Ezekiel 22:1–31
22 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Now, son of man, awill you judge, will you judge bthe bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations! 3 Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The city sheds cblood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. 4 You have become guilty by the blood which you have dshed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; etherefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries. 5 Those near and those far from you will mock you as 1infamous and full of tumult.
6 “Look, fthe princes of Israel: each one has used his 2power to shed blood in you. 7 In you they have gmade light of father and mother; in your midst they have hoppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the 3fatherless and the widow. 8 You have despised My holy things and iprofaned My Sabbaths. 9 In you are jmen who slander to cause bloodshed; kin you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness. 10 In you men luncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are mset apart during their impurity. 11 One commits abomination nwith his neighbor’s wife; oanother lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s pdaughter. 12 In you qthey take bribes to shed blood; ryou take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and shave forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.
13 “Behold, therefore, I tbeat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. 14 uCan your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? vI, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it. 15 wI will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and xremove your filthiness completely from you. 16 You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then yyou shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
17 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, zthe house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a afurnace; they have become dross from silver. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to bmelt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. 21 Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. 22 As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have cpoured out My fury on you.’ ”
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is dnot 4cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25 eThe conspiracy of her 5prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they fhave devoured 6people; gthey have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 hHer priests have 7violated My law and iprofaned My holy things; they have not jdistinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her kprinces in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy 8people, and to get dishonest gain. 28 lHer prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, mseeing false visions, and divining nlies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord had not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully ooppress the stranger. 30 pSo I sought for a man among them who would qmake a wall, and rstand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have spoured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed ttheir deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.