The Abominations of Israel

22 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ² “Now as for you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the city of blood? Then you shall cause her to know all her abominations. ³ And you shall say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “A city ^(A)shedding blood in her midst, so that her time will come; and she makes idols against herself for defilement! ⁴ You have become ^(B)guilty by ^[a]the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your ^[b]day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a ^(C)reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands. ⁵ Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you of unclean name, full of ^(D)turmoil.

⁶ “Behold, the ^(E)princes of Israel, each according to his ^[c]power, have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood. ⁷ They have ^(F)treated father and mother with contempt within you. The ^(G)sojourner they have oppressed in your midst; the ^(H)fatherless and the widow they have mistreated in you. ⁸ You have ^(I)despised My holy things and ^(J)profaned My sabbaths. ⁹ Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood, and in you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have ^(K)done acts of lewdness. ¹⁰ In you ^[d]they have ^(L)uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; in you they have humbled her who was ^(M)unclean in her menstrual impurity. ¹¹ One has also done what is an abomination with his ^(N)neighbor’s wife, and another has lewdly defiled his ^(O)daughter-in-law. And another in you has ^(P)violated his sister, his father’s daughter. ¹² In you they have ^(Q)taken bribes for the purpose of shedding blood; you have taken ^(R)interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by ^(S)oppression, and you have ^(T)forgotten Me,” declares Lord Yahweh.

¹³ “Now behold, I have struck My hand at your ^(U)greedy gain which you have acquired and at ^[e]the bloodshed which is among you. ¹⁴ Can ^(V)your heart stand, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will act against you? ^(W)I, Yahweh, have spoken and will act. ¹⁵ I will ^(X)scatter you among the nations, and I will disperse you through the lands, and I will ^(Y)put an end to your uncleanness from you. ¹⁶ You will profane yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will ^(Z)know that I am Yahweh.”’”

¹⁷ And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, the house of Israel has become ^(AA)dross to Me; all of them are ^(AB)bronze and tin and iron and lead in the ^(AC)furnace; they are the dross of silver. ¹⁹ Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because all of you have become dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰ As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the ^(AD)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 lay you there and melt you. ²¹ And I will collect you together and blow on you with the fire of My fury, and you will be melted in the midst of it. ²² As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, Yahweh, have ^(AE)poured out My wrath on you.’”

²³ And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ²⁴ “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is ^(AF)not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ ²⁵ There is a ^(AG)conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have ^(AH)devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many ^(AI)widows in the midst of her. ²⁶ Her ^(AJ)priests have done violence to My law and have ^(AK)profaned My holy things; they have made no ^(AL)separation between the holy and the profane, and they have not made known the difference between the ^(AM)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 the prey by shedding blood and ^(AN)destroying lives in order to get ^(AO)greedy gain. ²⁸ And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, beholding ^(AP)worthless visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh,’ when Yahweh has not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land have practiced ^(AQ)oppression and committed robbery, and they have mistreated the afflicted and needy and have ^(AR)oppressed the sojourner without justice. ³⁰ And I ^(AS)searched for a man among them who would ^(AT)build up the wall and ^(AU)stand in the breach before Me for the land, so that I would not bring it to ruin; but I found ^[f]no one. ³¹ Thus I have poured out My ^(AV)indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My fury; ^(AW)their way I have brought upon their heads,” declares Lord Yahweh.