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Highlighting the Sins and the Judgments of Israel

22 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] “And you, son of man,[c] will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city?[d] Then you must make known to her all of her detestable things! And you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “A city pouring out blood in the midst of her; its time has come,[e] and it made idols for itself, becoming unclean. By your blood that you poured out you have become guilty, and by your idols that you made you have become unclean, and you have brought your days near, and your appointed years have come.[f] Therefore I have made you a disgrace for the nations and a laughingstock to all of the countries. The people near and the people far from you will make fun of you, the unclean and the terrified.[g] Look! The princes of Israel, each one according to his strength,[h] they are in you for the shedding of blood.[i] They have treated father and mother with contempt in you; they violated[j] the alien with[k] extortion; in the midst of you they mistreated the orphan and widow. You despised my holy objects; my Sabbaths you profaned. Slanderous men are among you[l] to shed blood, and they, among you,[m] eat upon the mountains; they do wickedness in the midst of you. 10 They uncover the nakedness of a father among[n] you; they violate a woman unclean of menstruation among[o] you. 11 And a man does a detestable thing with the wife of his neighbor, and a man defiles his daughter-in-law in wickedness, and a man sexually violates among[p] you his sister, the daughter of his father. 12 They take a bribe among[q] you in order to shed blood; and you take usury, and you make gain from your neighbors by extortion, and so you have forgotten me, declares[r] the Lord Yahweh. 13 And look! I strike my hand for your ill-gotten gain that you have made and at your blood that was in the midst of you. 14 Can your heart endure,[s] or can your hands be strong at the days in which I am dealing with you? I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act! 15 I will scatter you among the nations, and I will disperse you through the countries, and I will purge your uncleanness from you. 16 And I will be profaned by you before the eyes of the nations, and you will know that I am Yahweh.”’”

17 And the word of Yahweh came[t] to me, saying,[u] 18 “Son of man,[v] the house of Israel has become as silver dross to me; all of them are as bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace, even as silver dross, silver dross they became! 19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because all of you have become as silver dross, therefore look! I am gathering you to the midst of Jerusalem, 20 like the gathering of silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin to the middle of a furnace to blow fire on it for melting. Thus I will gather in my anger and in my rage, and I will deposit[w] you, and I will melt you. 21 And I will gather you, and I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and so I will melt you in the midst of her. 22 Thus you will be melted like the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have poured out my rage on you.’” 23 And the word of Yahweh came[x] to me, saying,[y] 24 “Son of man,[z] say to her, ‘You are a land not cleansed; it is not rained upon in the day of indignation.’ 25 The conspiracy of its prophets in the midst of her is like a roaring lion that is tearing prey. They devour people, and they take wealth and treasure; they make its widows numerous in the midst of her. 26 Its priests treat my law violently, and they profane my holy objects; they do not distinguish between a holy object and what is unholy, or between the clean and the unclean. They do not teach the difference, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and so I am profaned in the midst of them. 27 Its officials are like wolves tearing prey in its midst, to pour out blood, to destroy people, to make dishonest gain. 28 And for them its prophets plaster whitewash; they are seeing falseness and are practicing divination for them by lying, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh,’ and Yahweh has not spoken. 29 They severely oppress the people of the land, and they committed robbery,[aa] and they mistreated the needy and the poor, and they oppressed the alien without[ab] justice. 30 And so I sought for them somebody, one repairing the wall and standing in the breach before me[ac] on behalf of the land not to destroy it, but I did not find anyone, 31 and so I poured out my indignation on them. With the fire of my wrath I destroyed them; I returned their way upon their head,” declares[ad] the Lord Yahweh.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 22:1 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 22:1 Literally “to say”
  3. Ezekiel 22:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  4. Ezekiel 22:2 Literally “city of blood”
  5. Ezekiel 22:3 Literally “to come time her its”
  6. Ezekiel 22:4 Literally “and it came to years your”
  7. Ezekiel 22:5 Literally “the unclean of the name the great of the panic”
  8. Ezekiel 22:6 Or “influence”
  9. Ezekiel 22:6 Literally “to shedding of blood”
  10. Ezekiel 22:7 Literally “they did with extortion”
  11. Ezekiel 22:7 Or “by”
  12. Ezekiel 22:9 Literally “in you”
  13. Ezekiel 22:9 Literally “in you”
  14. Ezekiel 22:10 Hebrew “in”
  15. Ezekiel 22:10 Hebrew “in”
  16. Ezekiel 22:11 Hebrew “in”
  17. Ezekiel 22:12 Hebrew “in”
  18. Ezekiel 22:12 Literally “declaration of”
  19. Ezekiel 22:14 Or “hold up”
  20. Ezekiel 22:17 Literally “was”
  21. Ezekiel 22:17 Literally “to say”
  22. Ezekiel 22:18 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  23. Ezekiel 22:20 Literally “I will put/place”
  24. Ezekiel 22:23 Literally “was”
  25. Ezekiel 22:23 Literally “to say”
  26. Ezekiel 22:24 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  27. Ezekiel 22:29 Literally “and they seized a robbed things
  28. Ezekiel 22:29 Literally “with not”
  29. Ezekiel 22:30 Literally “to the face of me”
  30. Ezekiel 22:31 Literally “declaration of”

The Sins of Jerusalem

22 Now this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, are you ready to judge Jerusalem? Are you ready to judge this city of murderers? Publicly denounce her detestable sins, and give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: O city of murderers, doomed and damned—city of idols,[a] filthy and foul— you are guilty because of the blood you have shed. You are defiled because of the idols you have made. Your day of destruction has come! You have reached the end of your years. I will make you an object of mockery throughout the world. O infamous city, filled with confusion, you will be mocked by people far and near.

“Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder. Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you. You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest. People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled with idol worshipers and people who do obscene things. 10 Men sleep with their fathers’ wives and force themselves on women who are menstruating. 11 Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters. 12 There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign Lord.

13 “But now I clap my hands in indignation over your dishonest gain and bloodshed. 14 How strong and courageous will you be in my day of reckoning? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I said. 15 I will scatter you among the nations and purge you of your wickedness. 16 And when I have been dishonored among the nations because of you,[b] you will know that I am the Lord.”

The Lord’s Refining Furnace

17 Then this message came to me from the Lord: 18 “Son of man, the people of Israel are the worthless slag that remains after silver is smelted. They are the dross that is left over—a useless mixture of copper, tin, iron, and lead. 19 So tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you are all worthless slag, I will bring you to my crucible in Jerusalem. 20 Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are melted down in a furnace, I will melt you down in the heat of my fury. 21 I will gather you together and blow the fire of my anger upon you, 22 and you will melt like silver in fierce heat. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my fury on you.’”

The Sins of Israel’s Leaders

23 Again a message came to me from the Lord: 24 “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain. 25 Your princes[c] plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land. 26 Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them. 27 Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money! 28 And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign Lord,’ when the Lord hasn’t spoken a single word to them. 29 Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.

30 “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. 31 So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Footnotes

  1. 22:3 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung; also in 22:4.
  2. 22:16 As in one Hebrew manuscript and Greek and Syriac versions; Masoretic Text reads when you have been dishonored among the nations.
  3. 22:25 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads prophets.