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Ezekiel 22:1-16
New English Translation

The Sins of Jerusalem

22 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “As for you, son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment?[a] Are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city?[b] Then confront her with all her abominable deeds! 3 Then say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom),[c] and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity), 4 you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom;[d] the end of your years has come.[e] Therefore I will make[f] you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands. 5 Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation,[g] full of turmoil.

6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood.[h] 7 They have treated father and mother with contempt[i] within you; they have oppressed the resident foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow[j] within you. 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths! 9 Slanderous men shed blood within you.[k] Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains;[l] they commit obscene acts among you.[m] 10 They have sexual relations with their father’s wife within you;[n] they violate women during their menstrual period within you.[o] 11 One[p] commits an abominable act with his neighbor’s wife; another obscenely defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates[q] his sister—his father’s daughter[r]—within you. 12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest;[s] you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me,[t] declares the Sovereign Lord.[u]

13 “‘See, I strike my hands together[v] at the dishonest profit you have made, and at the bloodshed[w] they have done among you. 14 Can your heart endure,[x] or can your hands be strong when I deal with you?[y] I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it! 15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you among various countries; I will remove your impurity from you.[z] 16 You will be profaned within yourself[aa] in the sight of the nations; then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 22:2 tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment upon the city. See 20:4.
  2. Ezekiel 22:2 tn The phrase “bloody city” is used of Nineveh in Nah 3:1.
  3. Ezekiel 22:3 tn Heb “her time”; this refers to the time of impending judgment (see the note on “doom” in v. 4).
  4. Ezekiel 22:4 tn Heb “you have brought near your days.” The expression “bring near your days” appears to be an adaptation of the idiom “days draw near,” which is used to indicate that an event, such as death, is imminent (see Gen 27:41; 47:29; Deut 31:14; 1 Kgs 2:1; Ezek 12:23). Here “your days” probably refer to the days of the personified city’s life, which was about to come to an end through God’s judgment.
  5. Ezekiel 22:4 tn Heb “and you have come to your years.” This appears to mean that she has arrived at the time when her years (i.e., life) would end, though it may mean that her years of punishment will begin. Because “day” and “time” are so closely associated in the immediate context (see 21:25, 29), some prefer to emend the text and read: “you have brought near your time.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:31, as well as the translator’s note on verse 3.
  6. Ezekiel 22:4 tn The Hebrew verb is a prophetic perfect, emphasizing that the action is as good as done from the speaker’s perspective.
  7. Ezekiel 22:5 tn Heb “unclean of name.”
  8. Ezekiel 22:6 tn Heb “Look! The princes of Israel, each according to his arm, were in you in order to shed blood.”
  9. Ezekiel 22:7 tn Heb “treated lightly, cursed.”
  10. Ezekiel 22:7 tn Widows and orphans are often coupled together in the OT (Deut 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19-21; 26:12-13; Jer 7:6; 22:3). They represented all who were poor and vulnerable to economic exploitation.
  11. Ezekiel 22:9 tn Heb “men of slander are in you in order to shed blood.”
  12. Ezekiel 22:9 tn Heb “and on the mountains they eat within you.” The mountains mentioned here were the site of pagan sacrifices. See 18:6.
  13. Ezekiel 22:9 sn This statement introduces vv. 10-11 and refers in general terms to the sexual sins described there. For the legal background of vv. 10-11, see Lev 18:7-20; 20:10-21; Deut 22:22-23, 30; 27:22.
  14. Ezekiel 22:10 tn Heb “The nakedness of a father one uncovers within you.” The ancient versions read the verb as plural (“they uncover”). If the singular is retained, it must be taken as indefinite and representative of the entire group. The idiomatic expression “uncover the nakedness” refers here to sexual intercourse (cf. Lev 18:6). To uncover a father’s nakedness could include sexual relations with one’s own mother (Lev 18:7), but more likely it refers to having intercourse with another wife of one’s father, such as a stepmother (Lev 18:8; cf. Gen 35:22; 49:4).
  15. Ezekiel 22:10 tn Heb “(one who is) unclean due to the impurity they humble within you.” The use of the verb “to humble” suggests that these men forced themselves upon women during menstruation. Having sexual relations with a woman during her period was forbidden by the Law (Lev 18:19; 20:18).
  16. Ezekiel 22:11 tn Heb “a man.”
  17. Ezekiel 22:11 tn The verb is the same one used in verse 10b and suggests forcible sexual violation of the woman.
  18. Ezekiel 22:11 sn Sexual relations with one’s half-sister may be primarily in view here. See Lev 18:9 and 20:17.
  19. Ezekiel 22:12 tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.
  20. Ezekiel 22:12 sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.
  21. Ezekiel 22:12 tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.
  22. Ezekiel 22:13 sn This gesture apparently expresses mourning and/or anger (see 6:11; 21:14, 17).
  23. Ezekiel 22:13 tn Heb “the blood that was in you.”
  24. Ezekiel 22:14 tn Heb “stand.” The heart here stands for the emotions; Jerusalem would panic in the face of God’s judgment.
  25. Ezekiel 22:14 tn Heb “in the days when I act against you.”
  26. Ezekiel 22:15 sn The ultimate purpose of divine judgment is to purify the covenant community of its sins.
  27. Ezekiel 22:16 tc Several ancient versions read the verb as first person, in which case the Lord refers to how his people’s sin brings disgrace upon him. For a defense of the Hebrew text, see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:712, n. 68, and M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:457-58. tn The phrase “within yourself” is the same as the several previous occurrences of “within you” but adjusted to fit this clause, which is the culmination of the series of indictments.
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Ezekiel 22:1-16
English Standard Version

Israel's Shedding of Blood

22 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, (A)son of man, (B)will you judge, will you judge (C)the bloody city? (D)Then declare to her all her abominations. 3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that (E)her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4 You have become guilty (F)by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought (G)your days near, the appointed time of[a] your years has come. (H)Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; (I)your name is defiled; (J)you are full of tumult.

6 “Behold, (K)the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother (L)are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner (M)suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow (N)are wronged in you. 8 (O)You have despised my holy things and (P)profaned my Sabbaths. 9 (Q)There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you (R)who eat on the mountains; (S)they commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you (T)men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 (U)One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; (V)another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; (W)another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In you (X)they take bribes to shed blood; (Y)you take interest and profit[b] and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but (Z)me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

13 “Behold, (AA)I strike my hand at (AB)the dishonest gain that you have made, and at (AC)the blood that has been in your midst. 14 (AD)Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? (AE)I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15 (AF)I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and (AG)I will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16 And (AH)you shall be profaned by your own doing (AI)in the sight of the nations, (AJ)and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 22:4 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts until
  2. Ezekiel 22:12 That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor (compare Leviticus 25:36)
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