Ezekiel 22

¹And the word of the Lord came to me, saying ,

²And you, son of man , will you judge , will you judge the bloody city ? Then declare to her all her abominations .

³You shall say , Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst , so that her time may come , and that makes idols to defile herself!

⁴You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed , and defiled by the idols that you have made , and you have brought your days near , the appointed time of your years has come . Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations , and a mockery to all the countries .

⁵Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled ; you are full of tumult .

⁶Behold , the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power , have been bent on shedding blood .

⁷Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst ; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.

⁸You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths .

⁹There are men in you who slander to shed blood , and people in you who eat on the mountains ; they commit lewdness in your midst .

¹⁰In you men uncover their fathers ’ nakedness ; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity .

¹¹One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife ; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law ; another in you violates his sister , his father’s daughter .

¹²In you they take bribes to shed blood ; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion ; but me you have forgotten , declares the Lord God.

¹³Behold , I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made , and at the blood that has been in your midst .

¹⁴Can your courage endure , or can your hands be strong , in the days that I shall deal with you? I the Lord have spoken , and I will do it.

¹⁵I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries , and I will consume your uncleanness out of you.

¹⁶And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations , and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁷And the word of the Lord came to me:

¹⁸Son of man , the house of Israel has dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace ; they are dross of 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 one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace , to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath , and I will put you in and melt you.

²¹I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath , and you shall be melted in the midst of it.

²²As silver is melted in a furnace , so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; I have poured out my wrath upon you.

²³And the word of the Lord came to me:

²⁴Son of man , say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation .

²⁵The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey ; they have devoured human lives ; they have taken treasure and precious things ; they have made many widows in her midst .

²⁶Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things . They have made no distinction between the holy and the common , neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean , and they have disregarded my Sabbaths , so that I am profaned among them.

²⁷Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey , shedding blood , destroying lives to get dishonest gain .

²⁸And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying , Thus says the Lord God, when the Lord has not spoken .

²⁹The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery . They have oppressed the poor and needy , and have extorted from the sojourner without justice .

³⁰And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land , that I should not destroy it, but I found none .

³¹Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath . I have returned their way upon their heads , declares the Lord God.