Ezekiel 22

Judgment on Jerusalem’s Sins

22The word of the Lord came to me:

²“Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed?^b Then confront her with all her detestable practices^{c 3}and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood^d in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, ⁴you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed^e and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come.^f Therefore I will make you an object of scorn^g to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries.^{h 5}Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.ⁱ

⁶“ ‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.^{j 7}In you they have treated father and mother with contempt;^k in you they have oppressed the foreigner^l and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.^{m 8}You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.^{n 9}In you are slanderers^o who are bent on shedding blood;^p in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines^q and commit lewd acts.^{r 10}In you are those who dishonor their father’s bed;^s in you are those who violate women during their period,^t when they are ceremonially unclean.^{u 11}In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife,^v another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law,^w and another violates his sister,^x his own father’s daughter.^{y 12}In you are people who accept bribes^z to shed blood; you take interest^a and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors.^b And you have forgotten^c me, declares the Sovereign Lord.^d

¹³“ ‘I will surely strike my hands^e together at the unjust gain^f you have made and at the blood^g you have shed in your midst.^{h 14}Will your courage endureⁱ or your hands^j be strong in the day I deal with you? I the Lord have spoken,^k and I will do it.^{l 15}I will disperse you among the nations and scatter^m you through the countries; and I will put an end toⁿ your uncleanness.^{o 16}When you have been defiled^a in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

¹⁷Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸“Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross^p to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace.^q They are but the dross of silver.^{r 19}Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have all become dross,^s I will gather you into Jerusalem. ²⁰As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.^{t 21}I will gather you and I will blow^u on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her.^{v 22}As silver is melted^w in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath^x on you.’ ”^y

²³Again the word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴“Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’^{z 25}There is a conspiracy^a of her princes^b within her like a roaring lion^b tearing its prey; they devour people,^c take treasures and precious things and make many widows^d within her. ²⁶Her priests do violence to my law^e and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common;^f they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean;^g and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned^h among them.^{i 27}Her officials^j within her are like wolves^k tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people^l to make unjust gain.^{m 28}Her prophets whitewashⁿ these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations.^o They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.^{p 29}The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery;^q they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner,^r denying them justice.^s

³⁰“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall^t and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.^{u 31}So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger,^v bringing down^w on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.^x”