Israel’s Shedding of Blood

22 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, yson of man, zwill you judge, will you judge athe bloody city? bThen 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 cher time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4 You have become guilty aby the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought cyour days near, the appointed time of1 your years has come. dTherefore 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; eyour name is defiled; fyou are full of tumult.

6 “Behold, gthe princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother hare treated with contempt in you; the sojourner isuffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow iare wronged in you. 8 jYou have despised my holy things and kprofaned my Sabbaths. 9 lThere are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you mwho eat on the mountains; nthey commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you omen uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 pOne commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; qanother lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; ranother in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. 12 In you sthey take bribes to shed blood; tyou take interest and profit2 and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but ume you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

13 “Behold, vI strike my hand at wthe dishonest gain that you have made, and at xthe blood that has been in your midst. 14 yCan your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? zI the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15 aI will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and bI will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16 And cyou shall be profaned by your own doing din the sight of the nations, eand you shall know that I am the Lord.”