Ezekiel 22
New International Reader's Version
The Lord Judges Jerusalem for Its Sins
22 A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said,
2 “Son of man, are you going to judge Jerusalem? Will you judge this city that has so many murderers in it? Then tell its people they have done many evil things. I hate those things. 3 Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “Your city brings death on itself. You spill blood inside its walls. You make yourselves ‘unclean’ by making statues of gods. 4 You are guilty of spilling blood. Your statues have made you ‘unclean.’ You have brought your days to a close. The end of your years has come. So the nations will make fun of you. All the countries will laugh at you. 5 Those who are near you will tell jokes about you. So will those who are far away. Trouble fills the streets of your sinful city.
6 “ ‘ “The princes of Israel are in your city. All of them use their power to spill blood. 7 They have made fun of fathers and mothers alike. They have crushed outsiders. They have treated badly the children whose fathers have died. They have done the same thing to widows. 8 You have looked down on the holy things that were set apart to me. You have misused my Sabbath days. 9 You have spread lies about others so you can spill someone’s blood. You eat at the mountain temples. You commit impure acts. 10 You bring shame on your fathers by having sex with their wives. You have sex with women during their monthly period. That is when they are ‘unclean.’ 11 One of you has sex with another man’s wife. I hate that sin. Another brings shame on his daughter-in-law by having sex with her. Still another has sex with his sister, even though she is his own father’s daughter. 12 You accept money from people who want special favors. You do this to spill someone’s blood. You charge interest to poor people when you lend them money. You make money from them. You get rich by cheating your neighbors. And you have forgotten me,” announces the Lord and King.
13 “ ‘ “I will clap my hands because I am so angry. You got rich by cheating others. You spilled blood inside the walls of your city. 14 Will you be brave on the day I deal with you? Will you be strong at that time? I have spoken. I will do this. I am the Lord. 15 I will scatter you among the nations. I will send you to other countries. I will put an end to your ‘uncleanness.’ 16 You will be ‘unclean’ in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
17 A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 18 “Son of man, the people of Israel have become like scum to me. All of them are like the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are only the scum that is removed from silver.” 19 So the Lord and King says, “People of Israel, all of you have become like scum. So I will gather you together in Jerusalem. 20 People put silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace. They melt it with a blazing fire. In the same way, I will gather you. I will pour out my burning anger on you. I will put you inside the city and melt you. 21 I will gather you together. My burning anger will blaze out at you. And you will be melted inside Jerusalem. 22 Silver is melted in a furnace. And you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I have poured out my burning anger on you. I am the Lord.”
23 Another message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 24 “Son of man, speak to the land. Tell it, ‘You have not been washed clean with rain. That’s because I am angry with you.’ 25 Ezekiel, the princes of the land are like a roaring lion that tears its food apart. They eat people up. They take treasures and other valuable things. They cause many women in the land to become widows. 26 Its priests break my law. They treat things set apart to me as if they were not holy. They treat holy and common things as if they were the same. They teach that there is no difference between things that are ‘clean’ and things that are not. They refuse to keep my Sabbath days. So they treat me as if I were not holy. 27 The officials in the land are like wolves that tear their food apart. They spill blood and kill people to get rich. 28 The prophets cover up these acts for them. The visions of these prophets are false. They use magic to try to find out what is going to happen. But their magic tricks are lies. They say, ‘The Lord and King says.’ But I have not spoken to them. 29 The people of the land get rich by cheating others. They steal. They crush those who are poor and in need. They treat outsiders badly. They refuse to be fair to them.
30 “I looked for someone among them who would stand up for Jerusalem. I tried to find someone who would pray to me for the land. Then I would not have to destroy it. But I could not find anyone who would pray for it. 31 So I will pour out my anger on its people. I will destroy them because of my great anger against them. And anything that happens to them will be their own fault,” announces the Lord and King.
Ezekiel 22
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Indictment of Sinful Jerusalem
22 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “As for you, son of man, will you pass judgment? Will you pass judgment against the city of blood? Then explain all her detestable practices to her.(A) 3 You are to say: This is what the Lord God says: A city that sheds blood(B) within her walls so that her time of judgment has come and who makes idols for herself so that she is defiled! 4 You are guilty of the blood you have shed,(C) and you are defiled from the idols you have made. You have brought your judgment days near and have come to your years of punishment. Therefore, I have made you a disgrace to the nations and a mockery to all the lands. 5 Those who are near and those far away from you will mock you, you infamous one full of turmoil.
6 “Look, every prince of Israel(D) within you has used his strength to shed blood. 7 Father and mother are treated with contempt,(E) and the foreign resident is exploited within you. The fatherless and widow are oppressed in you.(F) 8 You despise My holy things and profane My Sabbaths.(G) 9 There are men within you who slander in order to shed blood.(H) People who live in you eat at the mountain shrines; they commit immoral acts within you. 10 Men within you have sexual intercourse with their father’s wife and violate women during their menstrual impurity.(I) 11 One man within you commits a detestable act with his neighbor’s wife;(J) another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his father’s daughter.(K) 12 People who live in you accept bribes in order to shed blood.(L) You take interest and profit on a loan and brutally extort your neighbors.(M) You have forgotten Me.”(N) This is the declaration of the Lord God.
13 “Now look, I clap My hands together against the dishonest profit you have made(O) and against the blood shed among you. 14 Will your courage endure(P) or your hands be strong in the days when I deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I will act.(Q) 15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you among the countries;(R) I will purge your uncleanness.(S) 16 You[a] will be profaned in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”(T)
Jerusalem as God’s Furnace
17 The word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me.(U) All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace;(V) they are the dross of silver. 19 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because all of you have become dross, I am about to gather you into Jerusalem. 20 Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to blow fire(W) on them and melt them, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, put you inside, and melt you. 21 Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My fury, and you will be melted within the city. 22 As silver is melted inside a furnace, so you will be melted inside the city. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out My wrath on you.”(X)
Indictment of a Sinful Land
23 The word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to her: You are a land that has not been cleansed,(Y) that has not received rain in the day of indignation. 25 The conspiracy of her prophets(Z) within her is[b] like a roaring lion tearing its prey: they devour people, seize wealth and valuables, and multiply the widows within her. 26 Her priests do violence to My instruction and profane My holy things.(AA) They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean.(AB) They disregard[c] My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27 “Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives in order to make profit dishonestly. 28 Her prophets plaster with whitewash for them by seeing false visions and lying divinations,(AC) and they say, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery.(AD) They have oppressed the poor and needy and unlawfully exploited the foreign resident. 30 I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall(AE) and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it,(AF) but I found no one. 31 So I have poured out My indignation on them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their actions down on their own heads.”(AG) This is the declaration of the Lord God.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 22:16 One Hb ms, LXX, Syr, Vg read I
- Ezekiel 22:25 LXX reads indignation, 25 whose princes within her are
- Ezekiel 22:26 Lit close their eyes from
Ezekiel 22
The Message
The Scarecrow of the Nations
22 1-5 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, are you going to judge this bloody city or not? Come now, are you going to judge her? Do it! Face her with all her outrageous obscenities. Tell her, ‘This is what God, the Master, says: You’re a city murderous at the core, just asking for punishment. You’re a city obsessed with no-god idols, making yourself filthy. In all your killing, you’ve piled up guilt. In all your idol-making, you’ve become filthy. You’ve forced a premature end to your existence. I’ll put you on exhibit as the scarecrow of the nations, the world’s worst joke. From far and near they’ll deride you as infamous in filth, notorious for chaos.
6-12 “‘Your leaders, the princes of Israel among you, compete in crime. You’re a community that’s insolent to parents, abusive to outsiders, oppressive against orphans and widows. You treat my holy things with contempt and desecrate my Sabbaths. You have people spreading lies and spilling blood, flocking to the hills to the sex shrines and fornicating unrestrained. Incest is common. Men force themselves on women regardless of whether they’re ready or willing. Sex is now anarchy. Anyone is fair game: neighbor, daughter-in-law, sister. Murder is for hire, usury is rampant, extortion is commonplace.
“‘And you’ve forgotten me. Decree of God, the Master.
13-14 “‘Now look! I’ve clapped my hands, calling everyone’s attention to your rapacious greed and your bloody brutalities. Can you stick with it? Will you be able to keep at this once I start dealing with you?
14-16 “‘I, God, have spoken. I’ll put an end to this. I’ll throw you to the four winds. I’ll scatter you all over the world. I’ll put a full stop to your filthy living. You will be defiled, spattered with your own mud in the eyes of the nations. And you’ll recognize that I am God.’”
17-22 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, the people of Israel are slag to me, the useless byproduct of refined copper, tin, iron, and lead left at the smelter—a worthless slag heap. So tell them, ‘God, the Master, has spoken: Because you’ve all become worthless slag, you’re on notice: I’ll assemble you in Jerusalem. As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into a furnace and blow fire on it to melt it down, so in my wrath I’ll gather you and melt you down. I’ll blow on you with the fire of my wrath to melt you down in the furnace. As silver is melted down, you’ll be melted down. That should get through to you. Then you’ll recognize that I, God, have let my wrath loose on you.’”
23-25 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, tell her, ‘You’re a land that during the time I was angry with you got no rain, not so much as a spring shower. The leaders among you became desperate, like roaring, ravaging lions killing indiscriminately. They grabbed and looted, leaving widows in their wake.
26-29 “‘Your priests violated my law and desecrated my holy things. They can’t tell the difference between sacred and secular. They tell people there’s no difference between right and wrong. They’re contemptuous of my holy Sabbaths, profaning me by trying to pull me down to their level. Your politicians are like wolves prowling and killing and rapaciously taking whatever they want. Your preachers cover up for the politicians by pretending to have received visions and special revelations. They say, “This is what God, the Master, says . . .” when God hasn’t said so much as one word. Extortion is rife, robbery is epidemic, the poor and needy are abused, outsiders are kicked around at will, with no access to justice.’
30-31 “I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn’t have to destroy it. I couldn’t find anyone. Not one. So I’ll empty out my wrath on them, burn them to a crisp with my hot anger, serve them with the consequences of all they’ve done. Decree of God, the Master.”
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