Ezekiel 22

Sins of Jerusalem

22Moreover 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! ³Then 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. ⁴You 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. ⁵Those 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. ⁷In 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. ⁸You have despised My holy things and ⁱprofaned My Sabbaths. ⁹In you are ^jmen who slander to cause bloodshed; ^kin you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness. ¹⁰In you men ^luncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are ^mset apart during their impurity. ¹¹One 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. ¹²In 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. ^14uCan 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. ^15wI will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and ^xremove your filthiness completely from you. ¹⁶You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then ^yyou shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

Israel in the Furnace

¹⁷The 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. ¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰As 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. ²¹Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. ²²As 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.’ ”

Israel’s Wicked Leaders

²³And 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.’ ^25eThe 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. ^26hHer 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. ²⁷Her ^kprinces in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy ⁸people, and to get dishonest gain. ^28lHer 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. ²⁹The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully ^ooppress the stranger. ^30pSo 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. ³¹Therefore 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.