Ezekiel 22

Judgment on Jerusalem’s Sins

The word of the Lord came to me:

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

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

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

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

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

“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall^s 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.^t So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger,^u bringing down^v on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.^w”