The Sins of Israel

22 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “And you, son of man [Ezekiel], will you judge, will you judge the city of bloodshed? Then make her recognize all her repulsive acts. ³ You shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time [of doom] will come, and makes idols to defile her, contrary to her interest! ⁴ You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols which you have made. Thus you have caused your day [of judgment and punishment] to approach and have arrived at [the completion of] your years; therefore, I have made you an object of scorn to the [pagan] nations and a thing to be mocked by all countries. ⁵ Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you [infamous one] of ill repute, full of turmoil.

⁶ “Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been intending to shed blood in you. ⁷ In you they have treated father and mother lightly. They have oppressed the stranger among you; and in your presence they have wronged the fatherless and the widow. ⁸ You have despised and scorned My sacred things and have profaned My Sabbaths. ⁹ In you are men who slander for the purpose of shedding blood, and in your presence they have eaten [food offered to idols] at the mountain shrines; in your midst they have committed acts of lewdness. ¹⁰ In you men have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness [the nakedness of mother or stepmother]; in you they have violated women who are [set apart as ceremonially] unclean during their menstrual impurity [or after childbirth]. ¹¹ In you one has committed a shameful act with his neighbor’s wife, another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law, and another has violated his sister, his father’s daughter. ¹² In you they have accepted bribes to shed blood; you have taken [forbidden] interest and [a percentage of] profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression and extortion, and you have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.

¹³ “Behold, therefore, I strike My hands [together] at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you. ¹⁴ Can your heart (courage) endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and will act. ¹⁵ I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will destroy your filthiness. ¹⁶ You will defile yourself in the sight of the [Gentile] nations, and you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’”