Ezekiel 22
Expanded Bible
The Sins of Jerusalem
22 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me, saying: 2 “And you, ·human [T son of man; 2:1], will you judge? Will you judge the city of ·murderers [bloodshed; C Jerusalem]? Then tell her about all her ·hateful [detestable; abominable] acts. 3 You are to say: ‘This is what the Lord God says: You are a city that ·kills those who come to live there [L sheds blood in her midst]. You ·make yourself unclean [defile yourself; C ritually] by making idols. 4 You have become guilty of ·murder [bloodshed] and have become ·unclean [defiled] by your idols which you have made. So you have brought your ·time of punishment [L days] near; you have come to the end of your years. That is why I have made you a ·shame [object of scorn] to the nations and ·why all lands laugh at you [L a mockery/laughingstock to all lands]. 5 Those near and those far away ·laugh at [mock] you with your ·bad [defiled] name, you city full of ·confusion [turmoil].
6 “‘See how each ·ruler [prince; leader] of Israel in you [C Jerusalem; v. 2] has been trying to ·kill people [shed blood]. 7 The people in you ·hate [treat with contempt] their fathers and mothers. They ·mistreat [oppress] the foreigners in you and wrong the ·orphans [fatherless] and widows in you. 8 You ·hate [despise] my holy things and ·dishonor [desecrate; profane; C ritually] my Sabbaths. 9 The ·lying [slanderous] men in you ·cause the death of others [shed blood]. The people in you eat ·food offered to idols at the mountain places of worship [L on the mountains], and they take part in ·sexual sins [L lewd/obscene acts among you]. 10 The men in you ·have sexual relations with their fathers’ wives [L uncover their father’s nakedness] and ·with [L violate] women who are unclean [C ritually], during their time of ·monthly bleeding [L impurity]. 11 One man in you does a ·hateful [detestable; abominable] act with his neighbor’s wife, while another has shamefully ·made his daughter-in-law unclean sexually [L defiled his daughter-in-law; C ritually]. And another ·forces his half sister to have sexual relations [L violates his father’s daughter] with him [C all forbidden in the Law; Lev. 18:9, 15, 20]. 12 The people in you take ·money [bribes] to ·kill others [shed blood; Deut. 27:25]. You take ·interest [usury; 18:13, 17; Lev. 25:36] and profits and make profits by ·mistreating [extorting] your neighbor. And you have forgotten me, says the Lord God.
13 “‘·So, Jerusalem, [L Look; T Behold] I will ·shake my fist [L strike my hand] at you for ·stealing money [your dishonest gain] and for ·murdering people [bloodshed]. 14 Will ·you still be brave [L your heart stand] and ·strong [L your hands be strong] when I ·punish [deal with] you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act. 15 I will scatter you among the nations and spread you through the countries. ·That is how I will get rid of [L I will remove] your uncleanness [C ritually]. 16 But you, yourself, will be ·dishonored [defiled; profaned; C ritually] in the ·sight [eyes] of the nations. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Israel Is Worthless
17 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me, saying: 18 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], the ·people [L house] of Israel have become ·scum [dross; C useless] to me. They are like the ·copper [or bronze], tin, iron, and lead left in the furnace when silver is purified. 19 So this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you have become ·scum [dross], I am going to bring you together inside Jerusalem. 20 Just as people put silver, ·copper [or bronze], iron, lead, and tin together inside a furnace to melt them down in a blazing fire, so I will gather you in my hot anger and put you together in Jerusalem and melt you down. 21 I will ·put [gather] you together and ·make you feel [L blow on you with] the ·heat [fire] of my ·anger [fury; wrath]. You will be melted down ·inside Jerusalem [L in the midst of it]. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, you will be melted inside ·the city [L it]. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my ·anger [wrath] on you.’”
Sins of the People
23 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me, saying: 24 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], say to the land, ‘You are a land that ·has not had rain or [or is not cleansed with] showers ·when God is angry [L in the day of wrath/indignation].’ 25 Like a roaring lion that tears ·the animal it has caught [its prey], Israel’s ·rulers[a] [princes] ·make evil plans [conspire]. They have ·destroyed [devoured] lives and have taken treasure and ·valuable [precious] things. They have caused many women to become widows. 26 ·Israel’s [L Her; Its] priests do ·cruel things [violence] to my ·teachings [laws; instructions; L Torah] and ·do not honor [profane; C ritually] my holy things. They make no difference between holy and ·unholy [common; profane; C ritually] things, and they teach there is no difference between clean and unclean things [C ritually]. They ·do not remember [disregard; L close their eyes to] my Sabbaths, so I am ·dishonored by [profaned among; C ritually] them. 27 Like wolves tearing ·a dead animal [their prey], ·Jerusalem’s leaders [L her princes/officials] have ·killed people [L shed blood and destroy lives] for profit. 28 And the prophets ·try to cover this up by [whitewash their actions with; 13:10–15] false visions and by lying ·messages [divinations]. They say, ‘This is what the Lord God says’ when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land ·cheat others [practice extortion] and ·steal [commit robbery]. They ·hurt [oppress] the poor and needy. They ·cheat [mistreat; extort] foreigners and ·do not treat them fairly [deny them justice].
30 “I looked for someone to ·build up [repair; 13:5] the walls and to stand before me ·where the walls are broken [in the gap/breach] ·to defend these people [L on behalf of the land] so I would not have to destroy them. But I could not find anyone. 31 So I ·let them see [poured out] my ·anger [wrath]. I destroyed them with an anger that was like fire ·because of all the things [L bringing down on their heads all] they have done, says the Lord God.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 22:25 rulers Some Greek copies read “princes.” Hebrew copies read “prophets.”
Ezekiel 22
Amplified Bible
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.”’”
17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross (metallic waste) to Me. All of them are (useless) bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver. 19 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you [O Israel] into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will put you there and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in the furnace, so will you be melted in the midst of it; and you will know [without any doubt] that I the Lord have poured out My wrath on you [O Israel].’”
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘You [Israel] are a land that is not pronounced clean or rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25 There is a conspiracy of her [false] prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured [human] life; they have taken [in their greed] treasure and precious things; they have made many widows among her. 26 Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy (sacred) and the profane (secular), they have not taught [people] the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes within her are like wolves tearing and devouring the prey, shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain. 28 Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God’—when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have practiced oppression and extortion and have committed robbery; they have wronged the poor and needy and they have oppressed the stranger without justice. 30 I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for [the sake of] the land, that I would not destroy it, but I found no one [not even one]. 31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have repaid their way [by bringing it] upon their own heads,” says the Lord God.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
