am very angry, [it will be as though] you will be melted,
I will gather you and blow on you the fire of my wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it.
22 as though you will be melted like [SIM] silver is melted in a furnace, and then you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my punishment [MTY] on you.”
As silver is melted in a furnace, you will be melted in it, and you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath on you!'”
23 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
24 “You human, say to the Israeli people, ‘[Yahweh] is angry with you, there has been no rain or showers in your country.’
“Son of man, say to her, 'You are a land that has not been cleansed. There is no rain on the day of wrath!
25 Your leaders are like [SIM] lions that tear apart the animals that they have killed. Your leaders destroy their people. They steal treasures and [other] valuable things from people, and they cause many women to become [by murdering their husbands].
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing apart a victim. They consume life and take precious wealth; they make many widows within her!
26 Their priests disobey my laws and disrespect my sacred things by saying that there is no difference between things that are sacred and those that are not sacred, and by ignoring my laws about honoring the Sabbath days. As a result, they no [longer] honor me.
Her priests do violence to my law, and they profane my holy things. They do not distinguish between holy things and profane things, and do not teach the difference between the unclean and the clean. They hide their eyes from my Sabbaths so that I am profaned in their midst.
27 Their officials are like [SIM] wolves that tear apart the animals that they have killed: They murder people [DOU] in order to get their money.
Her princes within her are like wolves tearing apart their victims. They pour out blood and destroy life, to make a profit dishonestly.
28 Their prophets, by falsely saying they have received [from God], and by giving false messages, try to (cover up [MET]/say that it is all right to commit) those sins. They say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says,’ when I have said nothing to them.
Her prophets have painted them over with whitewash; they see false visions and predict falsehoods to them. They say “The Lord Yahweh says this” when Yahweh has not spoken.
29 The Israeli people force others to give them money, and they rob people. They oppress poor [DOU] people, and they mistreat foreigners among them by not treating them [in the courts].
The people of the land have oppressed through extortion and plundered through robbery, and they mistreat the poor and needy, and oppress the foreigner without justice.
30 I looked among them to find a man who would cause the people of the city to repent [MET] so that I would not need to get rid of them. But I did not find anyone.
So I searched for a man from them who would build up a wall and who would stand before me in its breach for the land so I would not destroy it, but I found no one.
31 So because I am very angry with them, I will severely punish them [MTY] for [all] the wicked things that they have done. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh the Lord, have said it.”
So I will pour out my indignation upon them. I will finish them with the fire of my indignation and set their way on their own heads—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.'”
