Ezekiel 22:24-30

Living Bible

²⁴ “Son of dust, say to the people of Israel: ‘In the day of my indignation you shall be like an uncleared wilderness or a desert without rain.’ ²⁵ Your ‘prophets’ have plotted against you like lions stalking prey. They devour many lives; they seize treasures and extort wealth; they multiply the widows in the land. ²⁶ Your priests have violated my laws and defiled my Temple and my holiness. To them the things of God are no more important than any daily task. They have not taught my people the difference between right and wrong, and they disregard my Sabbaths, so my holy name is greatly defiled among them. ²⁷ Your leaders are like wolves, who tear apart their victims, and they destroy lives for profit. ²⁸ Your ‘prophets’ describe false visions and speak false messages they claim are from God, when he hasn’t spoken one word to them at all. Thus they repair the walls with whitewash! ²⁹ Even the common people oppress and rob the poor and needy and cruelly extort from aliens.

³⁰ “I looked in vain for anyone who would build again the wall of righteousness that guards the land, who could stand in the gap and defend you from my just attacks, but I found not one.”