Ezekiel 22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 22
Crimes of Jerusalem. 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 You,[a] son of man, will you judge? will you judge the city of bloodshed? Then make known all its abominations, 3 and say: Thus says the Lord God: O city that sheds blood within itself so that its time has come, that has made idols for its own defilement: 4 By the blood you shed you have become guilty, and by the idols you made you have become defiled. You have brought on your day, you have come to the end of your years. Therefore I make you an object of scorn for the nations and a laughingstock for all lands.(A) 5 Those near and those far off will mock you: “Defiled of Name! Queen of Tumult!” 6 See! the princes of Israel within you use their power to shed blood.[b] 7 Within you, father and mother are dishonored; they extort the resident alien in your midst; within you, they oppress orphans and widows.(B) 8 What I consider holy you have rejected, and my sabbaths you have desecrated. 9 [c]In you are those who slander to cause bloodshed; within you are those who feast on the mountains; in your midst are those whose actions are depraved.(C) 10 In you are those who uncover the nakedness of their fathers; in you those who coerce women to intercourse during their period.(D) 11 (E)There are those in you who do abominable things with their neighbors’ wives, men who defile their daughters-in-law by incest, men who coerce their sisters to intercourse, the daughters of their own fathers. 12 There are those in you who take bribes to shed blood. You exact interest and usury; you extort profit from your neighbor by violence. But me you have forgotten—oracle of the Lord God.(F)
13 See, I am clapping my hands because of the profits you extorted and the blood shed in your midst. 14 Will your heart remain firm, will your hands be strong, in the days when I deal with you? I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will act! 15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you over other lands, so that I may purge your filth. 16 In you I will allow myself to be desecrated in the eyes of the nations; thus you shall know that I am the Lord.
17 The word of the Lord came to me: 18 [d]Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead within a furnace; they have become the dross from silver.(G) 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because all of you have become dross, See! I am gathering you within Jerusalem. 20 Just as silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin are gathered within a furnace to be blasted with fire to smelt it, so I will gather you together in my furious wrath, put you in, and smelt you.(H) 21 When I have assembled you, I will blast you with the fire of my anger and smelt you with it. 22 Just as silver is smelted in a furnace, so you shall be smelted in it. Thus you shall know that I, the Lord, have poured out my fury on you.
23 The word of the Lord came to me: 24 [e]Son of man, say to her: You are an unclean land receiving no rain at the time of my fury. 25 A conspiracy of its princes is like a roaring lion tearing prey; they devour people, seizing their wealth and precious things, making many widows within her.(I) 26 Her priests violate my law and desecrate what I consider holy; they do not distinguish between holy and common, nor teach the difference between unclean and clean; they pay no attention to my sabbaths, so that I have been desecrated in their midst.(J) 27 (K)Within her, her officials are like wolves tearing prey, shedding blood and destroying lives to extort profit. 28 (L)And her prophets cover them with whitewash, seeing false visions and performing lying divinations, saying, “Thus says the Lord God,” although the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they wrong the poor and the needy, and oppress the resident alien without justice. 30 Thus I have searched among them for someone who would build a wall or stand in the breach before me to keep me from destroying the land; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have poured out my fury upon them; with my fiery wrath I have consumed them, bringing down their ways upon their heads—oracle of the Lord God.
Footnotes
- 22:2–16 This first oracle focuses on Jerusalem as a “city of bloodshed” (cf. Na 3:1). Here transgressions involving blood, the oppression of the poor, and improper cultic practices are seen as interrelated, for blood as the carrier of life is fundamental to both the cultic and social spheres of life.
- 22:6 To shed blood: a very serious charge in light of the solemn command of God to Noah in Gn 9:6 against human bloodshed.
- 22:9–11 The charges against Jerusalem echo the commandments of Lv 20:10–18.
- 22:18–22 The image of smelting metals for purifying the people by the attacks of their enemies is common among the prophets; cf. Is 1:22, 25; Jer 6:27–30.
- 22:24–31 For a similar oracle, cf. Zep 3:1–8.
Ezekiel 22
Contemporary English Version
Jerusalem Is Condemned
22 Some time later, the Lord said:
2 Ezekiel, son of man, are you ready to condemn Jerusalem? That city is filled with murderers, so remind the people of their sins 3 and tell them I am saying:
Jerusalem, you have murdered many of your own people and have worshiped idols. You will soon be punished! 4 Those crimes have made you guilty, and the idols have made you unacceptable to me. So your final punishment is near. Other nations will laugh at you and make insulting remarks, 5 and people far and near will make fun of your misery.
6 Your own leaders use their power to murder. 7 (A) None of you honor your parents, and you cheat foreigners, orphans, and widows. 8 (B) You show no respect for my sacred places and treat the Sabbath just like any other day. 9 Some of your own people tell lies, so that others will be put to death. Some of you eat meat sacrificed to idols at local shrines, and others never stop doing vulgar things. 10 (C) Men have sex with their father's wife or with women who are having their monthly period 11 or with someone else's wife. Some men even sleep with their own daughter-in-law or half sister. 12 (D) Others of you accept money to murder someone. Your own people charge high interest when making a loan to other Israelites, and they get rich by cheating. Worst of all, you have forgotten me, the Lord God.
13 I will shake my fist in anger at your violent crimes. 14 When I'm finished with you, your courage will disappear, and you will be so weak that you won't be able to lift your hands. I, the Lord, have spoken and will not change my mind. 15 I will scatter you throughout every nation on earth and put a stop to your sinful ways. 16 You[a] will be humiliated in the eyes of other nations. Then you will know that I, the Lord God, have done these things.
Jerusalem Must Be Purified
17 The Lord said:
18 Ezekiel, son of man, I consider the people of Israel as worthless as the leftover metal in a furnace after silver has been purified. 19 So I am going to bring them together in Jerusalem. 20-21 I will be like a metalworker who collects that metal from the furnace and melts it down. I will collect the Israelites and blow on them with my fiery anger. They will melt inside the city of Jerusalem 22 like silver in a furnace. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have punished them in my anger.
Everyone in Jerusalem Is Guilty
23 The Lord said:
24 Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Israel that their country is full of sin, and that I, the Lord, am furious! 25 Their leaders are like[b] roaring lions, tearing apart their victims. They put people to death, then steal everything of value. Husbands are killed, and many women are left as widows.
26 (E) The priests of Israel ignore my Law! Not only do they refuse to respect any of my sacred things, but they don't even teach the difference between what is sacred and what is ordinary or between what is clean and what is unclean. They treat my Sabbath like any other day, and so my own people no longer honor me.
27 Israel's officials are like ferocious wolves, ripping their victims apart. They make a dishonest living by injuring and killing people.
28 And then the prophets in Israel cover up these sins by giving false visions. I have never spoken to them, but they lie and say they have a message from me. 29 The people themselves cheat and rob; they abuse the poor and take advantage of foreigners.
30 I looked for someone to defend the city and to protect it from my anger, as well as to stop me from destroying it. But I found no one. 31 So in my fierce anger, I will punish the Israelites for what they have done, and they will know that I am furious. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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